Bearpaw Season - Spring 2021

[bearpaw]

Dave from Georgia was the last of these guys to tag out, we set up for an evening hunt, the smaller tom in the photo came by on our left, we could see a good beard on the bird but Dave needed to move about 5 feet in order to get a clear shot but a hen came from the right only 12 feet from us, we didn’t dare even blink, finally the hen circled around and moving away, I called and the tom started moving toward us more, but the hen was now moving away and of course the tom followed her, we didn’t quite get a shot but sat tight and waited a while. I finally called several times again and before too long we saw probably the same tom again on the left, he started to angle away, I called he picked his head up, just as I thought Dave was going to shoot he dropped his head and walked about 5 yards away, I called a couple times finally he picked his head up again and Dave hammered him. I motioned to Dave for us to sit tight, I knew there were other birds in the vicinity. The bird flopped out and we let him lay, after an hour we spotted some birds at long distance moving toward their roost so we waited another 10 minutes and I said let’s go, we got up slowly and carefully surveyed the area around us and spotted two more hens moving to our far left, then we spotted the big tom behind them, we waited for the birds to go out of sight and then moved about 20 yards and set up an ambush, we waited, first one hen came by, then the other hen, then the tom came, whammo, big bird down! This bigger bird had two beards, 8.5” and 6”, Dave was elated. These guys completed their one year slams on this hunt and Dave was the last of them to do it on the evening of the last day of their hunt!

The smaller bird with an 8" beard, probably a 2 year old had lost his tail, part of the fan was growing back, but part of the actual tail was missing so not all the tail feathers were growing back, I'm guessing a predator must have almost had a turkey dinner?

[bearpaw]

Jim from Colorado nailed this 7’3” Idaho Blackie yesterday evening on the first day of his hunt. This is our best bear so far this year.

[Timberstalker]

7'3"!!!!!
My goodness.  What a toad.

[trophyhunt]

Looks like a big ole bear!

[Rob]

how much does a 7'3 bear weigh?  is that from tip of tail to tip of nose?

[bearpaw]

how much does a 7'3 bear weigh?  is that from tip of tail to tip of nose?

Yes nose to tail, there is no specific weight, but remembering back to fall bear that I have measured that were 7'+ here in Washington, they were all well over 400 pounds in the fall. I'm guessing a fat 400 pound fall bear might only weigh 250-300ish in the spring, but I don't know that for sure and it would depend on how tough of winter it was too?

This bear has a good looking noggin on him, he's a big bear but not as big as some taken in previous seasons in Idaho or Washington. I haven't seen it myself, I'm in WA doing turkey hunts, my son runs the Idaho bear hunts. The head will get green measured at the taxidermist just in case.

I decided to google weight loss in hibernation and got this, my guess was fairly close:

Weight loss during hibernation is extreme. Male black bears will typically drop between 15 and 30 percent of their body weight, while reproductive sows can lose up to 40 percent. Despite this grave weight loss, more than 90 percent of black bears survive the winter.

[Rob]

Thanks Dale!

[bearpaw]

Tim from Colorado attached his second tag to this boar on the 4th day of his hunt. Great shooting Tim! 

[idaho guy]

7-3 wow nice Idaho bear 

[bearpaw]

Ira from Maryland with one of his two birds taken yesterday on the first day of his hunt.

[bearpaw]

Ira with his other bird, congrats Ira for finishing your one year grand slam with us!

[bearpaw]

We were done turkey hunting by noon so we grabbed the .22 and did some rodent control on one of the farms we hunt. Ranchers are always happy when you thin the numbers a little.

[Machias]

Nice Ira!!

[bearpaw]

James from South Carolina shows off the fan of his Washington State Merriam’s.

[bearpaw]

James from South Carolina with his other Washinton bird, congrats on a very successful late season hunt James, we look forward to seeing you next year.