Nice distance for an examination, that's for sure. Judging by the size of his ears relative to his head, I'd say he's on the small side. My very much inexperienced opinion. I have one a similar, but darker color.
Where was that shot taken?

Leighton

Near Fort Vermillion, Alberta. Skull measures a bit over 19 inches.

Aha. How close to his demise was that shot taken? And just curious: what's that furry looking thing in the foreground?

As usual, there is a story. I had rotator cuff surgery 6 weeks before we went on this trip, so I wasn't permitted to shoot. I was hunting with a camera only. I wouldn't have taken this bear anyway, as she was a sow with second year cubs. Legal to take, but not my cup of tea.

The whitish thing in the foreground is one of her cubs. A few minutes after this photo was snapped, one of the other cubs tried to climb into the stand with me. Having no weapon, I delivered a light kick to the cub's chops and sent it tumbling to the ground. Momma was there in three bounds to see what had caused her cub to yelp. For a few anxious moments, I thought I was a goner!

Two days later, one of the other hunters took this bear. At the time, the cubs were not with her. I suspect that she came into heat early and kicked them up a tree to look for a suitor. At the time the other hunter took her, she was being pursued by a smaller boar. I don't criticize the other hunter for taking her. She is a really decent trophy, and it is hard to tell males from females. This was even more difficult because the boar chasing her was smaller than her.

I will probably write up the encounter at some time in the near future. This was one of the best bear hunts I have ever been on and I didn't kill a bear. I spent six evenings in a variety of stands and saw well over twenty different bears. Only a few were color phase, but some were really nice specimens.

Surprising to see such big ears on a bear wiht a 19" skull!