How old was your bear?

[Michigander]

Colorado just posted the age results for the '22 season. I'm curious how old everybodys bears were? There is quite a few bears in the 24-26 year old range which is pretty amazing. My sow was aged at 9.

 

[Poser]

Last one I killed in 2021 was aged 14 years.

 

[bohntr]

Oldest I arrowed was a 22 year old boar. Teeth broken and worn……couldn’t see him making through another winter.

 

[Honyock]

How are you aging your bear? With a crosscut of a tooth?

 

[bohntr]

How are you aging your bear? With a crosscut of a tooth?

Game and fish pulls the tooth and has it analyzed for age. Mandatory check in

 

[TNKnoxville]

A big boar was 18 and a big sow was 30!!! Both with a bow. The sow only had 1 canine left.

 

[FWilliams]

My boar last year was 12.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Always take the numbers with a grain of salt. How they come up with the age makes sense when explained by the biologists, but that is sometimes hard to align with reality.

My two biggest boars were both about 350 pounds live weight. One bear had a 19.5" skull and G&F said it was 3 years old. The other bear had a 20.5" skull, had been specifically targeted by local outfitters for 3 years, and G&F aged him at 6 years.

 

[Novashooter]

Always take the numbers with a grain of salt. How they come up with the age makes sense when explained by the biologists, but that is sometimes hard to align with reality.

My two biggest boars were both about 350 pounds live weight. One bear had a 19.5" skull and G&F said it was 3 years old. The other bear had a 20.5" skull, had been specifically targeted by local outfitters for 3 years, and G&F aged him at 6 years.

According to the MN DNR, who I really don't trust much anyway, but they claim the rings on the root of the tooth are a very accurate way to determine age. They have us submit the little teeth just behind the canines. I've had no reason to doubt the claim myself.

I don't have any wild numbers to report. I hunt the no-quota area of MN where they give out unlimited tags. Along the border is between less than ideal, and decent bear habitat. Away from the border maybe 20 miles and most of it becomes unsuitable habitat. So bears in this zone do not get old, I would guess the average bear in this area is probably 3 years old. The oldest I've got myself is an 8 year old boar, which is absolutely astonishing for this area. To think that an animal like that could survive that many seasons, with that many baits and hunters around this particular area, even bow hunters who buy bear tags. I'm honored to have got that bear.

 

[cuerro viejo]

According to the MN DNR, who I really don't trust much anyway, but they claim the rings on the root of the tooth are a very accurate way to determine age. They have us submit the little teeth just behind the canines. I've had no reason to doubt the claim myself.

I don't have any wild numbers to report. I hunt the no-quota area of MN where they give out unlimited tags. Along the border is between less than ideal, and decent bear habitat. Away from the border maybe 20 miles and most of it becomes unsuitable habitat. So bears in this zone do not get old, I would guess the average bear in this area is probably 3 years old. The oldest I've got myself is an 8 year old boar, which is absolutely astonishing for this area. To think that an animal like that could survive that many seasons, with that many baits and hunters around this particular area, even bow hunters who buy bear tags. I'm honored to have got that bear.

I have sent off known aged deer, and seen results come back off, with that said only one was off more then a year.

I wish NM had a link to check sealed bears age

 

[Oncorhynchus]

Sow I took last September had pre-molar aged at 10. Teeth were still in pretty good condition IMO, but she was my first bear so I don’t have much to go on.

 

[MallardSX2]

I killed a sow in PA that was 10 years 10 months old.. that’s an old bear for that state. Most killed are 2.

 

[D.Blake]

Montana boar, 10 years old

 

[Jbogg]

Always take the numbers with a grain of salt. How they come up with the age makes sense when explained by the biologists, but that is sometimes hard to align with reality.

My two biggest boars were both about 350 pounds live weight. One bear had a 19.5" skull and G&F said it was 3 years old. The other bear had a 20.5" skull, had been specifically targeted by local outfitters for 3 years, and G&F aged him at 6 years.

The same exact thing happened to a buddy of mine recently. He just heard back for the state Bear biologist this week. In 2021 he shot a big boar easily over 400lbs, and had three years of history with this Bear before taking it. The bear appeared to be well over 300 pounds the first year he had it on camera.

The biologist told him the dentition showed the bear to be 6 1/2 years old. That doesn’t seem to make much sense.