Big nocturnal black bear

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by MooseRiverTrapper

Post pics of your 21” plus bears dean!!

I can't, I have shot far more bears than anyone who doesn't know me personally would actually believe and I have never shot a 21" bear. Now that said, neither have very many other people. 20" gets you in Boone and Crockett Awards level but you have to be over 21" to be listed in the Records. I know of a Guiding outfit that used to operate in Northern Alberta that took 60-80 bear a year and did that for 20 years. They generally didn't shoot bears under 6' and those have a 17-18" skull. The ones at 7' plus rarely make 20". In 20 years, they never had a 21". The all time three biggest bears ever shot in Alberta are just over 22" with the biggest being 22 9/16. If you shoot a bear over 21" you would have one of the top 40 bears ever taken in Alberta.

The biggest bear I ever shot went 7' 9" and his skull was still only 20 5/16 inches. There are damn few guys that have taken a 20" bear, let alone one over 21. The fact that you asked tells me you may not know quite as much as you think you do about Black Bears.

Top 10 in Alberta: BLACK BEAR
Score Date Owner
22 9/16 1997 Jason Johansson
22 7/16 1999 Dan B. Pence
22 5/16 1983 Darren Daniel
22 5/16 2006 Kris Boivin
22 1/16 1992 Richard Raiwet
22 0/16 2005 Kevin D Martin
21 15/16 1999 Frank Royan
21 14/16 1983 Doug Shapka
21 14/16* 2009 Steve Eklund
21 13/16* 2000 D.D. Crowde

[MooseRiverTrapper]

Skulls are skulls like I said. Big bears are somewhere between 19.5” and 21 plus. Some areas have better genetics for a big head then others.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by MooseRiverTrapper

Skulls are skulls like I said. Big bears are somewhere between 19.5” and 21 plus. Some areas have better genetics for a big head then others.

Actually you said 19.5 to 22" but lets not quibble. Would be happy to see pictures of your 20-21" plus bears and REALLY stoked to see your 22" plus ones.

[MooseRiverTrapper]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Actually you said 19.5 to 22" but lets not quibble. Would be happy to see pictures of your 20-21" plus bears and REALLY stoked to see your 22" plus ones.

I have pics of two. That I won’t be posting.

Everyone kills a big long bear. Hide measured on the carcass, skinned and hung on a nail, nose to tail, nose to back paw, squared, stretched, stir stick length, 6” front pad, exaggerated. Skull size is the only benchmark.

[Smoky buck]

Bears that break 20” are not easy to come by. I know 2 big taxidermists that take in a lot of bears and most years a high 19s is the big bear for the year

Body size can really fluctuate compared to skull size. My cousin took a bear that was 5’8 on the round 19 7/8 skull after drying. Same year not far from his I took a 6’7 on the round with and 19 skull. Both boars shot within 20km of each other

I actually hate talking body size on bears and find most are highly exaggerated. I try to stick to skull size. The joke at my buddies taxidermy shop is every bear is a foot shorter and 100lbs lighter than the customer says. In most cases it plays true