A couple of days ago, on my way off a job, as I left the private property, and entered public,, I saw this bear. He stood there for several minutes,, not 25 yds from my truck. Long enough to get my camera & get some pics. He was very, very lucky. See,, it's still about a month away from bear season here,, AND my Ruger Bisley .480 was within hands reach. (That's the hood of my truck in the lower part of the picture.)
Post by contender on Sept 17, 2021 19:23:13 GMT -5
I rarely get to see them like this,, in places where it's legal to hunt. And even if I'd been able to get a shot,, he's standing on an incline that gets steep & deep quickly. If I'd shot him,, it would have been a rough time getting him out.
Still it was great to see him. Hi coat was in excellent shape, and it's obvious he's well fed. We guessed him at about 250 lbs. (Small for our area,,, but still nice!)
Last Edit: Sept 17, 2021 19:24:34 GMT -5 by contender
Yep, we do have them in the 600-700 lb range around here. Last year a buddy's son killed one that dressed 585,, and they know of one that's bigger. I have pics of one on one of my trail cameras that'll easily top 500 lbs,, and that's on my property. Still not a bunch of them in that size around,, but more than enough in the 400-500 lb range are roaming in a lot of places. They don't get that big by being easily killed though! Smart old boars for sure!
The little ones taste better, but don't make as nice of a rug. There's a 350-400 pounder that passes through my place pretty regularly. It tore down one of my feeders a couple weeks ago. If I see him in season and still have my tag left it'll be Mr. Bear meeting Mr. Linebaugh.