Old Black Bear

[Ken Taylor]

I thought that some of you might like to see an old bear I killed in early June.

It's face was scarred up, as you can see, but in addition it had previous bite and claw scars on it's body. It was also missing it's upper front small teeth and was skinny but relatively healthy.

The meat is very lean and tough.

From other bears I have had aged by biologists through the years, I know that it had to be over 20 years old.

I shot it from a natural ground blind at 11 feet (which is about twice the distance as last year LOL).
 

[Longbowlogan]

What a hoss

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Nice Punkinhead

[Norminator]

Big O'l Punkin head .. Good job

[wapiti792]

Great bear! Congrats          

[Gatekeeper]

:eek:   WOW WHAT A BRUTE!   :eek:  Very very nice! Congratulations what a great looking bear.  

[JimB]

That's a true monster bear.11' must have been pretty exciting.

[Maxx Black]

Congrats Ken! Eleven feet! you do like to get down and dirty and an experienced bear to boot. Good job. Maxx

[Gatekeeper]

Please post more pictures if you have them.

[BowMIke]

Ken, Congrats on a great bear. Big head! What does it score? Great harvest. He was just past his prime and going to start going down hill.
(still has a Big Head though!)

[smilinicon]

Wow!

thanks for sharing the picture.

[Ken Taylor]

I knew he was around.

I usually pick out (from reading sign... no cameras) one or two bears that I want to hunt and then proceed with the task.

I wait for conditions to feel right.

 I had hunted a cousin of his the evening before but he was "away". The following evening my gut feeling told me to set up for this one so I did. I made up a small branch blind and got him a couple of hours later... and then with a hand in his fur I thanked the Lord.

It's a good thing that I had promised to take my son in law out after my hunt as well as a couple of friends to extend my season or I would only have hunted a total of two evenings. LOL

[steadman]

What a Bruiser! Congrats!! 11 feet sounds fun  

[hayslope]

That's a hog for sure!  Can you imagine him in his prime?

[Hashiba]

Nice big yogi!  I love see'in those big pumpkin headed bears.

If you find the meat too tough for hams & chops just get it made into some nice sausage!

[FerretWYO]

Nice bruin man

[adkmountainken]

i would love to see more pictures as well! congrats on such an old soul and warrior!

[tracker1]

Now that is a big old bear.  Good job.  Your heart had to be pounding at 11 feet.

[Ken Taylor]

I thank you all for the nice comments. Few people can appreciate what we do.

I was alone at the site so the picture I posted I took with a tripod.

Gatekeeper, here are a couple more pictures you asked for. The first is not great with the bugs on the lens and all over the bear but it's like you were there, LOL.

The second my wife took at home the next morning.

How I got him out of the bush by hand and into the high bed of my 3/4 ton pickup is a story in itself. I spent a virtually sleepless night  afterwards trying to massage and punch excruciating cramps out of my muscles, caused by exertion and dehydration.

The hide wasn't great on the underside and in the armpits... old is old! But I will still do something with it.

BowMike, as far as score, the black bears in Quebec are not super gifted for skull (muzzle) length... and remember that this guy had no upper front teeth to start the measurement. I've also noticed on some of the older specimens that arthritis seems to deteriorate the crest on the back end of the skull which further shortens the span. Nevertheless, once cleaned and dried he will probably score around 19 12/16". His skull was like the pit in a peach.

 

 

[buckeye_hunter]

Excellent bear. After helping with Kip's 200#er, I can't imagine getting that brute out alone.

Congratulations!