Comments on: Who wants to guess the bear’s weight?

By: Tom Painter

Tom Painter — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:46:49 +0000

Some where in the high 130′s and low 140′s

By: Steve Crawford

Steve Crawford — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:04:17 +0000

I would guess 250 lbs… Thats a good size bear. I missed a bear last year with my bow and knew it was huge, but wasn’t sure just how big it was. I came home and Googled pics of bears that were 250 lbs, then I tried 275, 300, and finally at 325 knew that was close to the one I missed. Two days later a guy killed a bear that weighed 338 lbs about 1/2 mile away from where I missed mine…..ugh!

By: jp

jp — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 17:09:58 +0000

135lbs head is small

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:20:31 +0000

I think it is a sow about 160 – 185 pounds. Not sure how old but I’ll guess at 3 – 4 years old.

By: The Amatuer

The Amatuer — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:50:52 +0000

Mark

be thankful that co-worker didn’t mistake it for Dan Casey.

By: Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:42:20 +0000

Dewey — Imagine my surprise when Roanoke Times photographer Sam Dean and I were going through pictures from our trip to Laurel Fork a few years ago and we saw that picture. . That creek is near West Virginia so I think that was just a West Virginia cougar making a short trip to Virginia before heading back west.

Actually, another Wildlife reader who enjoyed some of the cougar-related exchanges here worked up that banner in February, and it’s been there ever since. But don’t feel bad. You’re not the only one who just now noticed. One of my co-workers asked me, “What is that animal behind you in your blog banner?” just a couple days ago!

By: Dewey Knight

Dewey Knight — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:16:37 +0000

Mark, I have a random comment, and I can’t believe that I haven’t noticed this before but ………… I just now noticed in the picture in the header of your blog, that there is a cougar in the tree behind the trout fisherman. Given the cougar comments that surface regularly I had to laugh. That is awesome and I can only assume that this is an unaltered picture taken somewhere in Virginia : )

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:39:31 +0000

I would say they bear is pretty young. Like everyone is saying about 175lb range. The ears look pretty big and very tall off the ground, so i would say a fairly young bear. I have seen plenty of them where I hunt and I have seen a 300lb+ bear and it they all seem to have littler ears and seem more closer to the ground. But still a great pic and hope you see during hunting season!

By: Al

Al — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:36:26 +0000

OK, is that before or after it ate the deer?

By: Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:04:18 +0000

I don’t claim to be a bear expert, haven’t seen too many in the wild and have never shot one. But I do know that I often hear that bear weight is often over-estimated.

This guy (or sow) is a little farther away from the camera than the doe. The doe looks to be at least 2.5, so she probably weighs 125-130 pounds on the hoof. So the bear is bigger, but not too much bigger.

My initial thought when I saw the picture was about 175. I still feel pretty good about that. 200 at the most, in my opinion.