CANADA: Big Bears During The Rut In Saskatchewan

[Green Chile]

I'd like to see the head of the one on the left with his head in the barrel.

Good question but I will tell you that all of those are too small to shoot. The bears we are targeting would be taller than the barrel while standing on all fours. These are 55 gal barrels. With the barrel laying on it’s side, the gauge would be something about twice as tall as the barrel laying over. The general rule of thumb is that if the bear looks like it can get into the barrel, then it’s too small.

 

[BGGMKLR]

Ok so here I sit in camp on day 3 of a 5 day hunt. Out of 12 hunters, 7 have tagged out or lost their wounded bears. Three hunters are out on stand and I wish I was still hunting! Here is what my friend is seeing on stand…it’s like someone opened the doors to Jurassic Park!

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Last year I focused on 1 bear for the entirety of the hunt and took it on day 4, I believe. This year I was a little concerned about temps increasing to 90 degrees over the last half of the hunt. It’s always a little melancholy when the hunt is over or almost over!

Good stuff. Curious. Looking at this pic and seeing "all black"...how many hunters in camp...how many Bears collected...how many blackness?
As a 15 year + or- minus Bear guide in Nor Cal I can honestly say that 90% of the Bears taken by clients, friends, myself, we're all color-phase, very few blacks. I personally killed 8...one of which was black...my first.
I'm intrigued by the genetics of these things.
Best
Spike

 

[Green Chile]

Color phases and percentages are a fascinating subject. I don’t have my reference materials with me but can answer from some personal experience and add the guide’s observations after 20 years of taking bears in this province.

Hunting on reservations in AZ, I was told the color phases were over 50%. Living in Alaska for 12 years, I never saw a color phase black bear…they were all black BUT the ultimate unicorn was finding a blue phase glacier bear. I never saw one and they are rare. In New Mexico, color phase percentages were 50-60%. Here in Saskatchewan, many are black but I’ve taken or seen taken cinnamon, chocolate and blonde phases. The guide tells me the color phases here are about 30% with a large percentage of blacks having chevrons or white blazes on their chests. Interestingly, they have not taken a blonde phase that weighed much over 250.

 

[BGGMKLR]

Color phases and percentages are a fascinating subject. I don’t have my reference materials with me but can answer from some personal experience and add the guide’s observations after 20 years of taking bears in this province.

Hunting on reservations in AZ, I was told the color phases were over 50%. Living in Alaska for 12 years, I never saw a color phase black bear…they were all black BUT the ultimate unicorn was finding a blue phase glacier bear. I never saw one and they are rare. In New Mexico, color phase percentages were 50-60%. Here in Saskatchewan, many are black but I’ve taken or seen taken cinnamon, chocolate and blonde phases. The guide tells me the color phases here are about 30% with a large percentage of blacks having chevrons or white blazes on their chests. Interestingly, they have not taken a blonde phase that weighed much over 250.

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That, in my view, is indeed very interesting, fascinating, and thought provoking. Separation? Genetics? Food sources and availability (highly unlikely)?
In my experience, and from what I've laid eyes on, here, the most likely Bears to have a white chest chevron were blacks...probably (guessing) 50-60%.
I did however harvest a chocolate 500 lb + jumbo calf-killer south of Yosemite with that "white" chest chevron. It's indeed a wonderment.

 

[HankBuck]

Color phases and percentages are a fascinating subject. I don’t have my reference materials with me but can answer from some personal experience and add the guide’s observations after 20 years of taking bears in this province.

Hunting on reservations in AZ, I was told the color phases were over 50%. Living in Alaska for 12 years, I never saw a color phase black bear…they were all black BUT the ultimate unicorn was finding a blue phase glacier bear. I never saw one and they are rare. In New Mexico, color phase percentages were 50-60%. Here in Saskatchewan, many are black but I’ve taken or seen taken cinnamon, chocolate and blonde phases. The guide tells me the color phases here are about 30% with a large percentage of blacks having chevrons or white blazes on their chests. Interestingly, they have not taken a blonde phase that weighed much over 250.

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@Green Chile - interesting about the “Blonde” bears never being over 250lbs….as I have also noticed the Blonde bears taken are often much smaller then that. My guess was that NO Hunter passes up a Blonde and therefore they don’t get old enough to put some size on vs. them being genetically smaller??

 

[Green Chile]

It’s a good question but I’ve never heard a solid explanation for it. I have certainly seen them passed up in camp and we often put them up on screen and say take it if you want but it’s small. Some pass them up and some take them. There aren’t a lot of them. I’ve never seen a big one in taxidermy. I would say a 250 lb blonde phase is unusual in the camps I’ve been in. Most are 125-150.

 

[Green Chile]

That, in my view, is indeed very interesting, fascinating, and thought provoking. Separation? Genetics? Food sources and availability (highly unlikely)?
In my experience, and from what I've laid eyes on, here, the most likely Bears to have a white chest chevron were blacks...probably (guessing) 50-60%.
I did however harvest a chocolate 500 lb + jumbo calf-killer south of Yosemite with that "white" chest chevron. It's indeed a wonderment.

Interesting stuff indeed. I would love to see a photo of the jumbo you took…post it here if you don’t mind. The size difference between decent and jumbo is remarkable. I tell guys you won’t have to wonder about it…you will know right away. They are almost bow legged and swagger side to side. The other bears will immediately react to a big boy coming in. That’s why I like having small bears on bait; they will telegraph when something big is coming. Otherwise, they largely ignore smaller bears.

 

[Green Chile]

One of my favorite memories of this trip is getting to see more bear cubs and rut activity. I will share some videos of the cubs. They were born this year and very small…like little footballs. Fuzzy little babies.

 

[Green Chile]

The sow brought the cubs into the bait and then sent them up a tree so she could eat without watching them. If you listen, you can hear the cubs make little air sounds as they go up the tree.

 

[Green Chile]

These next 2 videos are interesting as they show a lot of body language of a protective sow with her cubs around threats.

 

[davidg8480]

Awesome footage. Enjoyed. Thanks

 

[BGGMKLR]

Interesting stuff indeed. I would love to see a photo of the jumbo you took…post it here if you don’t mind. The size difference between decent and jumbo is remarkable. I tell guys you won’t have to wonder about it…you will know right away. They are almost bow legged and swagger side to side. The other bears will immediately react to a big boy coming in. That’s why I like having small bears on bait; they will telegraph when something big is coming. Otherwise, they largely ignore smaller bears.

Sadly my field pics have been lost but here he is the following day. I'm sure you'll notice how tiny his noggin looks in proportion to body size . In actuality, it's not...
It is the only North American animal I've harvested that qualified for B&C.
Best
Spike

 

[Green Chile]

Here the sow is chasing off threats…

 

[Green Chile]

Sadly my field pics have been lost but here he is the following day. I'm sure you'll notice how tiny his noggin looks in proportion to body size . In actuality, it's not...
It is the only North American animal I've harvested that qualified for B&C.
Best
Spike

That’s a great bear and one any hunter would be proud to have. Craig Boddington told me that a truly big black bear is one of the things a lot of trophy rooms are missing. I see a lot of average black bears in trophy rooms but not many jumbos.

 

[Scott CWO]

One important topic on bears is where the vitals are located. They are not built like deer or most animals in North America. The vitals are further back and higher up from the belly line than you might think.

There is always an orientation in bear camp with a good discussion of target placement. This camp has a couple of full mount bears also to practice visualization. At my camp last year, 4 out of 10 hunters wounded and lost their bears. Two were using archery and two were using rifles. Bears are a little tricky if you aren’t familiar with their biology. See the photos below.

Broadheads and bullet designs are always a good topic. I’m also an archery hunter and personally would not use expandables on bears. Many do with no problems on rib shots. For bullets, I used an XTP last year in the 500 S&W levergun…and this year I’m using a 180 gr TTSX in the 300 win mag.

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Good info but the second to last photo is off a bit. Move everything a little bit more forward.

 

[BGGMKLR]

Sadly my field pics have been lost but here he is the following day. I'm sure you'll notice how tiny his noggin looks in proportion to body size . In actuality, it's not...
It is the only North American animal I've harvested that qualified for B&C.
Best
Spike

That’s a great bear and one any hunter would be proud to have. Craig Boddington told me that a truly big black bear is one of the things a lot of trophy rooms are missing. I see a lot of average black bears in trophy rooms but not many jumbos.

Very true GC.
Case in point. I called a buddy who was a fellow SCI board member and official B&C scorer and asked if he would score this Yogi...he laughed. I asked what was funny and he said he would, but out of the dozen or so he had checked, none had booked. He scored it 3 times, grinned, and shook my hand. I have been blessed and fortunate to have taken 2 of the big boys through the years.
Here's it's (nearly) twin... size-wise.
More of a red than a chocolate, and has the white chest chevron that I mentioned in my earlier post.
Congrats again on a very good Bear. Your willingness to "read the room" and change plans accordingly no doubt has served you well in the past.
Well done.
Regards
Spike

 

[BGGMKLR]

Sadly my field pics have been lost but here he is the following day. I'm sure you'll notice how tiny his noggin looks in proportion to body size . In actuality, it's not...
It is the only North American animal I've harvested that qualified for B&C.
Best
Spike

That’s a great bear and one any hunter would be proud to have. Craig Boddington told me that a truly big black bear is one of the things a lot of trophy rooms are missing. I see a lot of average black bears in trophy rooms but not many jumbos.

Very true GC.
Case in point. I called a buddy who was a fellow SCI board member and official B&C scorer and asked if he would score this Yogi...he laughed. I asked what was funny and he said he would, but out of the dozen or so he had checked, none had booked. He scored it 3 times, grinned, and shook my hand. I have been blessed and fortunate to have taken 2 of the big boys through the years.
Here's it's (nearly) twin... size-wise.
More of a red than a chocolate, and has the white chest chevron that I mentioned in my earlier post.
Congrats again on a very good Bear. Your willingness to "read the room" and change plans accordingly no doubt has served you well in the past.
Well done.
Regards
Spike

 

[BGGMKLR]

Very true GC.
Case in point. I called a buddy who was a fellow SCI board member and official B&C scorer and asked if he would score this Yogi...he laughed. I asked what was funny and he said he would, but out of the dozen or so he had checked, none had booked. He scored it 3 times, grinned, and shook my hand. I have been blessed and fortunate to have taken 2 of the big boys through the years.
Here's it's (nearly) twin... size-wise.
More of a red than a chocolate, and has the white chest chevron that I mentioned in my earlier post.
Congrats again on a very good Bear. Your willingness to "read the room" and change plans accordingly no doubt has served you well in the past.
Well done.
Regards
Spike

Double post...sorry about that. Admin...please remove.

 

[Green Chile]

Good info but the second to last photo is off a bit. Move everything a little bit more forward.

Good point Scott. I continue to look at lots of bear anatomy and never fail to be at the skinning shed to watch a few bears get opened up. They are built very differently than deer, which is most of what hunters have experience with.

 

[Green Chile]

Speaking of bear anatomy, you will get a lot of education hanging around the skinning area of bear camp. This taller structure is an improvement to last year’s camp. You have to get these bears off the ground or you will ruin your back skinning them. Gravity is your friend in this case. The only thing I might have done differently is building more of a slope/grade away from the building to drain the area. Otherwise, it’s pretty slick.