Bear Management

[beenthere]

Record bear taken in WI (and recorded) was 700 #'s (so says the DNR).

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah Jeff, big enough to wrestle for sure.  But thinking along the lines of 400 lb'er for comparison, one as big as the door casing. Something 700 lb would be rare in these parts because we have a regular bear season in spring and fall. Last year I seen a blind set up for fall hunting near a den. Found 4 or 5 dens, all on hardwood sites. I guess one was on an aspen/fir site, he had the little fir tops all broken off around his den.

[Jeff]

I heard once the average bear harvested in Michigan was less then 150.

[Reddog]

I heard once the average bear harvested in Michigan was less then 150.

Sounds about right. Also most are last years cubs.
Hard to see the big ones in the dark, once they are over 200#'s they seem to go nocturnal.

[beenthere]

Wisconsin info on adult bear from DNR. Where indicates the 250# is the lighter weight of adults.

Adult male bears, called boars, average 4.5 to 6 feet in length and weigh 250-500 pounds, with the average being 300-400 pounds. The smaller females, or sows, weigh 225-450 pounds and measure 4 to 4.5 feet long.  When standing on all four paws, adult bears measure 2 to 3 feet tall at their shoulders. The largest bear ever recorded in Wisconsin was documented in 1963 at an astounding 700 pounds! But that's the exception to the rule. 

[Sprucegum]

Two years ago a couple tourists bumped into a 120 pound bear. That bear gave them a whoppin' like they had never had before      Fast, agile, strong, and smelled bad too 

[Jeff]

Wisconsin info on adult bear from DNR. Where indicates the 250# is the lighter weight of adults.

Adult male bears, called boars, average 4.5 to 6 feet in length and weigh 250-500 pounds, with the average being 300-400 pounds. The smaller females, or sows, weigh 225-450 pounds and measure 4 to 4.5 feet long.  When standing on all four paws, adult bears measure 2 to 3 feet tall at their shoulders. The largest bear ever recorded in Wisconsin was documented in 1963 at an astounding 700 pounds! But that's the exception to the rule. 

You can't go by mature adult size to get the average real life observed bear size, as there are lots of younger bears out there, you also have to consider the region in which the bears exist, whether or not the population is on the upswing, or on the down.

[SwampDonkey]

Yes, I would agree and add in there the weight of bears being harvested (you probably mean that as well). I've seen fellows shoot spring cubs and about scared to death with the shakes before shooting, especially the ones that like to climb the tree stand. Grandfather would tell about such incidents and I'd about fall over laughing.

[ErikC]

  In Ca we have a lot of bears, and I would say the average is 150 or so here too. We hunt them a LOT, and a 200lb bear is a nice bear, 300 lb or bigger is a big bear, and almost always a boar. That fact of sows being a lot smaller will lower your average adult weight well below 300 lbs. I have killed several over 400 lbs, and one that was 540, (these were able to be weighed) People way overestimate weight on bears as a rule.

[Sprucegum]

A bear's size will change dramatically depending on whether it is coming towards you or going away. They also get a lot smaller the moment they drop dead.   

[ErikC]

  Those are pretty much the weight calculation factors sprucegum

[sjfarkas]

I like bear meat.  My whole family will eat it.  We think it is better than dear.  Good luck hunting and get the crock pot out.

[nas]

If bears are like people it's not the 700lb ones you worry about

[pappy19]

I like bear meat.  My whole family will eat it.  We think it is better than dear.  Good luck hunting and get the crock pot out.

I have seen too many bears eating a rotten carcus with maggots, including dead and rotten fish, garbage, etc. I will never eat a bear knowingly. Same thing as a possum IMO. I'd eat a cougar or a raccoon before I'd eat a nasty bear. Not to mention that bears are known for tricanotious; you can have all my bear meat.

[Ron Scott]

Healthy orphaned cubs return to Sierra National Forest

On January 10, two orphaned bear cubs were returned to the Sierra National Forest nearly five months after a poacher killed their mother.  The distraught male cubs were undernourished and underweight for their age and biologists determined they would not survive on their own. Named "The Fresno Brothers," the cubs spent their time in captivity eating leafy vegetables, watermelon, sweet potatoes and live fish.  To prevent them from bonding with humans, handlers avoided contact and placed their food out of sight.  Now about 1 year old, the cubs were deemed ready to return to the wild.  In preparation for their homecoming, two small dens were dug in the Kaiser Pass Wilderness on the forest to house them once they were tranquilized and transported.  The den openings were then covered with sticks and logs with the hope that once the tranquilizer wears off, the cubs will hibernate until spring.

The Chief's Newsletter