determining age of bears in the field

[Koda]

Oregon regulations prohibit taking bears with cubs and bears less than 1 year old.

I figure if I see a bear with a bunch of little bears following it, then don't take any of them.

But what if you see a single bear alone, maybe its smallish... does size indicate age and if so how big... how do you determine if a bear is at least one year old?

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[MJD]

I am not a wildlife biologist, but my experience is that size is not a great indicator of age, in any animal. Case in point - I shot a bear at ~130 yards, 20 minutes before legal shooting time was over. Turned out to be ~180 on the paw, give or take a few. The biologist called it a 10 year old bear from the tooth. I wouldn't have guessed it.

I'll allow an exception for an Igloo cooler-sized bear...if it is alone, and you approach it, it won't be alone for long and may make introductions to its mamma. !

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Card 'em as they try to buy Hamms beer? LOL
( thank you MJD for a real answer ... )
Andy

 

[MJD]

Bonus points for invoking a Hamm sandwich.

 

[Stomper]

Card 'em as they try to buy Hamms beer? LOL
( thank you MJD for a real answer ... )
Andy

Uughh.... that swill taste like water stirred in a dirty ashtray, then put into bottles/cans.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Uughh.... that swill taste like water stirred in a dirty ashtray, then put into bottles/cans.

Very true ... I think I've peed better beer ...LOL
Andy

 

[jbett98]

 

[jbett98]

BAKER LAKE, Wash. (AP) — Rain-eeeeer .... Bear? When state Fish and Wildlife agents recently found a black bear passed out on the lawn of Baker Lake Resort, there were some clues scattered nearby — dozens of empty cans of Rainier Beer.
The bear apparently got into campers' coolers and used his claws and teeth to puncture the cans. And not just any cans.

"He drank the Rainier and wouldn't drink the Busch beer," said Lisa Broxson, bookkeeper at the campground and cabins resort east of Mount Baker.

Fish and Wildlife enforcement Sgt. Bill Heinck said the bear did try one can of Busch, but ignored the rest.

"He didn't like that (Busch) and consumed, as near as we can tell, about 36 cans of Rainier."

A wildlife agent tried to chase the bear from the campground but the animal just climbed a tree to sleep it off for another four hours. Agents finally herded the bear away, but it returned the next morning.

Agents then used a large, humane trap to capture it for relocation, baiting the trap with the usual: doughnuts, honey and, in this case, two open cans of Rainier. That did the trick.

"This is a new one on me," Heinck said. "I've known them to get into cans, but nothing like this. And it definitely had a preference."

 

[Stomper]

That bear in the bottom photo looks like it has neck-boobs.

 

[Stomper]

Very true ... I think I've peed better beer ...LOL
Andy

Good thing you don't actually "buy" beer... you "rent" it.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Buncha firkin dicks. Didn't read.
The way I determine the age of a bear is to flash my chest gold and run like a mofo. that's code for mother fecker.

 

[Koda]

lol, you guys crack me up. Bonus point for including the Raiiiin eeer beeer commercial. Demerit point for drining Hamms beer. I call photoshop on the picture but I heard there really was a bear that raided a camp cooler and drank all the beer. Or maybe I had too many Hamms... er I mean "microbrews" when I was told that story... IDK.

MJD thanks for the reply.

so if size of the bear isn't an indicator then its just blind luck you don't get ticketed.... Keep in mind we are required to turn in the head where they determine age from a tooth. If you shoot a bear and it turn out to be smallish... maybe just pretend you forgot to report it? Or maybe only shoot the really big bears?


its a good think I didn't ask about determining the age of cougars...

 

[Stomper]

Those are safe to assume 40+ years old....

 

[Koda]

Those are safe to assume 40+ years old....

I wish I was 25 again...

 

[MJD]

So summation....if it's old enough to buy beer, it's legal to be shot at.

These bears have it better than our enlisted folks......

 

[rick benjamin]

North American Bear Center - How to Age a Bear

 

[clearconscience]

So basically you kill it and then rip it's tooth out.
If it's too young, throw it back?

Or just eat it and swear it looked of age?

 

[Koda]

So basically you kill it and then rip it's tooth out.
If it's too young, throw it back?

Or just eat it and swear it looked of age?

something like that, its kind of BS they expect us to turn in the head but then make it illegal to take one under 1 year without any way to identify the age in the field...

Im no wildlife biologist but maybe if the bear is solo its at least a year old... how old are they when they leave the family?

 

[clearconscience]

Well that sounds like the rest of the regs and rules of this govt dept

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Card 'em as they try to buy Hamms beer? LOL
( thank you MJD for a real answer ... )
Andy

Hey! Bears are allowed to have Hamms beer! They lease the "Sky Blue Waters" to Hamms!