Can someone check and see when the last 27” or larger polar bear was killed?
I assume Alaska closing may have affected the overall size of bears? Maybe Alaska has genetics for bigger skulls?
I want to see if 27" is a historical number not realistic for the current huntable populations in NUN.
Based on Pope & Young having 0 polar bears over 27" it does not bode well for big bears. Thanks cowkiller- only 2 B&C entries since the year 2000!
Makes me wonder if AK closing put more pressure on NUN and older age class bears killed off? Or if there has been habitat degradation in NUN, or if its just a genetics issue with NUN bears....
I ask this because I'm going to hunt a polar bear :)
I didn’t think about the lack of scoring….
I’m still surprised though that the P&Y world record doesn’t even make B&C minimums.
And Kota, that looks like a dandy bear.! You ought to get it measured for B&C.
My take is not many hunters (archery or rifle) want to trophy hunt for the largest bear possible due to living out on the ice in a tent -30* to -40* weather, combined with the cost of the hunt if you are unsuccessful. There is also the challenge of estimating the bear's size prior to releasing the dogs. Once the chase is on, you are more or less committed to take the bear in order to get the dogs back.
I wonder if there is an archery polar bear kill out there that is the new P&Y WR…. Though I doubt it based on how few have surpassed 27” lately
I think non-native hunter’s take about 10% of the bear harvest each year in Nunavut. Assume some nice ones are comprise the other 90%.
A.Paul’s Bowsite thread from last August sure had photos of large bears at his lodge in Northern Manitoba (eating berries…contrary to what is typically inferred that polar bears only eat seals…or more crazy that they fast in the summer because there is no ice).
Also B&C does accept “pick up skulls” so if any finds a dead bear it can still be scored.
Thanks No Mercy- know the top 90 B&C bears were killed before 1970 says a lot.
Can you see how many of those were killed in Alaska?
Since that is no longer legal, harder to cover vast tracks of ice to find a huge bear
Where I live is most likely the southernmost range of the polar bear in North America (the southeastern tip of James Bay, which is part of Hudson Bay, which is part of the Arctic Ocean).
There are some real monsters out on the bay.
AND, the polar bear presence has nothing to do with the popular "everything is because of global warming" syndrome. I can personally vouch that they have been around for the 52 years I've had connections to this area... and our oldest elders tell me that they have always been here.
Hunter: Edwin DeYoung Score: 26 6/16 Location: Hanley Bay, NUN Year Taken: 4/28/2002
Hunter: Richard McIntyre Score: 26 6/16 Location: Artic Ocean, AK Year Taken: 4/29/1958
Hunter: M. Robert DeLaney Score: 26 Location: Resolute Bay, NUN Year Taken: 4/9/2007
Hunter: Gary F. Bogner Score: 26 Location: Resolute Bay, NUN Year Taken: 4/21/1989
Hunter: Larry Jones Score: 25 14/16 Location: Chukchi Sea, AK Year Taken: 4/8/1965
Hunter: Jamie Allen Score: 25 12/16 Location: Resolute Bay, NUN Year Taken: 4/20/2012
Hunter: David L. Duncan Score: 25 11/16 Location: Holman, NT Year Taken: 5/1/2007
Hunter: Frank S. Noska, IV Score: 25 11/16 Location: Norwegian Bay, NUN Year Taken: 4/26/16
Hunter: Tom Foss Score: 25 10/16 Location: Baffin Bay, NUN Year Taken: 5/2/2014
I know many have been killed recently but what is in stark contrast to other species NONE of the P&Y entries meet the minimum B&C score
Genetics - Alaska Polar Bears grow bigger skulls.
Hunt method- Airplanes to chase big bears no longer ethical makes it harder to find the remaining big bears in hunt-able areas.
Bowhunting popularity started right when Alaska closed Polar bear hunting. This has kept archers from the bigger bears.
For those who like to hunt bears you know 1” on skull score is big, and 2” is a huge difference! So it’s nice archers are killing 25-26” Polar bears but that is tiny compare to the Booner Bears of old with 28- 29 15/16” skulls !!!!
As an aside, look what popped up on my desktop calendar this AM....
I disagree with the theory that alaskan polar bears have bigger skulls....I don't think plane kill was ever allowed at Nunavut especially when most Inuit were extremely against trophy hunting already. I also talked with a few hunters, outfitters and the B&C measurer who scored this skull, it seems like plane kill was likely the only reason why all the biggest ones were from Alaska, they rarely get to that big.
I also did a bit of research on skull size to body size ratio on polar bears, I've collected data of 49 polar bears. It seems like so far, a 10ft bear has a skull around 15 - 15 8/16", 11 ft bears have around 16" skulls, 12-13ft monsters that are extremely rare, have skulls of 17-18".
Big skulls are great and all but personally i think trohpy hunting by plane is pretty lame and unethical, most of the meats were likely wasted too.
I only ever heard of one native guy who bowhunted though - a guy from Utqiagvik who arrowed a grizz with a recurve. I don't know if anyone bowhunts polar bears in AK, but I doubt it as without dogs, its a dangerous and difficult hunt and as there's now no more paying clients to take hunting, I doubt anyone has dogs trained to hunt bears.
The way that I saw guys hunting polar bears was by either shooting the ones that strolled into town or fed on whale carcasses, spotted near town and chased down on snow machine, or in the case of a few badasses up there, getting upwind of them to use their own scent as bait and shooting them between the eyes as they came in. At all times in the village, there were two guys who were basically on-call with rifles at the ready in case a bear came into/near town.
The meat has a very strong flavor - you can tell they've been eating sea mammals. Like most other strong bear meat I was gifted, slow-cooking it in the crock pot with chicken bullion and then eaten like pulled pork with bbq sauce makes it very edible. Otherwise, I don't think most people would like it.
also...the word "huge" does not really represent how big the bear is, i mean in reality, seeing a 9ft bear is already gigantic, their head is much smaller than alaskan brown bear as well which is why while a 10ft polar bear has around 25" skull, 10ft alaskan brown bear easily scores a 27-28" already.
Not to mention hunters can take perspective photos to make the bear's head alone look bigger than them.
I would consider a 10ft polar bear to be "huge" already.
Brings up a question - Could a family member in possession of the skull enter it as a pick-up?
There are a couple other airplane bears that were never entered, Wally Taber and Bill Negley both took bears in Alaska and never entered them of these it would not surprise me if Bill Negley's bear made B&C.
