Dead Weight Competition
Black bear hunting in Maryland, USA is based on a lottery system with a limited number of bear permits being given out to hunters each year. This year I had the pleasure of drawing a tag and being able to participate in my first ever real life black bear hunt. With some luck I was finally able to harvest my first black bear this fall.
Following the success of this hunt, I've come up with a small competition for you all to enjoy. Judging a bear's weight in the field is no easy task. It's certainly not as easy as spotting the animal in your binoculars and being instantly told by a pop-up that you're looking at a cub or a trophy. Even still photos can make judging a bear's weight tricky. I will provide you with some photos of my real boar bear below. A few real life trophy shots if you will. Your job will be to use these photos to guess the live weight of my bear. You won't post your guess here though, that wouldn't be much of a competition.
Instead, start a hunt on Settler Creeks and shoot some black bears of your own. Your job is to shoot and submit a black bear from the game that you think weighs the same as my real bear. You'll have unlimited attempts, any weapons are fair game and you may change your submission as many times as you want. Your current submission when the competition ends will be your guess for my bear's weight. I will only share the official live weight of my bear when the competition has ended-- whoever shoots the bear closest in weight to my bear is the winner. If the winner manages to shoot a black bear with the exact weight (rounded to the nearest pound) of my bear, a bonus will be rewarded.
Photos
*Please forgive my cringeworthiness in these photos. Getting next to no sleep, sitting in the woods for several days on end and dragging a bear around are hardly glamorous tasks. I was some cross of excited and exhausted... and getting this guy late in the evening made for a really long night!
Another Angle -- https://i.postimg.cc/TY7MbT1V/DSC07435.jpg
Long Rocky Drag Ahead -- https://i.postimg.cc/g0MNS09s/DSC07458.jpg
Check-In -- https://i.postimg.cc/nz2ZwBF5/DSC07481.jpg
The Faithful Bear Team -- https://i.postimg.cc/MG0P88cM/DSC07487.jpg
Skinned Out -- https://i.postimg.cc/5yW89XZf/DSC07524.jpg
Objective
Harvest a Black Bear on Settler Creeks as close to the same weight as my Black Bear as possible. Use the photos above to guess the real Black Bear boar's live weight. The actual live weight of the real Black Bear will not be exposed until the end of the competition.
Starts - Sat. Nov 3rd 00:00 BST
Ends - Sun. Nov 11th 23:59 BST
Rules and Conditions
Species: Black Bear
Reserves: Settler Creeks
Weapons: Any permitted
Scoring:
- The difference between your black bear's weight and the target black bear's weight will be your score. Lowest scores win.
- In the event of a tie for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place on the final leaderboard, the higher scoring bear will be considered.
- None
- Hunts must begin after the comp start, and end before the comp ends.
- Hunts/Scoresheets must be submitted within 90 minutes of hunt ending. (No Sandbagging)
- Hunts must be at least 30 minutes real time (1 game hour) (No Spawn-mashing)
- Unlimited Attempts
- Unlimited Submissions (Any new submission will overwrite previous submission)
- Settler Creeks Only
Registration is required prior to beginning a hunt from which scores are submitted. Participants can register right up until the end of the competition.
Scoresheet - SCORESHEET HERE
Participants must submit their competition entries using the scoresheet.
Leaderboard - LIVE LEADERBOARD HERE
The leaderboards for this competition will be updated in real time. Please use the link above to keep track of the competition.
Prizes
The prizes for this competition are as follows:
1st Place: 2000 em$
2nd Place: 1000 em$
3rd Place: 500 em$
*Thank You to Tod for sponsoring some of the prizes!
Bonus Prize 1
1000 em$ to any score that matches my score exactly to the nearest pound (within 0.500 of the target weight)
*Thank You to Tod for sponsoring this bonus!
Bonus Prize 2
The Coat of Many Colors
Summary: Harvest the highest scoring black bear
Prize Pool: 2500em$
Prizes:
- 500em$ Awarded to the player who harvests the highest scoring black colored black bear
- 500em$ Awarded to the player who harvests the highest scoring chocolate colored black bear
- 500em$ Awarded to the player who harvests the highest scoring cinnamon colored black bear
- 500em$ Awarded to the player who harvests the highest scoring blonde colored black bear
- 500em$ Awarded to the player who harvests the highest scoring glacier colored black bear
Tie-Breakers:
- Should two or more players harvest the highest scoring black bear of the same color, I'll cover the tie score (Tod)
*Thank You to J_Birdman for sponsoring this bonus!
Questions?
Please feel free to ask on this forum thread, or send me a private message.
Errors & Bugs
If you find an error in this thread, or a bug with the competition system, please send me a private message.
Conditions
I reserve the right to modify the rules and terms of this competition at any time between the date and time of this post, and the start of the competition. I also reserve the right to cancel this competition at any time.
UHC and competition hosts reserve the right to disqualify any participant at their discretion for any reason, including but not limited to: cheating, unsportsmanlike conduct, harassment, et. al.
Discrepancies & ambiguities in the rules or scoring site will be addressed by UHC or the competition host as expediently as possible.