Welcome to Basin & Range Outdoors

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. ~Theodore Roosevelt

Basin & Range Outdoors was created to share the adventures experienced by two brothers in the American West. From the highest alpine terrains to the lowest sonoran deserts we will chronicle the pain and triumph that accompanies all of our outdoor pursuits.

There will be no high-fence hunts, no fly fishing lodges, no streamside caviar and wine breaks. Instead, you can expect cold nights sleeping in the dirt, flat tires on old trucks, and big dreams realized on small budgets. With Basin & Range Outdoors you will find useful reviews of hunting and fly fishing products, techniques, locations, and a general review of our outdoor expeditions on public land.




Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Equation for Live Weight in Black Bears


I have always been told that if you take the width of the front paw of a black bear and add 1” you will know how many feet the hide will square. In my experience this calculation has proven correct with reasonable
certainty.
A much more difficult task has been to figure the live weight of a bear in the field using measurements. The best calculation I have found is the following (for boars only):

Weight(kg) = 7.673 + .00005891(Chest Girth(cm) x Length(cm))

For additional information on this equation and others regarding black bear weight check out a research paper called, “Interpopulation Applicability of Equations to Predict Live Weight in Black Bears” by Swenson, Kasworm, Stewart, Simmons, Aune.
The paper mentions that the equation was developed for certain bears in certain locations (MT). The gender also seems to play a large roll in the accuracy of the equation. But if you are looking for the approximate live weight of black bear boars in the field, the calculation above appears to get you close.
Posted by at
Labels: