Found a Monster Skull

[treillw]

Found a pretty darn big bear skull last night. It might be a grizzly. Is it legal to possess grizzly skulls in MT? The only thing I know is that bighorn skulls were illegal to possess, up until recently.

How can I tell if it's a G or B bear?

Pics to follow.

 

[Blockcaver]

Grizzly skulls have more overhang at the top/back of the skull. If you stand them up on the back of the skull (where vertebrae would start), my grizzly skull wants to fall forward onto the teeth (just the skull without lower jaw). My biggest black bear skull stands up almost vertical. I also checked and the brown bear skull is like the grizzly and falls forward if you stand it up. I don't know if all follow this pattern but my limited samples do.

The grizzly skull has a way more pronounced, longer and taller ridge bone along the top of the skull starting a couple inches behind the eye sockets. Black bears have one, but the grizzly's is significantly deeper.

Canine tooth spacing on a decently large boar black bear is about 2-1/8" center-to-center. On a decent interior mountain grizzly it is about 2-1/4" so little difference there on my samples.

Also, as measured by B&C and P&Y, I'd expect that any bear over about 20" has a chance of being a grizzly, over 21" likely a grizzly, and over 22" almost certainly a grizzly for MT. Google P&Y scoring forms for bears and you'll see how it is measured if you aren't familiar with the system.

 

[lyle_destroys]

Lets see some pics!

 

[treillw]

 

[treillw]

Approximate measurements without getting too fancy:
Length 12 1/2"
Width 7 3/4"
Height 6"

The bleached skull in the photo is my dwarf black bear. I definitely see the "fin" on the skull I found that would indicate grizzly.

 

[treillw]

I wonder how old it is. It still stinks. Could have died last fall?

 

[A.Hutch]

That is a cool find!!



Hutch

 

[Blockcaver]

Try to stand it up on the hole into the brain cavity. If it falls forward I'd think grizzly. If it just stands there, I'd say black bear. Based on photos I am thinking grizzly, but certainly not a giant based on skull dimensions. Take a photo of ithe skull standing on the "hole" (or held up on the hole) on a flat surface so I can see the angle of the skull from the side.

 

[CNW]

Super cool find! Thanks for sharing man!

 

[WeiserBucks]

This old skull is from a pretty big black bear if that helps at all.

 

[CorbLand]

I would be careful posting those pictures guys...you have no idea what people would do for H1000 around these parts. Hahaha

Cool find.


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[WeiserBucks]

My jug is empty!

 

[treillw]

 

[treillw]

Try to stand it up on the hole into the brain cavity. If it falls forward I'd think grizzly. If it just stands there, I'd say black bear. Based on photos I am thinking grizzly, but certainly not a giant based on skull dimensions. Take a photo of ithe skull standing on the "hole" (or held up on the hole) on a flat surface so I can see the angle of the skull from the side.

Check it out. It wants to fall forward.

 

[Blockcaver]

I vote grizzly but certainly am not a "recognized expert" in these matters. The relatively large size of the fin and forward tilt are the reasons.

The skull looks like my BC interior grizzly skull (arrowed North of Revelstoke in 2014, near one of the lakes on the Columbia River created by hydro-dams) but yours is a bit smaller . Mine was 13-5/16" long x 7-8/16" wide. He was aged at 8 years old by the BC Wildlife Branch of the Ministry of Environment.

 

[treillw]

Skull of a Black Bear - North American Bear Center

Saggital crest: This protrusion is for attachment of chewing muscles. Animals with a large saggital crest have a powerful bite. The saggital crest is much bigger on male black bears...

bear.org

This website shows a black bear with a very large "fin"/saggital crest.

Also read on another site in searching around that Boone and Crockett has a hard time determining between older black bears and griz.

So it could be either?? Wish there was a way to tell for sure.

 

[sneaky]

I would be careful posting those pictures guys...you have no idea what people would do for H1000 around these parts. Hahaha

Cool find.


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They must have heard it cures Corona

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[treillw]

How long do you guys think it has been laying there for with the level of decomposition? Still smells, but almost everything is gone, except for those couple of dried bits in the pictures. I don't even think the brain is in there.

My first bull carcass got cleaned up by coyotes in a day or two. I came back with my dad to the kill site a few days later and would have sworn the carcass had been laying there for a long time.

Initially I was thinking the skull was from last fall, but could it be recent? Maybe a wounded bear from the spring season?

 

[Stew]

Is that all you found was the skull.

 

[treillw]

Yeah. It was thick and the skull was laying on a logging road. Didn't look around too much for the rest of the story - was dark. Didn't smell anything, but I guess if the skull meat is gone, the rest of the meat is likely gone as well.