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bear tracks?

can you tell how big a bear is by the size of the tracks? I have prints in the yard front to back 6 3/4 inches pad size 5 inches any ideas on size?

I've read that pad size in inches corresponds to "hide "square" in feet.

5” front pad is typically a P&Y 18” bear. Likely over 5’ long, around 6’ in my experience. But I am sure there is plenty of variation, just like people. Hunt him and tell us how big he is! Hopefully Trackman weighs in.

Bear's are like people some small bears can have big feet. I have put a tape on 100's of bear's and some time's you just do not know buy the print. I the mud they will look bigger then they on dry ground.

I wish what Kurt stated was true where I hunt in central Alaska. I've taken three black bears over 6', one was 6'8" even. None have broken 18" on their skull size. I'll keep trying though!

A general rule is psd size plus 1 inch is footage of bear. How big the body is only correlates roughly to skull size and is different in different areas due to genetics and many factors.

Ex you can shoot a 5.5’ P&Y bear way up in northern MB because there is so little food they don’t grow big bodies, but the melons are still there. Some areas seem to genetically also have smaller/bigger melons. Hope that helps you.

In Alberta where we hunt any bear with a front pad width of 4 5/8 is a possible pope and young candidate or much bigger, could be a 230 lb bear or a 430+ lb bear, may have a 6 ft long hide or a 7 ft hide. Anything over 5 inches wide measured straight across the pad or track on the ground is always a big 300+ pounder. These are the true rules of thumb, meaning there really aren’t any...

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