How many 500# bears

[lepcur]

I've been chasin these bear for about 25 years now and I think I could count on one hand how many 500+ bears we've killed. Mike

[Nolte]

Lots of 500lb bears end up 350 when they hit a certified scale.

[blackpaws]

Lots of 500lb bears end up 350 when they hit a certified scale.

or they are weighed with the guts in. i have seen and been a part of quite a few in the 400#-488# but non bigger than 488#. all weighed on a certified scale and field dressed. i have seen a few over 500# dressed but they were always in a picture on Nolte's dog box.

[Idhoundsman]

Caught one for a guy five years ago on the 10th of November that weighed 505 cannot remember the exact skull measurement but was just under 20 inches at the time was the third largest bear ever killed in Utah with a bow.

[PLOTTMAN55]

Biggest one i seen was 250.

[treetalkingjp]

Group got two that would go 550+ this year and seen a few tracks that's unreal . And on the east coast of Nc I have seen some monster bear tracks in them corn fields! But as far as I've been on only 3 but my group probably couldn't count how many they have killed that big.

[Outlaw 3]

Two.

[chilcotin hillbilly]

None here, but we have nice to hides to make up for the lack of weight.

[Jake Bell]

Usually see at least 1 a year from around here, lots of corn and small grains for them to eat and a longer growing season than northern Ontario makes for some big bears, crappy part about hound hunting here is weekend traffic and all the cottagers that come up from the big city, but on the flip side there are tonnes of bears and no competition! How do you post pictures? I'll see what pictures i can dig out that i haven't lost or misplaced lol

[BigGameHunter]

Zero

[nc1484]

Numerous. I have killed 2 over 500 myself and several in high 400's. So far this year a 472, 490, 578, and 600 has been killed by our club. We feed natural bait (corn, peanuts, and sweet potatoes) culls straight from the field. Very select few places get fed year-round but for the most part Oct 1st to Jan 1st is all we feed them. We are not allowed to still hunt over bait in N.C. and if we were allowed we wouldn't. We are allowed though, to turn a dog loose on bait. We spend 2 to 3 hours looking for the biggest track to turn on each morning. We always try to kill the biggest track each day and wind up killing a 350+ every day of the season. Here's a record from 2008 below. You can guarantee if its under 250 it was probably the persons first bear. You get kicked off our club if you kill what we call a "small bear".
November:
24....348
25.....No one hunted
26.....356,470,492
27.....186
28.....252,470. Treed soul and cubs also.
29.....Rain
30.....Sunday
December:
01.....480. Treed 3 approx. 200. Left all 3. ( No first timers hunting)
02.....No one hunted
03.....Treed 2 approx. 200. Left both. (No first timers hunting.)
04.....468
05.....632,174
06.....No tracks big enough
07.....Sunday
08.....524
09.....486
10.....Treed a soul approx. 200. Left it.
11.....Rained
12.....462
13.....382,418
14.....Sunday
15.....No tracks big enough
16.....268
17.....228,350
18-25 ????? I had to go home for Christmas.
26.....200
27.....442
28.....Sunday
29.....448
30.....No tracks big enough
31.....436
Jan 1st(last day) 200,310

16 out of 24 bear was over 350# (that I had recorded anyway) 17 if you could count the 348.
If you have a good place behind lock and key and can manage with a set rule, you can grow those 500 pounders. That is the key to growing big bear. If you let them live, they will grow.

[BIG TRACK]

WOW SIGN ME UP

[Nolte]

Umm, so how big is your hunt club? In our area there is no chance for that many mature big boars to inhabit the same area. Now granted our "growth" season is much different given different hibernations times.

In WI, there aren't parcels big enough to manage bears. Well there are but they are sectioned off and you can't get access to hunt them. You basically have to wait until they wander out to huntable areas.

I'm curious how many dogs have to be put on the shelf in a season like that to heal up. If we could by some miraculous feat do battle with that bear lineup like that, I'd have more dogs on the mend than in the box.

[nc1484]

Yeah some people because of the region, terrain, and land owners don't have the resources to make such things happen. But we have approx 20,000 acres leased and its all in different areas. Some are 500 acres up to 3,000. But our land is extremely thick. When you go to a bear you literally crawl on your hands and knees. When you get him killed you have to cut a path with a machete to the dogs, hook a rope with 8 men on it and start dragging. Its the ultimate bear hunting. Dogs and hunters both well deserve the bear, typically. It makes you feel like you earned it after crawling on your knees for two or more hours. Gives you a feeling of accomplishment. Any man can kill one in the wide open woods.
Sometimes they will slip out and you can kill them crossing a dim road or skidder path or maybe even an old bear path where you have cut one out before. The dogs get worn out for sure. Some get cut and are down for a couple days, some retire for the season but that's not often. Some get killed. Some run a bear all day but are ready to get loaded the next morning. The dog men carry double decker boxes and you can fit probably 15 dogs in a truck. One guy I counted had 42 at his house, another had 36, another 21. A couple guys have 10-15. But they swap out day to day who turns loose and who packs during the race, etc. In a race they will pack the bear up until he decides to stop for good. Allot of times 10 or so is not enough. I have seen 29 on one bear. That will make one sit down.

[mondomuttruner]

All we are allowed is 6 dogs in Wis. Many times with 6 good dogs with a bear on the ground, it's really tough to get a shot at the bear without having a dog in the sight's. Can't imagine having to shoot a bear with more dogs than that.