How big based on track?

[boneaddict]

I saw a kodiak that had a nine inch pad when moose hunting.  He buried my moose carcass and ate the neck and half a shoulder while I was packing meat.  You talk about waiting for the guillotine to fall on you. 

[GoldTip]

Yes, I'd love to see pics of that track as well.  Hope you can find him again.  I've never seen a Grizzly track in Montana that big.  Only place I've ever seen tracks of that size were on the Alaska peninsula, maybe seen a few that big up around Petersville as well, and they weren't a black bear.

[billythekidrock]

Somehow I doubt that there are that many black bears in WA with a 9 inch wide front track.

[SHANE(WA)]

Well if you would like, I can give you the taxi's number, very well known taxidermist and how about the hunter lol  they were going to life size it and the taxidermist said it will never fit on a black bear mold, he would have to modify, the shoulders on this bear were the biggest I have seen, by far, not even compareable to a 7' 2" bear my dad got years ago, I have seen a ton of dead bears in my life, I have been part of well over 30+ kills

[rasbo]

9inch track that would be bigger than obama..6 inch is big for a black bear

[bucklucky]

I did see a bear track one timewhere the front track was a dollar bill long by a dollar bill and a half wide. I think he is still alive 

[Dakota Dogman]

Can I first say again, I am totally stupid about this bear stuff.     I'm not trying to photoshop or get people excited, just found my first bear tracks ever, and was wondering what I found.  I didn't have a tape with me so I just used my hand for a quick estimate.

I did get back the next day with an actual tape, but being honest I don't even know how you measure these things?  Width isn't to hard to figure out, widest to widest.  But length?  From claws? Back of main paw?  Do you include the rear pad?  Well width is (by tape measure) around 6.5" and length from claws to end of main pad (not the "heal") was right shy of 7 inches as well.  What does that mean?

How big of a range does a bear have?
Any way of guessing if he will be in the neighborhood this fall?

God Bless,

PS I may be able to send pictures, but as of yet haven't had much luck with that...

[billythekidrock]

Can I first say again, I am totally stupid about this bear stuff.     I'm not trying to photoshop or get people excited, just found my first bear tracks ever, and was wondering what I found.  I didn't have a tape with me so I just used my hand for a quick estimate.

I did get back the next day with an actual tape, but being honest I don't even know how you measure these things?  Width isn't to hard to figure out, widest to widest.  But length?  From claws? Back of main paw?  Do you include the rear pad?  Well width is (by tape measure) around 6.5" and length from claws to end of main pad (not the "heal") was right shy of 7 inches as well.  What does that mean?

How big of a range does a bear have?
Any way of guessing if he will be in the neighborhood this fall?

God Bless,

PS I may be able to send pictures, but as of yet haven't had much luck with that...

You will want to measure across the front pad like this and add one inch for an idea on the bears "squared" size. You can not get a weight estimate from a track unless the bear is currently standing in it.


Bears, especially big boars, can roam for many miles searching for food and breeding.
As for him being in the area later in the year....depends on the area and what food sources are available.

[Rob]

I would love to see a chart of foot width to bear size.  Weight would not be a good measure since they vary so much by season.

I found these in the blues.  First one is a set of front paws.  Second is a rear paw.  Both have a 300 WM shell next to them which I think are about 3.25 or so inches  So I am guessing these are pretty small bears.

[billythekidrock]

Front width + 1 in inches will give you the closest "charting" you are going to find.

[Rob]

translate please:  Front width +1" = ?  Body length?

[billythekidrock]

5 inch front pad plus 1 equals aprox 6 foot bear.

[Sideswipe]

Shesh!  Got my attention.  If I found that track near my home, I'd lock the front door & put a gun port in it!