Hi I am considering a black bear hunt with an outfitter in Alberta this coming May. Just would like to hear from independent sources what is the average size to expect in May? Obviously the outfitter is quoting the best scenario.

Thanks in advance.

a 6ft bear should not be out of the realm and weights from 200-500lbs.

I had hope it will be larger.........

Will it make any difference during different times of the year?

Spring bears are at their lightest as they have just emerged from their winter dens where they lose a substantial amount of body mass to their catabolic processes during the long sleep.

If, you want your bruin to be at his heaviest, you need to shoot him toward the end of his hyperphagic phase in the autumn just before "den-up" when he will be at his greatest weight in his annual cycle and his pelt will also be very prime.

Spring hunting is generally easier and much nicer for the "dudes" due to the weather factor, but, fall hunting offers much superior meat, usually at least equal pelage and greater body mass, should that be a concern.

The average male Black Bear is NOT as large as many seem to think, although the odd "giant" is shot, often in Manitoba or Ontario. Even Grizzlies do not weigh nearly as much as some would have you believe, a good mountain Black Bear is about 300 lbs. and a Grizzly roughly twice that, these are males.

I have seen about a dozen Grizzlies shot and scores of Blacks, roughly 60 Grizzlies and hundreds of Blacks up close and I have never seen a 500 lb. Blackie, not even up on the B.C. coast where Salmon runs make bears big.

A really nice 300 lb. boar with a prime pelt is s very nice trophy and certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Albertan hunting is physically less strenuous than much B.C. hunting, but, when it gets cold, it REALLY gets COLD!

If, it were me, given the cost of air fares, etc., I would consider a combo bear-deer hunt in AB, rather than just bear alone, YMMV.

400# bars in th 6' 6" range are possible in the spring. Most people never get th chanc at on bcause they shoot th first 6' boar they see. Don't worry about wieght and look for the length.

Hi Dewey thanks for sharing your valuable experience. I hope you understand expectation is high before one hunts a particular species however once I have shot one quality then comes first. I take everything you said on board.

Have you heard of Alberta native guides?

I would love walk and stalk to hunt a black bear.

Is that what you call it in Canada I prefer that over baiting.

I have been offered vacacies in May but reading what you said it should be done a few months later after they have been feeding corect?

I am going to bring a 9.3 x 62 large cross sectional head to do the job. I guess ammo is not easily available in Canada.

We get some big black bears in Manitoba/Ontario which is my usual range. I understand these are not common farther out West, 300 pounds is more common than 400 pounds. The later you go in the season, the more full they should be.

Really, it depends on what you want. Pick the bear to suit your desire. Everyone wants the biggest bear they can find, but some just want to do a nice skull mount or a rug and aren't too concerned with the "book". Some, like me, want big bears because they taste really nice in a teriyaki stir-fry!

Spot and stalk is the correct term for glassing an area for bear and "pushing bush" looking for sign. You'll cover a lot of ground and might not see anything if they catch your scent before you spot them. But it gives you much better odds of finding good bears, whereas baiting you are kind of limited to whatever is living in the immediate area as bears can be pretty territorial and you might not even see anything and may need to change stands often.

There are some places you can order 9.3x62 ammo but it could be difficult to find in a store, it's not as common as regular US rounds. It'll do the job perfectly well though, the big, heavy bullets are nice for pushing through the fat and gristle and bone. I am considering one myself as a matter of fact for the very purpose of bear hunting.

To find a bear by walking and glassing is ONE method of hunting them, but, an inefficient one in terms of time. This would be a consideration for you, I would think. Let your outfitter TELL you how to go about hunting your bear as they know their own situation best.

I have not worked in the Alberta bush since '93 and have only been back to one of my former firetowers once, briefly, in 2005, so, I have NO current knowledge of Alberta outfitters/guides. I am not familiar with the outfit you refer to, maybe someone here from AB can give you better info. on this.

The 9.3x62 is as close to perfect for this use as can be had, I have an original Oberndorf Mauser Type B in this chambering, a Brno ZG-47 in it and have a custom with a commercial FN action and Heym sts. bbl. plus much modded laminate stock being built. I had a gorgeous old Wm. Oschatz in it, as well, all the goodies and shot like a target rifle, but, I needed a Leica spotter and bino and have over two dozen other big game rifles, so......

I also have a customized Merkel drilling in the 74R version and I have become a real 9.3 man, BUT, I handload for all of mine as ammo and even conponents are NOT always easily found here in "the colonies". I WOULD bring my own, use a 270-286 premium bullet and bring a spare scope, pre-sighted in detachable mounts, as well.

I would research both AB and BC for a hunt and depending on your finances, I would look into a combo hunt in the autumn. I hate skinning spring bears, they are COVERED with ticks and are also too easy to hunt and kill, when dopey after emerging from their snooze.

Chilcotin gives you very sound advice here on size and Mikey is correct, the biggest Blacks are in his region. The EASIEST spot and stalk with some REAL trophies is by hunting the B.C. coast from a converted gillnetter and Zodiac.

So, you have lots of options and in hunting here, you tend to GET what you PAY FOR in respect of guides/outfitters.......

350 pounds is average.

londonhunter, if you want the best chance at seeing many bears and bringing one home hunt the spring season. May has always been my favorite and most productive bear hunting month.Fall bear hunts can be more dificult, i usualy don't see as many bears.Coastal british Columbia has some monster bears, just don't shoot the first one you see. Check out Jim Shockey's web site, he gets some big bears,he is only one of many great outfitts that hunt spot and stalk. Good luck on your hunt!

Dewy, you sound like an authority. But, if you come by my house I will show you three 500 + Spring bears taken near riding mt. park and a 700 lb bear taken North of Preeceville, Sk and severak others I know of plus one I taped that will go 600 +
These bears were brought from the bush and weighed on a scale, no guessing about it ! As to "dudes" I'm not sure what you mean, hope it is not deroatry.
The abverage dude can expect a bear about 200-250 lb. bear in the Spring but there are many much larger. I've shot them and seen them seen others shot them and filmed them. A lot of dudes shoot small bears because of the color not size.

If, you read my original post, you might notice that I STATED that larger bears WERE shot and in that exact region.... I ALSO stated very much what YOU do in your final paragraph, so, I am not sure what your point is.

Ursus Americanus IS a highly variable species and SOME, relatively few, DO attain great weights; the heaviest Black I know of or at least trust the report of, was 600+ lbs. on Vancouver Island, some years ago. It was weighed by the B.C. Wildlife staff and all I said was that I have never seen a 500 lb. Blackie, not that they do not exist.

The term ...dude... is used to refer to paying clients by many guides, outfitters and various such types. You use the term in your last paragraph exactly as I did, so, your confusion seems unusual.

There are larger Black Bears in Manitoba and Ontario than seem to exist here in B.C. and that was my point.

Point is I thought you were a wana be expert. But, it appears you are not.

Londonhuner, just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.I've lived and hunted in B.C. my whole life, used to hunt Bears every year here on the Coast. You're comeing a long way and spending a few bucks. You should really consider the type of hunt you want. Spot and stalk is a very enjoyable type of hunting. Glass clear cuts and slide shoots, then stalk in and evaluate. Much more fun than sitting in a tree and waiting for a Bear to put his head in a barrel. Don't want to start a war as I know its the excepted way for most of the east but doesn't seem too appealing to me. Not even legal in B.C.

Where do you guys come up with these averages. Readind too many outfitter ads? The average bear you're likely to encounter will be a 5 footer, weighing around 200 to 220 lbs. , in the Spring. Anything above that is a plus. As someone explained to me once, Bears grow as long as they live, but a sows growth is stunted by having cubs. Heavy hunting will also tend to keep the sizes down. I guess if you want a heavy bear, Fall hunting is the thing, but we generally judge them by their length, so who cares?
Grizz

Grizzly, a five foot bear would be a mistake not the norm. A 5 foot bear is an immature boar or a very small sow, your guide should not be letting the hunters shoot bears this size. A realistic goal minimum should be 6 foot 250 lbs. This should be easily achievable pretty much across Canada.

This agrees with what I have seen in 53 years of various bush activities over almost all of BC and some of northern AB, plus some in NWT, YT, and briefly in AK. MOST game animals do NOT weigh nearly as much as popular imagination would have one believe.

The Grizzly in particular is almost always "inflated" as to weight and size and the BS one hears/reads about them is just unbelievable. In all my time living/working in much of the most densely populated bear country in North America, I have seen ONE Grizzly that I thought would probably approach 1000 lbs. and he was noticably much larger than any other I have ever seen...I would guess he was about 900 when I saw him in August, 1974.

The same is true of Blacks and the largest I have seen was beside the highway at Sparwood, BC, in 1967 and, again, he stood out like a neon sign and was probably about 450. These are BIG bears, not the absolute largest, but, very obviously bigger than the "norm".

I have seen films in my various biology classes and when I worked for BC Fish&Wildlife that showed bears of greater weight, tranquilized and then weighed. So, I have some basis to judge from and am often rather surprised by the claims of monster bears the size of mature Shiras Moose bulls.

Another area for large Blacks is on the Q.C.I., these are expensive to hunt/reach, but, it is a worthwhile experience in itself and the deer hunting/fishing is beyond good. I would go there is I were a "non-res." and could afford the cost.

If you want the best chances on a big black bear check out hunting on the Queen Charlotte Islands off the northern coast of BC.

The best is that there is very little hunting pressure there and depending on the time of year you will be there the sitka blacktail deer are open for hunting 10 months a year so you could also go for some of the best tasteing deer meat you will ever have a chance to hunt.

I don't know the stats now but 20 years ago 7 of the 10 largest black bears ever shot were from there.

I spent several summers prospecting there in the late 70's, there were black bears everywhere and from what I hear from people I know that still live there there are peobably more bears there now then back then.

I live in northern Alberta,and in my area,a person can reasonably expect a 6' to 6-1/2' bear in the 200lb to 300lb range,although I have seen 7'+ 500lb bears taken here.

Good information on this thread. I took a boar that squared 6' 6" in Northern Alberta a few years ago. He was larger than the others in camp at the time. We didn't have a scale but he was heavy. It took a bunch of us and a quad to get him out of the woods.

I love hunting bear. I've hunted BC, Saskatchewan and Alberta. I used a .376 Steyr in Alberta. It worked well. In BC I used a .338 RUM. Talk about decisive! Bears dropped to the shot with that one.

In our area you never know what size blackie will be around the next corner or over the next hill.

In the spring of 2007 I saw only 1 bear all spring that was 6'; everything was small.
Last spring I saw a bunch of 6+ bears and one bear that I figure was 7-1/2', but I screwed that up and didn't get him.

Go figure!

Just be sure to really judge the bear and don't go shooting some 6' or smaller bear.

Wait for a no-doubter!!

Here's what the gov. of Ab. has to say, on the matter.
http://www.srd.alberta.ca/fish...berta/blackbear.aspx
Not implying that a five footer is a trophy bear, but if you go for a walk in the woods, that is most likely what you are to see. If you judge the average deer antler size, by what you see at sportsman's shows, you are in for a big disapointment. , when you take to the woods. No different for bears, black or otherwise. Then again, I've seen some very happy people, with any bear. For some of us, it's the Hunt that counts.