Color phase bear

[saylean]

I woulda shot it...

[boneaddict]

Idabooner has seen one, a blue bear that is.  He'll have to tell that story.

[jstamp]

I woulda shot it...

ME TOO

[actionshooter]

My cousin killed a glacier bear in alaska, pretty impressive. I'll try to get a pic, It was on display at the sportsmans show a few years ago. Cabelas offered a pretty fair chunk of change for the rug and he refused.

[Idabooner]

Idabooner has seen one, a blue bear that is.  He'll have to tell that story.

Boneaddict would have been about a year old when his 8 year old brother and I were hunting up out of 25 mile creek, about 10:am it started dumping snow big time.  Didn't want to get that kid to wet so were calling it a day, had just started down the road when I seen where something had slid off the bank into and across the road, fair size bear tracks and no snow in them.   It was so close I had to try for it, can't leave the kid so I put an old man size plastic slicker on him and drug him over the hill on the track.  It was very steep and slick for a long ways, nothing makes more noise than a kid in a cold plastic slicker with the sleeves dragging the ground. We were hurrying but the tracks were getting snow in them, then we come to less steep ground and the air was full of honey bees, the bear had knocked over a 18 inch dead snag and ripped it open to a honey bee nest, there was lots of honey and the bees were still mad, the tracks leaving were fresh again, the terrain was open timber with buck brush. I was dragging the boy with one hand and rifle in the other moving as fast as possible when I caught movement ahead, the wet  BLUE BEAR was 75 feet facing me, before I could get a shot he jumped off the log he was on and disappeared.  I knew the game was over but I checked out the tracks to learn what happened.
    We had spooked him off the honey tree, he went 200 yards, took a big dump and come back his track to check us out. A few feet from his dump was another and another, 5 or 6 all very fresh dumps, I back tracked a couple of them, it appeared they had come off the hill on different finger ridges and had a meeting there then all went their own ways. I would have liked to spend more time there checking it out but had to get that boy out of there, it was dark when we got back to the road, with a very tired but dry boy.
    It's always been a question to me what happened that day, was it a bear cross roads and the sudden change in weather sent them to lower country all at the same hour?    I went back a couple times next year but missed the magic hour, it was a hell hole in there and most bears would have been safe, but for a blue I would have figured out a way to get him out.

Have any of you guys seen a similar thing?

[ICEMAN]

Not me, never seen anything like that. Great story.

[billythekidrock]

I have not seen one other then on tv and they are always in AK. It would sure be a sight.

[Skyvalhunter]

Yea those Glacier bears ar hard to get in Alaska. One of the guys that guided me on one of my sheep hunts in Alaska gets them out of Lake Iliamna. It's that bluish tinge coloring that is popular.

[boneaddict]

Thanks for getting the story on here.  I haven't seen a gethering like that, but I have seen a bear wallow up by Kettle falls.  They use it every year.  The hucks come on and in the Aug/Sept heat they drop off the ridge and into this thick cedar crap where there is a couple big "bathtubs" coming out  of a spring.  It would be impossible to tell how many bears use it every year and at the same time, but the word lots means something.  I think I sorted out at least a dozen tracks one time.  I only killed two bears there, both straight up the hill.  I never sat on the wallow.  It would be a good spot to put a stand, but thats not my cup of tea. 

[JoeVon]

I had a chance at a bear similar to the one the thread starter got up near Randle.  I had to pass cause she had 3 cubs with her.  On one hand it was easy to do because of the cubs but the little guy on my shoulder was tellin me to fling some lead.  I'm glad that I didn't do it though, as I was blessed with a black phase bear with a white patch on its chest towards the end of the season.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Were any of the cubs color phase?

I just got to thinking.  I've only seen one bear out hunting.  Of course I don't get a whole lot of cubs into mount, lol.  So I have never seen a cub up and personal.  I was just wondering are Bear Cubs color phased from birth or is ths something they aquire when they begin to reach adulthood?

I mean can you tell what color a cub is going to be as an adult?

[WAcoyotehunter]

I think you can.  I have a picture of three cubs together, they're all different colors, blonde, cinnamon, and black.  There was a fouth cub in the "litter" also; he was brown.  He was more wary than the rest and ran off.  We were in a boat and the three let us get right up to them, the black one even tried to get in the boat!! Supposedly the sow got into trouble in an orchard and was gone. 
We saw those cubs the next season in alomst the same place and were able to ID them.

[boneaddict]

They can change a bit, but they are color phase at birth, or at least when their hair comes in.  Theres a good picture on here of different colored cubs and Mom.  I've seen all three colors with a black Momma.  A bear can store their sperm for some time, thus she can be bred by multiple males and have lots of different genetics running around in there.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Interesting.  I'd like to see that picture but I can't find it! 

[JoeVon]

One of the cubs looked like it had a little bit of color phase to it.  I'll get the pictures I took through the spotting scope and see if I can them posted.