TT85, an interior grizzly that weighs 500 pounds is a very BIG bear. Some will get a bit bigger if they live near the coast and have access to a salmon run. Brown bears run quite a bit bigger than interior grizzlies because they have an extra month on each end of the feeding season, living as they do right on the ocean and eating salmon all summer long. Proximity to the ocean moderates the weather significantly and thus the seasons are longer. That said, it would take a truly exceptional brown bear to make 1000 pounds, and I believe (as do many Master Guides) that an average big boar will often weigh closer to 750-800 pounds. Of course, since it's quite rare to find livestock scales in brown bear country a hunter can let his imagination run wild. It is easy to claim your bear weighed 1500 pounds if there is no way to corroborate it!

I've read where domesticated bears and those who live in captivity often top 1000 pounds, but you must understand that these bears are fed daily year-round and almost none of them hibernate. A wild bear has no such luxury.

I have personally killed 4 moose and have seen 3 others dead on the hoof. Every moose I've seen is at least half again larger than any brown bear around, and moose are known to crowd 2000 pounds, although most bulls will go closer to 1500. In the Anchorage airport is Reeve's huge life-size brown bear that is one of the greatest trophies ever taken. By the looks of it, I would guess it would have weighed 1000 pounds, but not much more.

Getting back to black bears, the largest AVERAGE size must surely come from the Pacific coastal areas of western Canada and SE Alaska. Again, here the seasons are long and the fish are plentiful. Scales are also available on docks and on boats. My outfitter has never taken a 400 lb bear, but 300 lb boars are the norm. Interestingly, some black bears taken near human habitation in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania grow to gigantic size where the food is plentiful, but on average, they're bigger out west.

All bears are at their very lightest when they emerge from their den after hibernation. Over the summer and fall, they eat and get heaviest right before denning up for the winter.

I I would feel comfortable with a 30-30 and would jump at a chance to carry my 94.

I used to own a .35 Remington and got to reading about the caliber one day.

Seems it used to be a pretty popular black bear caliber.

Its what the caliber was actually made for was a gun that could carry easy and also drop a charging bear with one shot...

Bought one from an oldtimer and he had plenty to say about it... love the gun also

chuck hawks has some of the most worthless info on guns. . . .

That's what I had, Marlin 336 in .35 Rem.

Good little gun, shouldn't have even got rid of it. I bought the Hornady Leverultions(sp).

Hi all, I am new here. I recently picked up a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington, sure like the gun. The first round I fired from it anchored a gray squirrel.. But I am told it is a great round for deer/bear sized critters.