I found a 9 inch black bear skull only.
Contributors to this thread:Bears
From: Magick Woman
28-Feb-18
while walking in mountains I found a 9 inch black bear skull. How old would that bear have been?
From: Paul@thefort
28-Feb-18
9 in long or 9 in wide? if long, less than one year old would be my guess.
From: Teeton
28-Feb-18
9 inches long? 9 inches wide or total of 9 inches?
From: Teeton
28-Feb-18
Paul I guess we were both typing at the same time.
From: Magick Woman
28-Feb-18
9x5
From: Paul@thefort
28-Feb-18
A PY scored bear of 18 inch, the length was 11 9/16 and width was 7 3/6. so depending on
the bear pictured had a skull length of 10 1/2 and a width of 5 3/4 and that bear was 3 year old or a sub adult. So maybe then the 9 in skull was a two year old.
From: Magick Woman
28-Feb-18
thanks I knew it was young. Adding it to my bone alter for honor.
From: Teeton
28-Feb-18
Age is some what hard to tell by skull size.. Bears are a lot like humans when it comes to size.. There are big humans and little humans of the same age. Years back I killed a bear that was aged by tooth at 5 years old,, he weighted 350 dressed, had a skull that measured 19 even. My buddy kill a bear on the same trip, I don;t have the skull size.. But his bear was 7 years old and only weighed 155. ..
So my guess is that it was not a club and was at least over a year old.
From: Paul@thefort
28-Feb-18
cynthia, I have a show and tell table in my office of collected items like that.
Ps. my wife Tricia is from Greensboro. I can not remember seeing you on bowsite before.
From: Starfire
28-Feb-18
You can't tell age by size. I once shot a bear, not big enough to make book but big enough to make a nice rug 5ft. My taxidermist called me and said " boy that was an old bear you shot". I said no can't be he was not that big, only 175 pounds. He said based on the tooth wear it was at least 12 years old. In MN you have to submit a tooth for cross section aging and when it came back, low and behold... 12 1/2 years. That said, a 9 inch skull length is on the smaller side.
From: Magick Woman
28-Feb-18
I live in Appalachia in Western NC. I don't hunt live animals but am a hunter gatherer of artifacts. Bones, feathers, arrowheads, moss, rocks and on and on! I have a bone alter to honor and bring animal spirit into my home. I was very frustrated as I could not find any info on the age of the bear. I came across the site and I knew you all would know! I thank you all. Blessed Be
From: Paul@thefort
28-Feb-18
Cynthia. Even us bow hunters find great spirit and bring it into our souls when we kill, gather,and prepare the wild game meat to nourish our bodies. I am glad you found this site and welcome back any time. my best, Paul
From: Fuzzy
28-Feb-18
Actually if the teeth are intact you can get a game biologist to age your bear skull precisely.
Do you live in a town/community called "Appalachia" are are you referring to the region in the Western Carolinas, and Maryland and Virginia, and eastern Tennessee West Virginia and Kentucky often referred to by outsiders as "Appalachia"?
From: Magick Woman
28-Feb-18
teeth are intact. Live in Western NC Ashe county NC.
From: smarba
28-Feb-18
You might want to "subtly" check with your local Game and Fish. Here in New Mexico it would be illegal to pick up/possess a skull without first getting a permit from G&F. We can legally pick up shed antlers (e.g. elk, deer) but not skulls or horns that are not shed (e.g. lion, bear, sheep).
From: Charlie Rehor
28-Feb-18
www.deerage.com
Check it out.
From: Fuzzy
02-Mar-18
Ah, you are near Asheville NC then. A beautiful area Not far from me at all. I am in Western VA near the town of Wytheville.
Can you post a picture of your bear skull? I can probably give you an estimated age.
