Bear hunters ? How big is she ?

[Jeff Porter]

My sister lives in Edwards CO on the Eagle River in a spot between 1-70 and Rt 6. Right in town near the athletic complex.

She had this momma sow and cubs in her back yard today. I am not a good judge of the size of bear but I told her I was thinking she was about 350 pounds.

What do you bear hunters say ?

 

[troupe]

I would give her a little more than 350, she has been around a while and surly have mothered many cubs.

 

[Jeff Porter]

Another shot of her. Big old noggin on her.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

The width of a front pad, height of the back is usually a good indicator of weight of a black bear. 175 is an average female black bear in Colorado. 4" female front PAD could be 180-200 pound bear. Top of her back 36" high.

 

[troupe]

That bear is far from 200lbs. Here is Eastern NC, we have some of the largest black bears roaming around. That is a big, old female. 800lb males and 400lb females are not uncommon here.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Really need something(scale) to estimate length/height. She hasn't rubbed hibernation(winter) coat, at least the side we see. And the photo has a lot of zoom to the image. And she is probably at lowest body weight of the year, coming out of hibernation with cubs.

 

[JFrank]

They are hard to judge, the feet don’t appear that large, perhaps a human foot next to a track would help.
She might be 175-200 lb but it’s tough from a picture.
Added: a Black Bear can have a coat with 3 inch long hair or longer. Mine does..

 

[Gary in MD]

Is this a contest, like guessing number of jelly beans in a jar?
Put me down for 310 pounds

 

[Rick in Oregon]

I had this guy around camp when I worked in the woods logging on Vancouver Island back in the 70's. Without anything to scale them with, it's hard to determine their weight. I just know to give the big ones a large berth to stay out of trouble.



Bears of this size were commonplace there, no big deal. The CO one shown is a large bear for the lower 48.

 

[Clancy]

400 neighborhood, heck of a bear.

 

[effendude]

I'd estimate that when fed and filled out in the fall, the sow would most likely weigh around 225-250# at the max. More likely her live weight is around 150-175#. There is lots of winter fur on the bear. Definitely a mature bear based off the ear distance and head shape.

Scott

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Big head, little bear. Little head, big bear. At least that's what I was told. Good sow there. I'd guess 350lbs., which is a pretty big arse sow black bear.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

When I ran baits/stands for hunters(before game cams) we used pad size and a beaver carcass hung 6'+ off the ground to determine if a shooter was on the bait. Our timer was a small timer with a string to put across the trail. Clock stopped when bear pulled the pin.