Prince of Wales Spring Bear 2026

[RB]

If your land bound a king stamp wouldnt be of much use.

Hunting the road system you’ll probably want to key on newer clear cuts with grasses in them as well as beaches you can get to that have grassy back bays, estuaries or muscle beds.
I prefer the beach hunting cause its easier to get a good look at a bear to size it up and look for cubs. Can be hard in brushy clear cuts, and anyones guess when one runs across the road and folks jump out of the rig to shoot.

If you tell me what town your staying in, or what forest service cabin you've rented I can maybe point out some spots for you to look.

Not sure what you’d fish the streams for in May. Steelhead, cutthroat, dollies…
If you rent a skiff you could chase saltwater fish and bears on the beach.

Tentatively will be Thorne Bay at the Thorne Bay Lodge. Drove around there to Coffman Cove and drove to Whale Pass one day as well when we scouted in September. Caught enough silvers in September to bring a box home, it was fun! Thanks 

[Chesapeake]

Rosie (John) Roseland was(is) the Sealer in Thorn Bay. Not sure he still does it. Last year I had my bear sealed in Craig.

Ill send a pm.

[RB]

Rosie (John) Roseland was(is) the Sealer in Thorn Bay. Not sure he still does it. Last year I had my bear sealed in Craig.

Ill send a pm.

Perfect, received your PM Thank you 

[Chesapeake]

Few POW bears

[RB]

Holy Cow, Thank You that is Awesome!! 

[Chesapeake]

A pretty big sow w/twins. Maybe the fattest one we saw, think it was a sow but not sure. And a few smaller bears to give you an idea of what to consider passing.(Not saying to pass the fat one. We did, but because it was rubbed.)

[RB]

This is part of what has been challenging, how to judge a nice Bear. Awesome, thanks! 

[Chesapeake]

Its not easy for the average joe. I like to get inside of 200 yards and use good glass to look them over real well. I find that many of the boars have a brown muzzle. They have a more squared muzzle and blocky face. They look more bulky in the front, thicker front legs. Big wide head with small ears off to the sides and a crease down the middle.
The sows tend to have black more pointy muzzles and less blocky faces. They tend to be pear shaped with lighter front ends.

Thats easy to say, to write in a book, or put in a a short video. But in the field its not so simple.

They seem to only step out to feed for a little while. Often its just half a minute less than you need to judge them, make the call, then get into position. Then they walk back into the brush just before your ready.
The ones you dont want will stay out feeding forever it seams.

For me #1 is shoot a decent sized boar, never a sow and certainly not a sow w/cubs. After that its all just frosting. Either way your removing a fawn killer.

I look at the hide for rubbing. I prefer a nice hide over a slightly bigger skull. Unless I thought it was 20”, then Id overlook the rubbing.
They seem to rub the tops of their feet, the lower front legs, and sides just behind the front legs, their forehead. These parts will look redish or brownish if rubbed, not jet black.

[RB]

Really appreciate this, have some studying to do will be searching YouTube and other sources looking at coastal Black Bears. Thank You!

[Chesapeake]

Ill try and dig up some pics to try to show reference.

In my first post of pics the first 3 are shooters. They are 6’ bears with likely 19”-ish skulls.
The fourth pic is a younger boar, maybe a 5’ bear with Id guess a 17”-ish skull. Probably the upper side of the average bear taken in Washington but one to pass on POW.

In the second pic post #2 pic is a biggin. 6’+ for sure and Id guess 19”+ on the skull.
Pics 3 and 4 are young boars. 5’ sub 18” type bears you pass on.

[Chesapeake]

These 4 Id say are small younger bears. 5’ sub 18”.

[Chesapeake]

This is a small bear. Round head, Mickey mouse ears, not wide and blockey.

[Chesapeake]

This one is more medium sized. Ears look a bit smaller and off to the sides, still round and not blocky yet.

[Chesapeake]

This is a big one. Small ears well off to the sides. Big wide blocky head.

[Stein]

All I gotta say is good luck Bob, sounds like an awesome opportunity.