Bears over 500#

[tgomez]

Nice picture Jackelope.

[eastcoastguy]

I'm originally from Maine but live here now. My dad just trapped a black bear. Hit the scales at 471lbs.going to be a nice rug.

[shootnrun]

My brother killed a bear that taped a hair over 7'nose to tail and I estimate it was around 350#. Even so, it took four full grown men to get in into the side by side. We didn't care to take the time to scale it. Sombish was a toad though. I couldn't imagine what a 500#er would look like.

[boneaddict]

In this state, that's what most of them do look like. Lol.  People don't realize how great a bear 350-400 is.  Thanks for honoring an awesome trophy by not feeling the need to exaggerate him.  That's a gorgeous trophy.

[3nails]

 I got a picture sent to my phone the other day of a bear killed in Sumas that supposedly weighed 561 lbs.  Corn fed fatty.

[JimmyHoffa]

I imagine there have been a few 500# taken near the Peninsula.  Anywhere that has constant food source and warm winters can produce some fatties, i.e. SE Alaska has warm winters and plenty of food.  400+ isn't terribly uncommon there.

Bears aren't measured by weight anyway, skull size and age are more interesting (and reliable) if you're talking trophy. 

I've honestly only seen one bear that was over 500 pounds and was definetly over 7' long. People get them here in Washington though its rare. Average bear 175 lbs or so, so when you see a 500 plus pound bear you will know it!

Was it near your 200" bucks? 

 

Seems that most I hear about are fewer and far between now days--back when the salmon runs were stronger.  The guys I knew that told me of routine big ones, would set up their elk camp near the coastal streams.  The silvers would be in and it would draw the bears down to feed on salmon before hitting the den.  But the last few years, the salmon have been rather no-shows.  The guys were still taking the fishing rods to camp, but said not really getting any salmon dinners nor seeing the bears like they used to either.
Olympic NP is doing a bear study with the Elwha River now.  They went and captured bears in the Elwha drainage and bears in adjacent drainages that would get salmon in their diets.  They plan to compare the bears before the dams came down (fish inaccessible) to the bears once the river is 'restored' (fish accessible).  But in the part with the dams still up, some of the bears on the side of the ridge with salmon were around 400 lbs (about a hundred more than the non-fish bears)--and those were measured after any decent salmon runs have since occurred.

[Jonathan_S]

This is what most 500# bears in Washington look like 

[Timberstalker]

Shootnrun.  what an awesome bear.  Was it killed in Washington?

[DOUBLELUNG]

I have seen one trapped near Lake Wenatchee that scaled 420 in the bear trap on the truck scales.  I'm sure he was over 500 at least one of his fall seasons.  If I recall correctly he was a 21 year old boar.

[Jonathan_S]

I have seen one trapped near Lake Wenatchee that scaled 420 in the bear trap on the truck scales.  I'm sure he was over 500 at least one of his fall seasons.  If I recall correctly he was a 21 year old boar.

I would not get within 100 feet of that trap until the thing was tranquilized 

[shootnrun]

Shootnrun.  what an awesome bear.  Was it killed in Washington?

Yes. My bear this year died about 50 yards from where this pic was taken. And we've harvested 4 bears from that canyon. But this toad has by far been the largest.

[bigmacc]

Anyone here of the bear killed around Gold Bar this past week somewhere up Picklefarm rd?..Some friends of mine had seen it alive 5 times over the past 2 months(they live up there). They told me Friday that a guy got him this last week figured him at 450-500. They said the hunter was taking it to the game guys for weight and measurements....

[JohnVH]

One down in whatcom county, 561lbs

[Blackelk]

Not many killed over 500 but have a few on camera that are pretty close. They live the night.

[kodiak 907]

Check out the 500+ pounder that was killed in whatcom co. Today. It's a hog!!