679 Pound Black Bear Harvested in PA.

[timeout]

With a handgun at 5 yards!
http://www.erienewsnow.com/story/39...r-at-five-yards-with-handgun-in-warren-county

 

[Immike]

I had no idea black bears got this big, 839lbs. Pike Co, PA.

 

[stacy]

YEA THAT A TOAD THERE WAS A 587LB BEAR HARVESTED IN WESTERN NC FEW WEEKS BACK THAT WAS A TOAD

 

[DirtySteve]

Wow.. Beautiful bear..

 

[dkhunt14]

View attachment 1075338 I had no idea black bears got this big, 839lbs. Pike Co, PA.

The top 10 bears are all over 600 pounds. You can go to pagamecommission site. Matt

 

[Judd]

What a beautiful bear. It was the 2nd largest of the day with 5 over 600lbs according to the link in the first post.

 

[fredo]

What on Gods green Earth are those bears eating that grows em so big?

Are these actual wilderness animals, or dumpster divers gettin' shot just outside town limits?

 

[jds holler]

What on Gods green Earth are those bears eating that grows em so big?

Are these actual wilderness animals, or dumpster divers gettin' shot just outside town limits?

Yeah, that's kinda what I'm wondering. Kinda like kids these days. jd

 

[luckyshot52]

Very few dumpster divers in PA. Lots of big beats roam the woods there

 

[JFrank]

Well
Whatever there eating is working!
Those are huge Bears that I would be thinking my old Ruger Blackhawk 41 mag might be questionable!!
In the past I wouldn't hesitate to hunt with it, a 357 mag would definitely stay at home.

 

[Bojo]

What on Gods green Earth are those bears eating that grows em so big?

Are these actual wilderness animals, or dumpster divers gettin' shot just outside town limits?

lots and lots of fawns..... if u ever happen to find where a bear stashes it's carcasses it is one eriee feeling. Both in the amount of carnage and in the weird feeling of poop in your pants as you back out of there very cautious while looking over your shoulder.

 

[JRS]

Not surprising. Pennsylvania is number 2 among all states and Canadian provinces in number of black bear entries in the B&C record book.

 

[dkhunt14]

lots and lots of fawns..... if u ever happen to find where a bear stashes it's carcasses it is one eriee feeling. Both in the amount of carnage and in the weird feeling of poop in your pants as you back out of there very cautious while looking over your shoulder.

I was up at the game lands in Allenwood a few years ago. They have rows of cement bunkers all over it, where they stored weapons and stuff during WW2. They are huge and have big steel doors on and vent pipes out the top, covered with ground so they couldn't be seen by plane. Its on old ferderal land where they built the new prison. The doors are hanging open and the bears drag deer into them. Sometimes you find 5 or 6 deer carcasses in them. Matt

 

[dkhunt14]

What on Gods green Earth are those bears eating that grows em so big?

Are these actual wilderness animals, or dumpster divers gettin' shot just outside town limits?

Most are shot in real mountainous remote areas. Anything north of Route 80 is big mountains, sometimes fifty miles to a town. A lot of big ones are taken in Clinton county, around Renovo. Pike county also has a bunch of big ones, gigantic swamps there and full of huckleberries. These swamps are so thick you can hardly get through them. Matt

 

[liljoe]

I watched a hunting show and they were in North Carolina I believe . The bears there are huge because they don't hibernate, so they eat all year.
It was a Jim Shockey episode I think.

 

[284winner]

It's more than just bears getting old. We have some old bears here in N.MI but they do not grow that large. You guys have phenomenal genes in your bears AND guessing many years hibernation doesn't occur for the long periods that they do here or even In Canada. North Carolina is another state. No hibernating necessary means longer growing seasons. Great genes and no baiting or use of dogs to harvest bears allows more bears to get to that age of full maturity. Bears just don't get huge because of age. Bears are like people in that we all grow differently. I'm 6' and 240. Some adults are 5'5" and 175. Some are 6'5" and 290. Bears are the same. It's all in the genes as to what size a bear will be. The genes are very very good for bears in PA. I will make the trip one day to PA to hunt bears. Short season so no excuses not to go. Just a matter of research and planning. Few obstacles have been in the way in the last 5 years but they seem to be gone and retirement is the time to make plans like this and go.

 

[Hydenseek]

I watched a hunting show and they were in North Carolina I believe . The bears there are huge because they don't hibernate, so they eat all year.
It was a Jim Shockey episode I think.

Here’s one from eastern nc we got last week.

 

[msinc]

They definitely get big in Pa. but I have always heard that it's the skull measurement that counts and Alaska is no.1 for big skulls. This bear is the largest I have ever seen in the wild. I took the photo in January 2011 on the state game lands near Clarion, Pa. I didn't measure it, but it looks like he's got a big enough head to me!!! {along with the rest of him!!!}

As to hibernation, it was late January, the temperature that night was -16F, it got all the way up to +8F that afternoon. No doubt a big boar. When I asked one of the locals, "shouldn't this thing be hibernating???" he said, usually the big boars wont go in, especially if there is food still to be found. I saw 9 bears in the woods that weekend, including a sow with two yearling cubs.
I have land in Virginia and the local game warden told me that they don't hibernate there. "Only a pregnant female will den up to have her babies".....

 

[JRS]

A 704 pounder was taken last year in PA with a crossbow.

 

[helmut in the bush]

That is a big Bear, I saw one running along the side of RT 17 near the PA NY border, it looked like a Black Angus. I bet that made for a nice easy drag.