Gents,



I was reading a hunting magazine today and in one article the author indicates that the black bear he shot in British Columbia measured 8ft 6in. He didn't use the term 'squared', just that it was 8'6" and the skull scored 20 8/16ths.



This is the largest black bear I've heard about. Not weight wise (not listed) or by skull lsize, but just in length. Heck, an 8'6" brown bear is darn respectable!



How many 8ft+ blackies do you guys know about being taken anywhere?

A few years ago a black bear was taken in an eastern NC swamp that weighed something like 811lbs and squared around 8 feet.

I've heard of a lot of them but have seen none. I have a friend who shot a blackie a couple weeks ago that squares an honest 7' 4" and has a green 20 1/4" skull. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
It's the biggest that i've Seen.
Paul

Squaring hides is the most lied-about or misunderstood thing in the sporting world. They will grab the hide and pull in one diection, release and pull again to measure the other.

Cannot say how many truly incredible bears I have seen shrink between another's measure and my own. Had a young fellow a short while back that has only ever killed three Southcentral AK black bears and all three were at or over 7'.

I have skinned at least 100 of them and NEVER saw a 6'6" example. Sad thing is the taxidermist shrank all of the 7' bears and left him with 5 1/2' rugs. Stinkin' taxidermists!

At the upper end of the spectrum the skull size and rug size have far less correlation than earlier in life, but the skull says that is a pretty good bear.

I believe there are unusual 8' bears... I have seen some on video that were unreal that way. They will have to be coastal bears with lots of salmon, IMHO.
art

In 1998 there was a bear killed around Vanceboro, NC (not thirty minutes from me) that weighed 880lbs. It was feeding on slaughtered hogs in a dumpster. Dolly Parton's cousin came from TN to hunt this particular bear which was hunted with dogs. I've seen actual photos of the bear that were taken by my former supervisor who was a neighbor of a guy that was on that hunt. That was one huge bear. There are several killed in Eastern NC every year that top 500 lbs, and a few that go over 600.

Thanks gents for the input.

I knew the subject of weight would come up, and that's fine.

You guys back east must feed your bears some good food! Grits?

But mainly it was the squared (or maybe not squared) measurement which caught my attention. Big Stick thought my 7' blackie would go 6'10", but I paid the taxidermist good money for the extra 2 inches. and I'm sticking to that. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

He guessed mine would square at 7'8" but I dorsal cut him, so we'll never know for sure.

Using yours as an example, that'd make him 7'10" which is close enough to call 8', right? (grin). In seriousness, I have absolutely no problem calling it a 7 1/2 foot bear. Of course, yours got me on skull size! Gotta get back up there if for nothing else than to beat your skull (grin)!

I got that email too! How much does a taxidermist charge for 2 inches? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Largest black bears I've heard of come from Pennsylvania at 800lbs+. My own personal best black bear squares 6'8" in rug form.


He weighed an honest 600lbs when I killed him and scored an even 21" (boiled skull)


MtnHtr

I've seen several honest to goodness 8 footers in the field,but have never sealed the deal on one. My graciousness has been my undoing,more than once. I coulda swatted two of them with definate ease,but that's Hunting. I've also put more than one pard on a B&C Buck,that I shoulda swatted myself,but greed ain't my gig.

All parties term "squared" differently. My definition is the measurement of the green hide,lying UNtouched by any party,upon a flat surface and the measurements from outstretched fronts(inside claws),and the distance from tail to nose added together and then divided by 2.

If she's laying there by it's lonesome,with noone tugging on anything and the numbers grant over 7',she's a Good 'Un IMHO.

I'd love to have stuck a tape on the Hurt Foot Konger I have on video. He was an absolute [bleep] BRUTE and is without reservation,the most outlandish sized specimen I've ever been privvy to.

The one that Tony chased,was no dink. I shoulda drove him too...............(grin)

The largest Black Bear I know of was not taken, and for all I know may still be alive...Dr Gary Ault, while he was the Pa. Game Com. Black Bear program, told me about an old boar that lived/lives in Pike county Pa, that they call scar belly. He got the name scar belly because he was hit by a Nissan pickup (he totaled it !) and it left him with a big scar on his coat. Dr. Ault claims to have darted the bear coming out of hibernation, and weighed it. Coming out of hibernation, it weighed almost 800lbs. He said that the bear would be pushing 1000 lbs. going into hibernation. To my knowledge, he was never taken. Dr Ault said he didn't think it would ever be taken, too smart.

We hunted for that bear for several years. We saw him prior to the bear season, but never during......the SOB knew when the season started !! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Check out the 2003 Harvest stats :

The top 10 black bears taken so far in the bear seasons include three 800-pounders and two 700-pounders. In total, there were 17 bears exceeding 600 pounds. A listing of the top 10 bears and the hunters who took them, are:

864-pound male taken in Dingman Township, Pike County, on Dec. 1 at 9 a.m. by Douglas Kristiansen of Milford.

837-pound male taken in Dingman Township, Pike County, on Dec. 1 at 11:30 a.m. by Ray R. Reper of Branchville, New Jersey.

808-pound male taken in Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe County, on Dec. 1 at 10:30 a.m. by Jason A. Taddeo of Bethlehem.

739-pound male taken in Weatherly Township, Carbon County, on Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. by Brian J. Coxe of Weatherly.

725-pound male taken in Sweden Township, Potter County, on Nov. 24 at 7:45 a.m. by Benjamin A. Long of Coudersport.

664-pound male taken in Greene Township, Pike County, on Dec. 2 at 8:30 a.m. by Thomas J. Young of Jacksonville, Florida.

661-pound male taken in Tell Township, Huntingdon County, on Nov. 25 at 7:30 a.m. by Gregg E. Walls of Dry Run.

648-pound male taken in Cherry Ridge Township, Wayne County, on Nov. 24 at 2:45 p.m. by Andrew G. Box of Honesdale.

644-pound male taken in Knox Township, Clarion County, on Nov. 24 at 9:30 a.m. by Brandon S. Carson of Monongahela.

642-pound male taken in Beech Creek Township, Clinton County, on Nov. 25 at 2:30 p.m. by James S. Hoover of Lititz.


Here is the link : Pa Game Com. Pres Release

Tony.

Brian,

I saw the same ad as you did, but I saw this one in the magazine, "Big Game Adventures". And the guide service is Parker Guide Service, inc (www.guidedhunts.com).

Of course, pictures can be deceiving, but that's the biggest blackie I've ever seen. Looks like a brown bear almost.

damn Mtn Hunter, that is one impressive bear <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

congrats <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

mtn,

I'll second that, that is one damn nice black bear. I have two archery kills that were in the 225 - 250 range, 5 footers.

Yours is awsome to say the least.

Tony.

I guided in one of the best big bear areas on earth for a long long time. Sitka has nailed the definition of scoring as well as anyone regarding the squared size. I have a 7'10" bear rug in my home and many of the visitors to this site have seen it including if I rememeber right BW who started this post.

I have seen 4-5 bigger then this one, and one was measured here by a master scorer for B&C in his Taxidermy shop on the rug table. It was just over 8 foot square after made in to a rug. Raw it was measured a bit bigger when freshly skinned.

The one feeding on hogs in NC killed by Dolly Pardons kin is a true stroy as I still have the original hunting magazine story. Funny thing about those folks and records though. I was working as the editior of bear hunting magazien at the time and interviewed the guy who was on the hunt. I asked him what the skull measured and he said 38 inches. I asked how he measured it to get 38"? he said it was 38" around before we skinned it.

Wow now that's a new unbelievable low in trophy scoring technique! Who the heck scores a bear skull by measuring circumfrence, much less before skinning!!!! Oh they also shot it in the head with a 12 guage shotgun. It was actually weighed on official scoles at 880 pounds.

Mtn Hunter seeing where that bear is that you shot how the heck did you get it out of there to weigh it? I have weighed several hundred bears in my life and know the difficulty in getting them out. It's why I developed that weight chart on my website for the WDFG and the WFPA when I was the wildlife manager there. That chart by the way has been adopted by several game departments as "offical" now. Finally I have left my mark on the bear hunting world. Goodness knows I would never have done it by actually killing a big bear!

bearstalker,



I actually saw this in an article in Bear Hunting Magazine. It's good magazine if your really into bear hunting. Lot's of info on baiting and scentlock. Not really my style, but in the back of the magazine there's pictures of other peoples bear kills. Real people too, and while some times the bears are kind of small, there's always a smile on the hunters face.



I'm not making any judgement about the guys measuring ability, just that it's the biggest one I've ever heard of (blackie.)

Ain't that the way it goes. The biggest two turkey gobblers I've ever brought in to a call was when I was not the desiginated shooter. My eldest son got the one with 11 & 3/4 inches of beard and my old buddy who went turkey hunting with me for five seasons without seeing a bird killed the one with 11 inches. And if I had it to do again, I'd still give them those shots. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

JJ,



The story on this bear was featured in the 1994 Spring issue of Trophy Hunter magazine out of Utah. Rusty thought this would be a great story for his magazine which was still in its infancy back then. What made this story remarkable was this was the first bear I ever called in using a varmint call.



The year before I killed this bear, the houndsmen killed a black bear near this area that went over 700lbs, they bayed that bastard for over 16hrs as the bear would wind any hunter approaching and leave pronto with hounds hanging all over his azz! Finally a houndsman managed to slip in and empty a full cylinder out of his 357 mag revolver at close range. Sadly, these boys never entered the skull and the bear spoiled as they drove all over in the hot weather showing it off. I saw the pictures of the bear and it indeed looked every bit of 700lbs as it filled the top of the dog platform on the back of a full size ford PU.



There were at least two more monster bears in this area and one of the houndsman approached me asking if I would try to call in one of these monster bears. Seems these bears would never tree and would just bay up in the thick brush for hours in rough country. I scouted the area and found bear tracks nearly the size of my 9.5 Danners!



When bear season came around I scouted the area again one wet afternoon and found fresh tracks in the mud as it had rained hard all morning. I figured the bear was close by, probably bedded in one of the draws below an old firebreak. I decided my best chance of calling that bear would be the next morning when he would be out and about, especially after all the recent rains.



So I arrived the next AM in the dark and settled under a great big oak tree overlooking a saddle near the draw where I found the tracks the day before. There was a slight breeze in my face and angling away, a perfect set-up! I blew the Circe Jackrabbit loud and aggressively for close to 30min and was beginning to think it was going to be another dud stand when out from the brush below me walked the meanest looking black bear I ever saw about 100yds away. I quickly raised my 7RM and lined up the crosshairs, in the meantime the bear had stopped and stared as he caught the movement of my rifle. I put the first 160grNP thru his right shoulder a little low where it clipped his heart and exited out his left rear ham after penetrating the full length of his body. He grunted and took a few steps just as the second 160grNP caught him in the hip as he rolled over just past the firebreak. I knew he was done when he let a loud death moan or growl, one of the loudest death moans I've ever heard from a bear.



I was alone so I took pics using the self timer on my Canon mounted on a tripod and quickly field dressed the bear. The work then began, I locked my trusty Toyota 4X4 in 4 low and eased on down the firebreak. There was a depression near the dead bear so I backed the rear wheels in, which lowered the tailgate about 2ft off the ground. I then took some nearby lodgepoles that had been cut and made a ramp off my truck's bed. I then rolled and wrestled the bear into the back of my truck and drove back to town to have the my tag validated by the Fish & Game dept. The biologist estimated the bear's weight at 600lbs using a tape measure. I then took the bear to a local meat locker where they weighed him on a certified scale, with no guts he weighed 507lbs. According to a formula which calculated field dressed bears that was listed in Bear Hunter magazine, this bear had a live weight of 597lbs. So the local biologist was close in his weight estimate. I think that is close enough to call this bear an honest 600lb'er considering what he might have eaten that morning.



Several houndsman recognized this bear from past encounters and said this bear was a mean bear, one of several monsters that frequented the area. He was known to have chewed up more than his share of dogs. This 8.5yr old bear had all kinds of scars on his head from past fights with other bears, whats interesting is the houndsmen said he was the smallest of the 3 big monster class bears that fequented the area!



The next bear season an archer who found out where I killed this bear managed to stick another monster bear only to lose it in the thick brush. No houndmen would offer to track the wounded bear with their hounds so that bear was lost. What a shame!







MtnHtr

Damn, that's a massive black bear. Very nice animal, Mtn Hunter.

That big NC bear was indeed killed with a shotgun. Three shots of 000 buck in 3.5" format were put into him at extremely close(darn near point blank from what I hear) range. The dogs had him occupied and the guy ran up and shot him. Took two or three four wheelers to get him out of the woods. He was about as wide as he was tall and his fur looked "thin". His fat had stretched his skin so much that he kind of looked as if he was going bald. I saw a pic of one of the houndsman holding a cube of fat off of the bear that was 12" cubed. This reportedly came off of the rump of this bear. I often hear and really believe that the reason that eastern NC has so many big bears is that they don't hibernate or if they do, its a short hibernation. I know nothing about bears so I don't claim it to be fact.

high_brass,

I asked Dr. Ault about why the Pa. bears get so big...answer is simple : good food and age, just like deer.

From what I read about the eastern NC bears, they live in a agricultural are. The big Pike County Pa. bears live in huge swamps that are loaded with berries. Lots of sugar, high calories = fat, plus the swamps are big and thick. The bears can grow to an age where they are huge.

They are very hard to hunt. We drive the swamps where we can. It is tough and I have had bears jump out so close it was almost like hunting rabbits. You usually only catch a very brief glimps of them while driving.

The older smarter ones, are like the older, smarter bucks, they circle back or hang tight in the thickest nastiest stuff they can crawl into.

Tony

The formula used from Bear hunting magazine is mine. I developed that chart and wrote that article in the Magazine. That is what I spoke of in my previous post

Holy cow, what a pig! Nice bear, Mtn Hunter.

Is this the one in B&C?

Yessir!

MtnHtr

Hicountry,

That makes alot of sense, thanks for the info. I've never hunted bears a day in my life but find them rather interesting. As a matter of fact, I saw one two hours ago at one of our job sites near Hobucken, NC <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />. Talk about irony.

thanks for telling the story MtnHunter <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> very impressive <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Hi Folks,
Here's a link to some interesting NC Bear Facts

web page

Good Shooting,
HBB

This bear was taken on Memorial Day in 2002 by a buddy of mine. I borrowed a commercial fishing boat from my cousin

and we went to a small cove past Day Harbor out of Seward, Alaska (I believe it's called Horsehoe Cove).



He bagged it on the beach feeding on hooligan (smelt) that were thrown onto the rocks by waves.



May not be a record bear but it was big enough to make it a successful trip.

Proman1,

Welcome to the Campfire! Always great to see another fellow Alaskan. I think Wasilla still counts as Alaska? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I saw another post of yours in which you mention some serious 'sea time', so that certainly counts!

That's a great bear, and looks darn big to me. Must be nice to 'borrow' a commercial fishing boat. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Was that bear in the tidal zone? Those are some fairly large rocks to deal with.

proman
Had a discussion with a couple guides just a couple weeks ago about hooligan and bears. All of us had seen many bears around hooligan, one actually saw a bear mouth one, one time.

I have tried to use them for bear bait and the bears would eat all the other stuff and leave the hooligan completely alone!

Not trying to bust chops or anything even remotely like that, simply bringing it up in the interest of science... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />BTW, long as I'm flinging, the proper spelling for "hooligan" is eulachon. The pronunciation is similar. Again, no flames intended, just stating something some might find interesting.

Looks like a very nice bear and a great job of posing him!<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
art

BW,
Thanks for the welcome, glad to be here & sounds like a lot of knowledgeble gents play here.

Yep, it's great to have a "cool" cousin to let me have his boat for the trip. This year I'll be "borrowing" it again for a deer hunt on Montague and Green Island in Prince William Sound.
All he asks is I replace the fuel filters and refuel when I get back , a couple hundred bucks split 4 ways ain't bad I guess..
Besides we get to catch halibut, red snapper, ling cod and silvers while on the trip, can't wait..why is it only July??

Yeah, I sure did spend a lot of time at sea, I've been on commercial boats since '83, from Dillingham (Bristol Bay),
and along the coast to Dutch Harbor, and up all the way past Kodiak and Cook Inlet to Cordova.
I still regret not taking the opportunity (had many offers) to fish down your way, heard it is a whole 'nother Alaska down there. I suppose you can consider Wasilla as part of Alaska, actually consider it part of Anchorage, it's gettin' way too damn crowded here for me, I'm used to those quiet coastal fishin' towns.
I envy you being in Sitka, must be nice not having to deal with a bunch of liberal bunny/tree hugging dirt worshippers.

Well Sitka Deer,
You musta had something on the menu that the bears preferred over the hooligan, you guys feeding those bears donuts again?

The spot were my buddy shot the bear was littered with half eaten hooligan (yeah I know it's Eulachon, the other way is easier on the eyes and brain...)

We never actually saw any bears eating the stuff but did see the chewed on remains in the immediate area where the bear was dumped..

Proman
Was just curious as several of us have had this discussion before. I cannot imagine why they would not like them, but I personally have never seen evidence of any bear eating one... and I have seen a lot of chances for them to.

Oh, and welcome... did not mean to give you any grief at all, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
art

BW. Funny thing about blackies the little ones are the best eating bears. I have killed a half dozen around 200 lb. or less and they made very fine bacon ,chops, sausage etc. the largest one I killed went 441 and was good only for sausage and not very good sausage....I leave the big ones alone. I like to hunt the high country blue berry fields but the big bear came from a swamp he smelled badbut had a great hide. I currently have a cinamon phase 150 pounder s hide in the freezer....will give to any one who wants it if it is not freezer burned.

Bullwnkl.

Welcome to the forums, proman! What a bear your buddy got. A nice one.

I'm in the Wasilla area as well.

Couldn't resist jumping in on this as I love to hnt bears and have been doing so for the last 40 years. the two biggest bears I've ever seen were in Manitoba One was at tTrapper Don"camp and it was an honest 8 ft. I just couldn't close the deal on him. THe other, which I,ve been after 4 yrs, I have on video tape and would weigh 650 + and he is still there !
My personal best came June 5th, it squared an honest 7 ft plus( no streaching) weighed 557 on a scale and greened scored a little shy of 22". It was skinney, had no fat on it, all mussel with massive forelegs. same bear in the fall may have gone over 650, just a guess. Long story but I didn't get a single picture. I also got a bear in Sask the went 6'10 nose to tail ( 20")and a 6 foot in Manitoba, pure blond, went 453 on a scale and scored 20 1/2. don't know how to post a picture but if you want to see it send an e-mail and I will send one.

Sitka Deer,

Now that I think more about the trip with the bear and hooligan thing, a few thoughts from my memory banks.

I do remember seeing several large River Otters, not more than 200 yards from the kill, as we were skinning the bear a mink came along to see what we were up to, sucker came within a few feet of us as if begging to get skinned also.. I let him know I'm a trapper and he scampered off.

We sorta assumed the blackie was eating the hoolies, but it may have been the other critters..who knows, like I mentioned earlier we never saw any bears eating those tiny fish and there sure was plenty of 'em scattered on the rocks.

In the same cove there is a lake that leads to a glacier and some awesome panoramic views, anyway as I sat glassing the other side of the lake, I saw one of the largest blacks I'd ever laid eyes on, I tell ya he had no ears or legs on 'im, just one huge black ball of fur rolling along the hillside, my bud swears it was a good 7+ footer and I believe him, a few years ago I bagged an honest 6ft 7 in. boar (not stretch measuring mind you) and the bear on the hill looked much larger.

Bearstalker, thanks for the welcome, care to tag along on the deer trip I mentioned a few posts ago? We need 1 more "dude" to make it a raiding party, if we get our deer quick we might have time to stop at the "bear glacier" on the way back to Seward..

I have seen several hundred bears killed in my life from Washington, oregon, Montana, Idaho and a mountain of big bears from coastal SE Alaska where I guided.

During all this time I skinned packed and took care of every detail of them getting prepared to travel home with the clients. One of the more important features was helping them set up the photos of the bear after it was shot.

This bear has the most bizzare long legs I have ever seen on a bear anyplace. It almost seems like a different species of bear! He must be 5' at the shoulder when standing! Maybe it's the angle or the way the he's balanced on the rock under him? It's a photo that clearly takes advantage of his great size! I'm just trying to imagine this bear walking on the beach with those long front legs. In the photo they appear almost twice the normal length, What a bizzare genitic wonder!

THe squared size of this bear must be well in excess of 8 foot because the legs from paw to center of the hump must be 5 feet alone! That would make this bear at a minimum 9 foot wide.

Anymore info on the dimensions of this guy?

Here a a couple of pics of my two best bears........both are Virginia bears, taken in archery season. Both are about the same size, about 5' each, both around 225lbs.

The first one is a 3/4 body mount. Was kind of a unique way to mount one, the other is obviously a rug mount.




Not monsters, but because they were both taken with a bow, are real trophies to me.

Two seasons ago I had to pass up a slam dunk shot at a very large sow who had 3 cubs in tow. Was one of the most fun days I have ever spent in the woods, getting to watch those 4 bears at such a close range. After they left it finally dawned on me that at one point, there I was, with nothing but a bow and about 18 feet up a tree between me and the sow. Thank goodness the cubs didn't decide to climb the tree I was in !!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

The only thing that sucked is that it was one of the few days I didn't have my digital camera with me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Tony.

Not the biggest but one of the prettiest bears I've ever seen, beautiful animal!
Photo taken just before the opener awhile back..............


MtnHtr

Hit me with an email or pm and fill me in on the details. I might tag along, since I got two weeks of free time that I can use from work.

Regarding the NC bear mentioned, I believe it was 878 lbs. I also heard it was shot by a hunter perched atop a 5 gallon bucket with a 12 gauge.

It's difficult to imagine how good the forage for blackies is in eastern NC. Lots of commercial hog operations. Square miles of soybeans and corn. Lots of Wildlife sanctuary where they can't be hunted. Acorns and black gum berries. Impenetrable brush and swamp, with plenty of Eastern Diamondbacks to keeps wimps intimidated! No baiting allowed. But they're dang hard to hunt without dogs or access to private land.

PDS: I would love to call in a trophy for anyone, especially my boys! What a memory. Wouldn't mind shooting one myself. You might want to up the bullet weight for your .220 swift when pursuing 800-lb blackies!

I always thought the largest black bears in existence dwelled on Vancouver island. Regardless, I do believe that where there are bears there are always BIG ones around. You may not see them but they are there. Same thing goes for whitetails.

Regards, sse