Are these legal bears

GTHunter

Senior Member
I have found myself a promising spot and have captured a few pictures of either the same bear, or a few similarly sized bears over the last few weeks. For you guys that have actually put your hands on a bear and known its weight, are these photos of a legal bear?

For reporting, I don't need to bring 75 pounds of bear to the office right? If I quarter and pack out and it was 100 pounds live, I doubt I will have 75 pounds of bear to show.
 

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Etoncathunter

Senior Member
I'd think it's borderline, I'd walk it. As for quarttering and packing out: As was explained to me by a ranger I work around they have a formula of sorts. If you bring out one broken down/quartered they can estimate how much waste (guts and what ever)was left and an estimated live weight. That is an estimate only though, don't expect to bring out 20# of quarters and try and claim it came from a legal bear. Lol That said if there is ANY DOUBT about being close on weight I'd bring everything out just to be safe.
 

antharper

“Well Rounded Outdoorsman MOD “
Staff member
I’m not a bear hunter but I don’t think it will make 75lbs , awfully pour looking to
 

Tio Hey Seuss

Senior Member
It's pretty difficult to estimate weight from trail cam pics without a point of reference but I'd say that bear is probably legal. Looks like a male as well. Out of 100+ bears I think I've only seen one by itself that was surely under 75. We're in an area with plenty of food so most bears are gonna be legal weight by the time they strike out on their own.
The last time I quatered and packed one they asked me for a weight estimate ;)
What I did before I harvested my first was weigh my friends dogs till I found one that went 75 and used that as my reference.
 

gobbleinwoods

Keeper of the Magic Word
let it walk.
 

GTHunter

Senior Member
Thanks guys. Those were my thoughts as well, hence the questions. I don't want to get my first bear confiscated so I might end up observing more bears that slinging arrows at them.
 

Buckman18

Senior Member
I think I’d pass. Not worth the worry.
 

jbogg

Senior Member
I passed on a couple that size last year. Better to be safe than sorry. I have seen two very tiny bears that appeared to be on their own on Chattahoochee over the past year. I was walking the FS road on may way out after hog hunting a couple of weeks ago and looked up the hill just off of the road to see a little bear that didn't look more than 40 - 50 lbs. It ran straight up the hill and disappeared into the brush. Apparently the road made a big loop around the knob because after continuing to walk towards the truck for another 5 minutes I look up and here he comes down the backside of the same hill again. He gave me a look that said "You have got to be kidding me" and took off up the hill again. I would not have guessed that a bear that small would already be independent from it's mama.
 

The mtn man

Senior Member
Judging by the grass, I think that bear is about the size of a Labrador retriever.
 

Raylander

I’m Billy’s Useles Uncle.
That's a small bear. Might be leagal, might not. To close to call.. I'll second what Jbogg said. I've noticed a lot of smaller bears off by themselves. I just always thought mama was around the corner somewhere.. But maybe not?
 

j_seph

Senior Member
I passed on a couple that size last year. Better to be safe than sorry. I have seen two very tiny bears that appeared to be on their own on Chattahoochee over the past year. I was walking the FS road on may way out after hog hunting a couple of weeks ago and looked up the hill just off of the road to see a little bear that didn't look more than 40 - 50 lbs. It ran straight up the hill and disappeared into the brush. Apparently the road made a big loop around the knob because after continuing to walk towards the truck for another 5 minutes I look up and here he comes down the backside of the same hill again. He gave me a look that said "You have got to be kidding me" and took off up the hill again. I would not have guessed that a bear that small would already be independent from it's mama.
hillarious
 

goshenmountainman

Senior Member
The first two pics look to be the same bear,maybe 80-90 pounds, second two pics look to be the same bear, around a 100 pounds. The first one looks wormy, poor condition.
 

GTHunter

Senior Member
So then what about these photos? I would think that the first bear is definitely legal, but all of my photos of night bears seem to be of slightly larger bears. I've been assuming the third photo and the daytime photos are all the same bear. I don't know if they look bigger at night due to being fuzzy because of the low quality infrared, or if all of the photos of bears I have at night are actually of different bears that are a little larger. I also included a photo of me (185 lbs) and my dog (35 lbs) for reference.
 

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