How to Measure a Bear Skull

Most hunters are more interested in how to square a bear hide than it’s official score and how to measure a bear skull. However, the record keeping organizations don’t care how much it squares.

Boone and Crockett judges measure the length plus the width of a cleaned and dried bear’s skull (regardless of species) and add the two measurements.

Using calipers the greatest length is measured from the base, or back of the skull to tip of nose, minus the lower jaw.
The greatest width is measured from cheek-to-cheek.
The two measurements are then added together to get the score.
It is posted in inches and 16ths of an inch and not simplified- example: 29 12/16″ instead of 29 3/4″.
The score is taken only after 60 days has elapsed after the kill. Any prior measurement is considered “green”- or unofficial.

Minimum Scores for Boone and Crockett:

Black Bear – 20″ (Awards) | 21″ (All-Time)
Brown Bear – 26″ (Awards) | 28″ (All-Time)
Grizzly Bear – 23″ (Awards) | 24″ (All-Time)
Polar Bear – 27″ (Awards) | 27″ (All-Time)

To be an official score, your bear must be measured by an official Boone and Crockett Club measurer. See the Boone and Crockett Scoring Tool.

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Here are some bear hunts you might be interested in:

FEATURED HUNT

Wyoming Black Bear Hunt

Rated 5.00 out of 5

The hunting territory is exclusive to the outfitter. Residents do not have access to hunt.

The Northern Alberta Foothills region has built a reputation for having a high black bear population with a good number of World Class trophy boars.

Alberta Bear Hunt

Spring grizzly hunt occurs during the months of May and June, fall hunts during the month of September.

Grizzly Bear Hunt

Barren Ground Grizzly Bear Hunt

Featured Hunt

Field judging grizzly bears is notoriously difficult, and can sometimes be the hardest part of the hunt. From black bears to brown bears, they’re all hard unless they’re huge.

Arctic Grizzly Bear Hunting

Rated 4.83 out of 5

Alaska Spring Bear Hunt (Grizzly or Brown Bear)

Alaska Grizzly Bear Hunt

FEATURED HUNT

Brown Bear Hunting in Croatia

Rated 5.00 out of 5

FEATURED

Polar Bear Hunting Canada

Rated 5.00 out of 5

Alaska Moose and Grizzly Hunt Combo

Rated 5.00 out of 5

Kodiak Bear Hunt

Alaska Coastal Brown Bear Hunts

Ask Us About a Hunt Request pricing and availability

Outdoors International

Discover why thousands of people have trusted Outdoors International to help plan their hunt.

Outdoors International has a team of hand-selected hunting experts to help you book your next hunt. Our job it is to help you in researching, booking and planning a great hunting trip with one of our amazing outfitter partners around the world.

My hunt was absolutely top notch.

The outfitter is a fantastic man and incredibly hard working and knowledgeable, there is no doubt he will do everything within his power to make peoples hunts successful and enjoyable. I plan to do it again with him next year for sure.

Wade Zuver

Our hunt was excellent.

We saw bucks every day along with all other sorts of wildlife. Mountain goats, bears, and foxes were common sights. Fishing and crabbing was special bonus. The food was excellent, the crew was amazing. Outdoors International did a great job of finding exactly what we were looking for.

Jesse Neveau

What an amazing experience!

The hunting lodge was out of this world!, Rooms, food and the scenery were all A+. Our guide was exceptional and had us on Shiras moose all five days. We saw over 30 total with at least 10 bulls. They had a plan for everything including taxidermy and game processing.

Kayla Redmon