Spring Pelts

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I have been doing a lot of research on Ursus Americanus, and have heard a lot of different things about bear hides...
Like, spring is best, because they still have their winter coat,
Spring is better because they havenot rubbed yet....
Spring is worse because they rubbed bald patches in the den,
or, mice clipped their hair to make nests while they were in the den (R.Flowers)
Bald spots due to scratching from insects...etc..I was just curious, how many of you that harvested a bear in the spring had bald spots, or other issues with your pelts?
Not that it really matters to me, I mean, I will stick an arrow in a bald bear, I was just wondering....

[Gringo31]

From my limited experience hunting blacks in Alaska.  Early in the season you see fewer bears but good coats.  Later in the season, you see 3x the bears but finding one without rub marks becomes more difficult.

[littlemac]

I have four black bears that I have made rugs out of.  Three of them taken early, first couple of weeks of the season and one a bit later.  Odds of getting a nice coat that isn't all screwed up from fighting, rubbing, or just not that good would be earlier in the season from my observations.

The later one I took knowing it had a one pound coffee can lid sized rub, not too bad, the earlier ones were in great shape.  I have passed on bears that had more significant rubs but last year I was going to take a bear that had rubbed a significant amount of its ass hair off because it was a hog.  Didn't get an opportunity for a shot however.

I also came back from a brown bear hunt in Alaska having passed on the only bear I had a shot at because the only hair he had was on his legs, the rest was rubbed off, that in combination with being around a 7' bear made the choice easy.

[rasbo]

havent had a bad one yet...all mine were taken mid July,every spring bear Ive seen had great pelts..as the weather heats the rub

[Ridgerunner]

every spring bear Ive seen had great pelts

That's what I like to hear.....

[Machias]

I hunted two springs up in Alberta, along the Peace River, some of the spring coats were simply amazing how thick and long they were.  A bonus is the claws are also very long from not being used all winter.  I have a red Cinnamon that has amazingly long claws.

[billythekidrock]

Of the last few that I have been on, only one had a decent hide, one was ok and one was not worth much. The worst was killed the earliest.

Also keep in mind that "good" is in the eye of the beholder and a taxidermist or a furrier might think otherwise.

[rasbo]

I hunted two springs up in Alberta, along the Peace River, some of the spring coats were simply amazing how thick and long they were.  A bonus is the claws are also very long from not being used all winter.  I have a red Cinnamon that has amazingly long claws.

sweet Fred that and a blonde is what I need

[saylean]

Spring bear from last year.

Had a great hide!

[bearmanric]

Sweet bear saylean. Can't wait to get he and play
with the bears.
Rick