Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Bear Hunting => Topic started by: Superhunter333 on February 02, 2011, 08:14:06 PM

Title: How to tell?
Post by: Superhunter333 on February 02, 2011, 08:14:06 PM: I'm hunting spring bear in Idaho this year and Ive never hunted bear exclusively so I'm kinda new to it i was curious how do you tell the difference between a boar and sow? i know sows have cubs sometimes and exposed nipples and boars have testes and are usually bigger but what other differences do you guys use to tell. I searched the topics for this question and couldn't find anything sorry if this has already been a topic.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: Davo on February 02, 2011, 08:59:08 PM: Field judging bears is very difficult in general. Boars tend to look like they have smaller ears (maybe just because their heads are bigger) and their ears also look like they are more on the side of the head versus a sow or smaller bear whose ears appear to be larger and placed more on the top of the head. With a good pair of binoculars I start by glassing the head. Boars also tend to have a sway about their walk or movement, they appear to sway from side to side more than a sow as they walk. Boars also tend to have a belly that hangs lower to the ground but this might not be the case come spring. I would check out and study a bunch of pictures/video and you can make out some small but helpful differences. That being said it can still be pretty tricky. Good Luck.

-Davo
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: Coastal_native on February 02, 2011, 09:12:26 PM: Well lets see...if you look down between their back legs... :P.

I'm actually curious to see what people say. I have a fair amount of experience trapping and handling black bears and I still don't know. I could stare at a bear from 5 ft away for 15 minutes and still be wrong from time to time. The small bears are very hard to tell...and the big bears (250 lbs+) are boars more often than not. I've been told there are certain facial features that give it away, such as a flat, round forehead with a concave profile for a boar . Sows apparently have a head profile that is arc like (convex) from the top of the head continuing down to the tip of the nose. I never was able to apply that. After awhile it started to seem to me that at close range sows looked feminine in the face and boars looked masculine...sounds ridiculous. I've also heard that the position of the ears is an indicator, but that's only ever proven usefull to me for sizing them.

I imagine billythekidrock will have some good info to share?
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: carpsniperg2 on February 02, 2011, 09:25:55 PM: I am no expert by any means. But I look at the face a lot! I agree with coastal on this one. The smaller bears are a lot harder to judge then the bigger bears. The ears tend to show a lot more of the size. I have never been able to associate them with the sex of a bear. The look of the bears face can also hint to its sex. Like coastal said they can look feminine and the boars look more masculine. Flatter nose square head etc. Even some of the best well known bear hunters have a hard time telling the sex of bears.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: alwinearcher on February 02, 2011, 11:50:06 PM: I would say a boar also usually has a longer look to his body. To me a boar looks leaner and longer then a sow. The sows will have a smaller front and and a big rear where as the boar will be more even front and back.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: Machias on February 03, 2011, 08:19:02 AM: Superhunter333, you already hunting a particular area? Already have hunting partners? Just curious, I'll be baiting over there this year as well.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: Jason on February 03, 2011, 08:23:15 AM: Quote from: Machias on February 03, 2011, 08:19:02 AM
Superhunter333, you already hunting a particular area? Already have hunting partners? Just curious, I'll be baiting over there this year as well.
Is spring Bear in Idaho draw only?
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: Machias on February 03, 2011, 08:35:50 AM: Nope it's OTC.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: longrange7mm on February 03, 2011, 09:15:18 AM: Looking at the Chest and front legs can also help you when your field judging a bear, on a mature bear from the front a boar has a broad chest and thick wrists a sow will look narrow chested and her front legs will narrow towards her wrists. From The side a boar will appear longer than a sow, big mature sows look short and squatty and a boar will look long with a big beer belly. You can tell a big boar by watching him he will not be looking around acting nervous and he will walk around like he is the King of the Forrest. smaller bears and sows are always looking and listening for bigger bears.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: Ray on February 03, 2011, 09:21:18 AM: I couldn't tell the difference until my 2nd year observing bears. I believe AlwineArcher has pretty much described it well.

Quote
smaller bears and sows are always looking and listening for bigger bears.

Very true.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: MtnMuley on February 03, 2011, 10:06:47 AM: Quote from: alwinearcher on February 02, 2011, 11:50:06 PM
I would say a boar also usually has a longer look to his body. To me a boar looks leaner and longer then a sow. The sows will have a smaller front and and a big rear where as the boar will be more even front and back.

:yeah:

Also, the general appearance of a sow will look bigger than it is, due to their shorter, fatter appearance. Thus, many of newcomers that shoot their first bear find considerable ground shrinkage. While the boar might tend to look thinner and lengthy, his distinctively longer snout is an easy give away to his sex. Now......... a lengthy, fat, long nosed bear, is the bear of choice to most bear hunters........just view Alwine's bear success pics this last fall. They did outstanding.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: jackmaster on February 03, 2011, 10:15:12 AM: run up and give him a feel :dunno:there is no sure fire method i have gotton lucky with the block head method if its real blocky and walks with a little more confidence then there is a good chance that its a boar. sows seem to cower when they walk and there heads are more slender bullit shaped
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: alwinearcher on February 03, 2011, 10:51:19 AM: Quote from: MtnMuley on February 03, 2011, 10:06:47 AM
Quote from: alwinearcher on February 02, 2011, 11:50:06 PM
I would say a boar also usually has a longer look to his body. To me a boar looks leaner and longer then a sow. The sows will have a smaller front and and a big rear where as the boar will be more even front and back.

:yeah:

Also, the general appearance of a sow will look bigger than it is, due to their shorter, fatter appearance. Thus, many of newcomers that shoot their first bear find considerable ground shrinkage. While the boar might tend to look thinner and lengthy, his distinctively longer snout is an easy give away to his sex. Now......... a lengthy, fat, long nosed bear, is the bear of choice to most bear hunters........just view Alwine's bear success pics this last fall. They did outstanding.
Exactly, A big Long nose is a dead give away..
Thanks! We got lucky... :)
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: woodywsu on February 03, 2011, 11:06:08 AM: Quote from: MtnMuley on February 03, 2011, 10:06:47 AM
a lengthy, fat, long nosed bear, is the bear of choice to most bear hunters

:yeah: Length of nose and body is key IMO. But I've been wrong before, once.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: upriver on February 03, 2011, 11:22:40 AM: Males seem more lanky but like everyone else has said- it's not a science. Size is hard to tell sometimes as well. I've seen a few that look like trucks and you know they are big but other than a few times they are hard to tell.
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: alwinearcher on February 03, 2011, 11:35:35 AM: One great thing about hunting bears over bait is you will have the barrel to compare the bears size to.
Really helps in field judging!
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: huntnnw on February 03, 2011, 10:46:34 PM: mature boars.. become pigeon toed and have a sway with their walk.. dead give away.. a sow will have the appearance of a large ass and narrow front end
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: MAVsled on February 03, 2011, 11:19:37 PM: I go by looking at the bear's head.
Large,squarish head, ears more on the side and the angle of the forehead2snout from a side view. Agree that younger bears are harder to identify as boars. pretty hard to look between a bear's hind legs, even with a rear view. too much fur :)

My labrador dogs help.
How?!
look at the head of an adult male lab and an adult female lab; straight on, sideview and slope of forehead to nose.
My male lab's head is much more blockier appearing and wide with blunt snout. The female lab's head appears very different. I see this trait in other people's labs too.

both my choc labs were of the same age and from same litter. But I lost the female to a freak accident a few years ago :'(
Title: Re: How to tell?
Post by: high country on February 19, 2011, 07:22:05 AM: The wdfw offers a great video to eastside spring hunters, it is a good watch. Long story short, a big ass and short neck is a dead giveaway of a sow. It is easy to tell a boar from a sow, it is tougher to tell a good boar from an average one. Just take the time to watch....it becomes obvious. It helps to get out and see a lot of bears, the right area in id, you may see several a day.