As to color phase of bears, I've noticed a difference between coastal bears and interior bears
Hunting southwest in the wood tikchik my experience is similar to Sitka Deer, can't recall ever seeing a big bear with Toklat coloring light with dark legs
In the interior mostly around black rapids I've seen bears with the Toklat coloring that appeared to be mature bears, sample size much smaller as I've seen and observed bears more often and up close in sw than I have in the interior
Is it relevant? I dunno. I'm not a biologist nor play one on tv, just a guy that's spent a fair amount of time behind binocs and is always tickled to spot and observe game
