Knowing how to tell a black bear boar and sow apart is an essential skill a first-time bear hunter must learn. Hunters’ misidentification of black bear sexes has resulted in far too many sows being taken accidentally.
By learning how to accurately field identify bear sexes you’ll:
- Improve the local bear population.
- Increase the number of hunting tags issued each season.
- Assist your local wildlife authorities to expand the black bear hunting season.
- Shorten the wait times between drawing tags.
Related: Calling black bear during the fall.
How to tell a black bear boar and sow apart.
In the field, you’ll sometimes get a break and make an easy identification of a black bear’s sex. A bear accompanied by cubs is a sow. A bear that gives you a goodIn the field, you’ll sometimes get a break and make easy identification of a black bear’s sex. A bear accompanied by cubs is a sow. A bear that gives you a good look at its rear might have a visible set of testicles. look at it’s rear, might have a visible set of testicles.
But for every other situation, you’ll have to rely on a few other clues to make a successful identification.
To identify a bear’s sex, learn what a boar looks like. Boars are square-shaped, with heavy, drooping bellies and shoulders that stand above their rears, and a boar’s legs are broad and thick right to their feet. Boars have large and often scarred heads with a crease down the middle of the forehead.
The ears of a black bear can also be a clue. A boar’s ears are small and often look pushed off to the side. A sow’s ears are pointy and centered on the forehead. In the field, a giant boar has ears that look comically placed and displaced by the growth of its skull.
Related: What does black bear poop look like.
Related: Black bear hunting tips for beginners.
What a black bear is doing is also indicator of its sex.
As always, a black bear accompanied by cubs or other smaller bears, should be considered a sow.
A black bear standing upright and scratching its back on a tree trunk during mating season is always a boar. That boar is marking the tree with its scent and advertising himself to any sows passing through its territory.
Spending some time glassing bears in the field or watching them over a bait pile
Test your black bear boar and sow identification skills.
If you saw these black bears in the field (some photos were taken in captivity) what sex would you identify them as?
Answer: This a young boar. Note the testicles between the rear legs.
Answer: Boar. Note the hump in the back, the height of the front shoulders (above) the rear legs. Also worth noting is The straight line width of its legs–all the way down to its flat feet.
Answer: Boar (crease in forehead).
Answer: Young boar—we think! And this is what you will face in the field. While this bear has the rear heft of a female, the ears and front legs suggest a possible boar. This target will require much examination and perhaps changes in position to verify its sex.
Experience will improve your black bear sex identification skills.
Trust me, you’ll get better at telling the difference between black bear boars and sows. But, there will be a few mistakes made along the way. One thing you can do, is commit to waiting until you have a large bear visible and being willing not to take the shot if in doubt.
It’s that level of self-control that proves you are real bear hunter.
Related: 4 bear hunting tips.