Saturday, November 30, 2013

Bear With Me Through Another Steak Dinner

Wow, I can only imagine what this hunter must have felt when he spotted this 772 pound behemoth of a black bear and realized he could get off a shot at it. It took two shots to bring it down, from his deceased father's rifle chambered in .30-06. I can hardly guess at the number of steaks he is going to get from that or the amount of the taxidermist's bill for skinning it and turning its hide into a nice rug.



I figure that the largest black bear I have ever seen afield may have weighed in at about 300 - 350 pounds (and that is a conservative estimate) and it had me pretty concerned even though I was holding a 12 gauge loaded with slugs. It was only 30 - 35 feet from me and showing signs of nervous aggression before I fired a shot to scare it off; that was in an area that did not allow bear hunting at the time, otherwise I would have been eating bear steaks and roasts for a long time. I think seeing a 772 pounder though, that close, may have made me drop my shotgun and beg for mercy.

As for the hunter who bagged this brute, I hope he enjoys every mouthful (bear meat is excellent) and that his bear winds up breaking former records. It seems he may have bagged the world record black bear. The Boone and Crocket Club is currently making that determination based on the bear's skull dimensions.

Sources:

http://wnep.com/2013/11/26/hunter-bags-772-pound-black-bear-in-lackawanna-county/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/30/pennsylvania-man-reportedly-bags-772-pound-black-bear/?intcmp=trending

All the best,
Glenn B

No comments: