600lb black bear?

T

Thunderclapper

Active Member
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I saw about a dozen bears while hunting this season. Most were black bears between 180 and 250lbs. However, near Gibson Lake in Montana a buddy and I saw a special bear. I'm guessing he was 6 1/2 feet and his belly dragged the ground. He looked like a maggot when he moved with waves of fat traveling the length of his body as he walked.

Is a 600lb black bear possible in the Rockies?
 
Thinking back, if it really was that big, it could have been the best trophy relative to its species that I've ever seen. Not being a bear expert, would it be easy to misjudge a bear of that size by 100lbs?
 
Check out the Black bear on "B&C Trophy Watch" supposed to weigh over 700 lbs.not sure if its PhotoChopped
 
Well I know it was a long time ago, but my Grandma killed this bear, which was just under 9ft and when they lifted it in the tree to hang it--- it lifted the jeep off the ground (had a huge power takeoff winch on the front). They actually had to run a cable over the front bumper and anchor the front of the jeep down to the ground before they got it into the tree. I believe it weighed just under 800lbs and was shot in 1945 with a 257 Roberts. It currently resides in my house. So I guess it is possible.

BearCat

8036grandma-1945-1.jpg


8814grandparents-1945-3.jpg
 
That be a WYOMING Bear. Not sure what is squared back then, but after 65 years it is about 8'x8'. I will try and take a picture as it is today on the wall. My Grandma shot her last elk when she was 75 (one shot through the neck on the run).

D
 
Thanks everyone!

It is pretty cool to hear the stories from my Grandma and Grandpa (90 and 93). It seems that my Grandma was a bit peaved at my Grandfather for letting her and her friend (the ladies) sit by themselves while the guys dogged for elk. She was afraid of bears at the time-ha ha ha. Little did they know this guys would come out, which at first glance they thought was a moose by the sheer size and color.

Anyway it hangs in my office and there are many times that my friends ask me where my "grizzly" bear was shot-ha ha ha.

BearCat
 
I've hunted bear a lot and have seen very few that would top 500lbs. I've hunted Kuiu Island in Alaska, a population of thirty people, and those bears get HUGE! Even on Kuiu I'm not sure I've seen a 600-lber.


For long distance dial 1-800-338-EDGE
 
Wow BearCat, that bear is certainly a toad; and brought down by a .257 Roberts, WTH???? Guess it goes to show that size isn't everything on a gun, LOL! Your grandma must have been a pretty tough lady to endure the needling by everyone for a woman to go out hunting with the men in that day and time, back then women were just getting into the workforce, she was out there pulling her weight in the woods with a harvest like that. If she is still alive tell her congrats on that kill so many moons ago. Interesting though the bears on POW islands in Alaska usually run at least 1/4" larger in skull size on average than their lower 48 cousins, I don't think I ever hear of any going over 450 lbs. on the conservative end of the stick, 600 lbs. would certainly be a stretch, not unreachable; but certainly a unique specimen.
WVBOWAK
 
Thanks!!

She is an amazing women. It is great to take the great grandkids over and have here tell the story. I am not sure if it is the way they lived, what they ate or what, but their minds are as sharp as a tack. She shot her last elk at age 75, and my grandpa shot his at 86.

My grandpa said that he loved hunting and that he was going to go hunting every weekend and he would buy my grandma the best gear they could afford if she would go with him--if not she could stay home. Probably not what we would say now adays!! Anyway she chose to go with him and has ever since.

They had Jonas Brothers out of denver mount it and supposedly it would have been the world record at the time, but my grand parents threw away the skull. You have to remember it was in the depression and they did not care. It cost $57 to mount it which was a ton back then.

Anyway it is not worth much $, but it means the world to me.

later
BearCat
 
"Anyway it is not worth much $, but it means the world to me."

BearCat, that thing is PRICELESS!!! The odds of shooting a black bear that size again and the memories to go with it are basically ZERO!

You have some awesome grandparents!


Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
mntman---Your post is right on the button! That bear is priceless and so are those grandparents! The bear in Colorado that guy got a few months ago has caused such a stir that the DOW is now in the process of having a law passed that will make taking one from a cave or den illegal! He had tracked it to a cave where most felt that it had gone in and was hibernating for the winter! There are some bears throughout their range that will hit 500#, but any over about 350# are few and far between. In fact, I had a big boar in the yard up at my cabin in northern Michigan a few years ago that a guy who ran them with dogs all the time and knows bears said would have probably touched 500#. Most guys that take one figure that a bear that hits half that weight is a real good one!!!
 

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