Bear Question

[Ridgerunner]

What is considered an average bear in Washington and a good bear in Washington?  I'm talking what they square out at, not weight. 

[Bofire]

Average?? I'd guess about 5 foot.
I have a 7'2" it is the biggest my taxidermist has done. I think anything over 7 foot is pretty big for here.
But I have no data to prove that!! LOL
Carl

[T-ROY]

I'd say any thing over 6 foot, 300 pounds or a  19" skull is a dandy but a seven footer is a real dandy.

[GoldTip]

Over 6' bear in Washington I would compare to shooting a 145" whitetail, they are certainly around, but your not necassarily going to get one every year, or even every other year.  A 7' black bear(measured nose to tail) south of the Canadian line is a pretty rare critter, that would equate to a 180" whitetail in my opinion.  Most guys never see one.

[T-ROY]

Over 6' bear in Washington I would compare to shooting a 145" whitetail, they are certainly around, but your not necassarily going to get one every year, or even every other year.  A 7' black bear(measured nose to tail) south of the Canadian line is a pretty rare critter, that would equate to a 180" whitetail in my opinion.  Most guys never see one.

well put,   I was gonna say the same thing about the seven footer. I have never seen one, but a friend of mine killed  one 2 years ago that  field dressed at 525, and that was on a scale, not guessing. we never measured it but had to be close to 7 in not better, it was a brute as far as the average goes the taxidermist i use says his average bear he get is 5' 150 pounders.

[actionshooter]

I would go along with 6' is a pretty good bear with the average about 5'. I've seen alot of bears both breathing and not, I haven't seen but a couple that were close to 7'

[billythekidrock]

I hear of a couple seven footers every year by people that know what they are talking about. The only dead seven footer I have seen was on POW. I have seen a couple alive that would go seven up on the OP. My largest was in Thurston County. 6.6 ft and 20 inch skull.

Average on the westside would be about 5 - 5.5 ft, 180-200lbs for males.

[russ]

what does POW stand for?

[actionshooter]

Prince of Wales
 Thats a good bear Billy, My brother in law took a 6-6 a couple of years ago, my biggest has been 6-2. I seen a blonde/red in the NE about 5 years ago that I was sure was 7' and I saw a dead 6-11 (close enough to 7) in the back of a truck come of the coast.

[cohoho]

 :drool:A nice Washington shade of blonde about 5.5 would do me fine.    Same average sized for Price William Sound and most places in AK, most are 5 1/2 some big monsters to 7 but not very often, average skulls 16.5 to 16.75, the bigger boys going out at 19-19.5.  Like Billy said if you want a big boy go to Southern Alaska, POW Island area...

[SHANE(WA)]

doesnt matter to me, all about skull size, I guided my buddy to the new WA state record blackie a few years ago and the bear was only around 325-350lbs not really big.I saw a life size bear at a taxidermist shop that had a 21" skull in a 300Lb bear, on the other hand my dad shot a bear that taped out at 7' 2" nose to tail and only had a 19 5/8 head.

[T-ROY]

when you tape a bear are you suppose run the tape with the curvature of the head OR from the Chin straight back. proabalya acouple of inches different i'd guess.

[GoldTip]

I've seen one bear I believe would have gone over 7' nose to tail.  Bowhunting NW Montana, a beautiful cinnamon.  Never got closer than 70 yards to him during a spring spot and stalk hunt.  I measure them nose to tail, skull out laying flat, tip of nose to tip of tail, no stretch.  I tube skinned a bear that came off Mica Peak here in Spokane that went 6'11".   It was hard to even believe the tape measure looking at it.  So I layed down on the thing flat on the floor, I am 6'2" and with the tips of my toes stretched out on it's tail, the top of my head reached it's forehead.  Damn big bear.  Only had a 19 5/8 skull however.

[Skyvalhunter]

Measure the hide nose to tail + end of front paw to end of front paw then take the average unstretched. Of coarse the books want skull measurement.

[Michelle_Nelson]

   When you skin an animal.  I don't care what it is, it will stretch.  I have to be real careful wnen I measure a skin for life size.  I like to measure the animal as a whole to get the proper measurments.  Most of the time that is not possible.

I know a lot of people like to measure their bear rugged out, but if you want the true length it should be measured off the animal.  

Take 2 bears for example.  both are 6' measured from the whole bear.  Bear #1 has a 40" girth while bear #2 has a 50" girth.  When you skin both bears out Bear #2 has the potential to be longer when measured.

Make sense?