Newbie to bear hunting. Judging bear size.

[ShawnL]

This is my first time ever baiting and hunting bears. I put my bait out last week and its already being hit by possible 3 different bears. I'm hunting in an area that doesn't have alot of bears(like northern ontario). But I'm looking to figure out how to judge the size of them. I have s 55 gallon steel drum out. What am I looking for to judge them. How can u tell a cub from a 1 to 2 year old bear. I know mature bears have smaller ears, saggy gut etc. but I don't want to mis judge and shoot a very small bear. How small is in appropriate....I don't want to shoot this years bear cub. I don't have any experience and im looking for knowledge from u more experienced people. I don't care if I shoot a monster bear...I definately won't turn it down!!! Lol....but I know smaller bears are good eating too. Please share anything u can pass on. I have some pics I got on my trail camera I will post as soon as I can.

[gooseman]

If you have an extra 45 gal drum lay it on its side next to your bait, use it as a comparison when a bear is standing next to it. I find bears have a huge amount of ground shrinkage after the shot. Best of luck on the hunt

[SK33T3R]

bears are the hardest animal to judge. when you see them walking in to the bait you'd sometimes swear it's a monster.

the best way to judge their size is DO NOT SHOOT right away. let them get to the barrel. most barrels are 35"tall and the compression/strength rings are approx. 12"apart. always stand your barrel up when you walk in to hunt. I bring in a little 4oz container of chocolate and pour/squeeze it on to the lid. If the bear can lick it with it's front feet on the ground you got yourself a trophy bear. if he knocks over the barrel or jumps up .... then the choice is yours to shoot or not ... he will not be a monster trophy as far as the record books are concerned BUT still a trophy if you've never got one before and good eatin!

I've been doin this a long long time and just watchin them work the bait and letting them go is often reward enough for me.
And it's amazing what you learn and the respect for the animal you get when you watch them !

good luck this year you'll be fine!

SKeeter

[smitty55]

You can't really misjudge a cub. They're only 30 -50 lb. Even yearlings will be well under a hundred pounds generally and a 2 1/2 might only be 125 lb. It depends on sex, and food availability can make a big difference. A bounty year like last year will result in larger cubs. A good thing you could do is to put marks on your barrel at different heights so you can judge how tall the bear is. Or even judge by your pics and measure the barrel. Anything getting over 30 inches is a shooter for me for sure but in truth the farmer who's property I'm on would disown me if I passed on any decent bear.
Here's a few pics from last year to maybe give you an idea...

Mom isn't very big




This is a bit better but still not that big



Some more


This guy came in only twice, both times in the morning. Long and lean but good potential I think


Now to me there isn't a bear there over 200 but that last young boar could be close. The camera angle is a bit downhill. That barrel is 36" so maybe 27-28 at the shoulder. I would be quite tempted for sure, depending on what I had hitting my baits.

I guess a real simple way to put it is "if it looks like the size of a big dog, do you really want to shoot it?" But there's nothing at all wrong with shooting a smaller bear. Like SK33T3R's great post said, they are all trophies. And man is it ever a rush!! So different than deer.

If anyone has any guesstimates on these pics please feel free to chime in. I'm always interested to see if I'm in the ball park lol. I'm certainly no expert.

One more thing Shawn. When you score this season , expect to spend twice as long to process your bear than you would a deer. You have to deal with all the fat, which is great rendered down to oil btw, plus the musculature and sinew and silverskin is so different. Then if you decide you want to process the hide that's a lot more time and money and you should be prepared to have freezer space available and someone to do the hide.

Oh, and don't hunt the wrong wind if you can at all help it. Good luck this season

Cheers

[sawbill]

Anything the size of a springer spaniel you leave it alone. Its this springs cub.
Even a 2 yr old will only be around 130 lbs at this time of year and that still isn't a very large bear.

[ShawnL]

here is some of my pics so far....
cub I assume






and my extra visitor....

[ShawnL]

Im guessing all younger bears!!!

[SK33T3R]

a barrel is only 22 1/2"in diameter. any animal standing in front of the barrel will appear larger and smaller if he's behind the barrel.

just keep staring at the barrel and saying "can I fit him in the barrel" ...if you can honestly say yes then it definitely is a smaller bear.

Only you can decide whether to shoot or not!

try your camera on video mode then you'll really see what you need to know. a

picture is worth a thousand words they say .. wellll ... I say a video is the entire book.

shows you the entry/exit routes etc etc.


Skeeter

PS reduce the hole in your barrel to 2"x2" it's all you need! add 3 12"dia flat rocks ... add bait ... make your cable about 6'long and allow to spin and not kink ...

you'll save bait and your BACK!

all you'll need is a 2"diameter stick instead of all those logs and junk if you still feel the need to plug the hole.

Just try it at one active bait site if you need convincing.

Good luck - keep us posted ... skeeter
2 inch barrel.jpg

[smitty55]

I would say yearling, not a cub. I've had plenty of Fishers at my baits before. Three of them at a time last year. They're neat to watch in the vids. Who'd figure they have a sweet tooth eh?
Real good that you have action at 7:18 pm. I hope it keeps up for you. Now if you can only draw in a big'un to join the crew you should be in good shape to score before the acorn drop. Good luck with it.

A bit off topic, but I found some pics with that fisher family coming in to the bait. I know there's some morning ones somewhere hehe ...




Cheers

[smitty55]

PS reduce the hole in your barrel to 2"x2" it's all you need! add 3 12"dia flat rocks ... add bait ... make your cable about 6'long and allow to spin and not kink ...

you'll save bait and your BACK!

all you'll need is a 2"diameter stick instead of all those logs and junk if you still feel the need to plug the hole.

Just try it at one active bait site if you need convincing.

Good luck - keep us posted ... skeeter
2 inch barrel.jpg

LOL not hard to figure out where my plan came from. Tks for that Skeeter. It works great as a long term feeder. I used lots of big washers inside and it doesn't kink. Cats arse.

Cheers