Is this a big bear track?

[cohntr6]

Took this picture today while out looking for sheds. Not too familiar with bear tracks. I believe it is a hind foot track. My water bottle is your standard 20 oz. pop bottle about 8 1/2" in length. I followed him? for a while on a old road. The snow was melting fast today so it was a very fresh track. Thanks for anybody's help.
Jeff

 

[RLH]

uh, yeah.

 

[willyqbc]

Hard to tell by the picture, it depends on whether the track has melted out a bit. A good judge for size of bear leaving the track is to measure the width of the front pad. As a rough rule of thumb a 5 foot bear will generally have a 5" wide pad, a 6 footer will have a 6" wide pad etc. This is not an exact science, but will generally be pretty close.
Chris

 

[RLH]

i think it's a sasquatch. it's a knowed for sure fact that they loves a-n' dubya.

 

[NVBighorn]

I don't know anything about bears or their tracks but have one question. When you say 6 foot bear and 5 foot bear, what exactly are you referring to? I assume 6 feet measured from somewhere to somewhere, but is that hide on the carcass, hide off the carcass? Nose to tail? Toe to toe? I'm not joking, I really don't know a damm thing about bears. We ain't got very many of 'em here in Nevada. Enlighten me please.

 

[CATMAN]

NvBighorn,
Yup they measure nose to tip of tail....sposed to be while the bear is whole, but if you hook 2-Ford powerstrokes together with the hide in between....you can gain quit a bit..

 

[NVBighorn]

Catman,

I see. Thanks for the info. Basically it's like measuring a lion. Lots bigger once they are skinned and used for a tow rope. So then what does "squared" mean? I see HarryHunter refer to square bears and I am wondering how that relates to this measurement?

Jeez, I feel like a kid. Why this? What's that? Oh well, at my age you take every opportunity you get to feel like a kid. Most mornings I can barely stand up.

 

[HunterHarry]

"Squared" is the nose to tail measurement+ the claw to claw to measurement diveded by two.That is of the hide laid out flat, there are all degrees of stretching that goes on but the honest measurements are done without any significant stretching!

 

[NVBighorn]

HH, thanks. I understand now. I think. Wait. Claw to claw on the front feet? (just like having a six year old around isn't it)

Reason I ask all this is because my son just killed his first bear in Idaho (I haven't even seen pictures yet) and he was asking me what all these measurements mean. I will try to get a picture and some specifics from him. I know it was over 6 feet nose to tail, hide still on the carcass.

 

[HoundDawg]

Hard for me to tell by the photo, but the above post is correct. Measure across the front pad and generally 4.5 to 5" across is a boar and if it's over 5" across, probably a damn nice one.

But hind feet can be deceiving because they are much bigger and a fair sized bear's hind foot can look like a Sasquatch.

Good way to tell is measure width of the front pad. Better way to tell is tree the damn thing and look him over, best way to tell is shoot him down and measure the skull.

But if you are gonna be an honorary hound guy you just need to start telling your buddies, "Took this photo the other day. Experts estimate it's the new world record black bear."

-Dawg

 

[BCBOY]

Hard to tell in the snow, especially at this time of the year. A track laid in the morning will be quite melted out by the afternoon. I've always found the the best indicater of a big bear is a big pile of Sh*t. Big A$$holes produce Big Sh*t. If the pile looks like a grizzly dropped it, then you've got a big bear.
When it comes to measuring bears, a skinned out bear will a lot of times be smaller than on the carcus. When rug mounted, the taxidermist pulls and yankes on that hide pretty good and it will usually end up bigger then when measured green.
Taxidermist's always charge based on a "per foot" basis. I just found out they now measure from tip of the front leg to the tip of the oposite rear leg. Of course the bear is bigger that way and they'll make more money. LOL!

 

[HunterHarry]

cohntr6!I think you get it, My biggest black bear squared 7ft 5in---He was7ft 9in(93in) from claw tip to claw tip and 7ft 2in nose to tail(86in) you take those two measurements and divide by two and take that number and divide by 12(inches) and you reach the squared number! In comparison my Kodiak Brown Bear squared 10ft 1in,he was 10ft 6in claw to claw (126in) and 9ft 8in nose to tail(116in)Generally bears are always longer across the paws than they are nose to tail,(however measurements can change due to which way they are stretched first-length or width) however "bear" in mind that in the world of hunting there is probably more lies told about bear square numbers than anything else! That is why B&C uses skull sizes not hide sizes! Also the numbers can be manipulated by excessive stretching(much like measuring ones manhood!)P.S That was a two liter bottle in the photo wasn't it? and B.C boy! there must certainly be some HUGE S**T around here judging by the size of AS*****s on this site!-----------OUT----(HunterHarry)

 

[cohntr6]

HH,
No, that is a 20 oz. bottle. It is a black bear, I live in Colorado, there are no Grizzlies here (at least since 1979). Sorry never found any crap. I was looking for sheds.
Jeff

 

[BCWILL]

Hello,
Here is a pic of a track left by a Grizz my buddy and me ran into while Moose hunting up in Mckenzie B.C. last fall.
He wasn't a monster but big enough to make us sweat a little till he ran off down the cut ! Closest I've ever been to a Grizzly ( 40 yds ) Don't know who was more freaked out him or us ! (My size 12 Kamik boots are 5 inches across for a size reference!) Yes, the track is fresh ! About 2 minutes old.

BCWILL (Didn't think of my camera till he was gone ?)

 

[supersider34]

I read earlier about taxidermists that stretch the hides for more money. Well I know this to be true as my brother had his done and the taxidermist measured his from nose to hide leg stretched out behind it and came up with 6' 10". I got a bear this year over bait and it measured 6'2" from nose to tail on the carcass and had a 18 1/8" skull after boiling it. My taxidermist measured him for my rug and only charged me for a 5'6" bear. He did not stretch it just laid it on the floor and measured it. It freaked me out as the way he measured it. I thought how did he come up with that measurement. But he said if he stretched the bear hide and started trying to take money from people he would lose business and he trys to be far about it we he does mounts. He does awesome work also as I had my deer head done from last year.
I agree with the track measurements from above about 5" being roughly a 5' bear. my bear had 6" pad on his front pads.
Just my thoughts and experience.