The Irony of It

[Bishop]

For 5-6 years I have carried a bear tag when deer hunting. ###And the last couple of years I've tried specifically to get a bear. ###I've yet to see a bear in the wild.
This is the view 50' from the front porch of my Mammoth condo. ###This is the small bear. ###The big one (about 400 pounds) comes around 1:00am



http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid26/p34210ff0e9cbb46a134606b90c4137c8/fd804eec.jpg

(Edited by Bishop at 4:31 pm on July 22, 2002)

[snoopdogg]

Well, let's just hope he hangs around long enough. ###Is that your house he diggin' in?

[songdog]

Archery season starts 8/17 :wink-yellow:

I'm surprised at how many of the bears and bear stories that I've seen lately are cinnamon colored bears in CA. ###The one I found road killed was a cinnamon, Jesse's posted about a cinnamon in a tree a couple of days ago, a friend saw a cinnamon locally while out scouting, here's another cinnamon... ###I'd take a purple one if I had a tag in hand at the appropriate time but it seems like the "trophy" aspect of a cinnamon may be a little easier to get than expected?

[One Track]

Wow! That looks like a 400 pounder to me. What do you estimate that bear to weigh?

[Arrowhead]

Bishop >> I think he deserves a kick in the butt.

You ought to run right out there and give him one......

[RIFLEMAN]

The cinnamon color phase is the most commonly found. ###The black phase is isolated, for the most part, to the higher mountain elevations. ###

I'd guess that bear to weigh in somewhere around the 225 pound range. ###

[Megadeth]

Their digestive tracts MUST be paralleled with that of a vulture?

[grtwythunter]

What elevation does the black phase get more common at? Or does that depend on where you are in the state? I'm in socal, and have never seen a "black" bear. Saw a cinnamon at 7000' today. ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ###Scott

[One Track]

Good job Scott. ###Were you scouting, or just driving by? ###Sounds like you have things pretty well scoped out.

[RIFLEMAN]

grtwythunter,

### ### Yeah, come to think of it, my explanation was not all that clear. ###I was addressing only the predominance of color in California and did not mean to imply that color is determined solely by elevation. ###From a larger perspective, the color phase varies by region throughout the bears' range, not specifically the elevation. ###The black color phase is very predominant in eastern states like Pennsylvania and New York (regardless of elevation) but is more rare in our state. ###
### ### In California, the black color phase is most common in the upper elevations of the high Sierras. ###I have caught a couple in the more eastern portions of El Dorado county, but most are cinnamon. ###In the 13 years I have hunted bear with hounds, I can count the black-colored bears I've caught on one hand.
###

(Edited by RIFLEMAN at 4:25 pm on Aug. 5, 2002)

[grtwythunter]

Thanks RIFLEMAN.

One Track- I was out scouting. After all the years of buying a bear tag hoping to get lucky, I decided to actually get serious about it this year. ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### Scott

[Big 17]

About 6 or 8 years ago as a Boy Scout hiking the pacific crest trail going from Blue Lakes to Raymond lake after golden trout, we had a blond phase bear cross the trail 100 yds ahead of use. ###I wish I had a camera. ###If or when I go hunting for black bear, I would like to come across another "Blondie." ###The elevation was about 8000.

[so cal hunter]

Hey Onetrack; about est. the weight of a bear i have never had a time when i could get a REALLYgood look at a bear at a close distance to try and guess it's weight all i look for while bear hunting is a LARGE HEAD and SMALL EAR'S ###that is if you happen to see a bear. the bear i last shot, i saw at about 80 yds. ###she was in 36'' high foilage and all i could see was the top of her head and ear's and you already know the rest of that story. i am heading out on the 15 for my archery bear hunt i will let you know what i see and hopefully take. so cal hunter

[One Track]

So Cal: ###

Thanks for the info. Good luck on your hunt. Hope you find one with a jumbo head and tiny ears.