A big bear !!!

[x101airborne]

The coat on that monster looks so soft and beautiful!!

[contender]

Yep,, that bear was truly a prime one to get. Of course,, he'd been eating good getting ready for winter & all.

The interesting part is the fact that the area has a lot of steep & rough terrain. That would make the "exercise" of moving all around burn a lot of calories. We'll never know the back story of how this bear got so big,, but as noted,, we do have some whoppers around here. I'll see if I can post a picture of a bear on my place taken several years ago by a game camera.

[Ken O'Neill]

I have absolutely no evidence, and I know I sound like a crab, but I'd opine that bear had been eating a lot of discarded pastries and molasses and such, from a barrel.

[kevshell]

There's a small valley north of Yellowstone that holds a lot of grizzlies (higher than normal for the area). The first time my wife and I visited we saw 13 grizzlies in the same field. Caraway was once farmed there and it continues to reproduce. I wonder if there's something like that reproducing in the mountains. Or a donut shop like Ken said. Or the bear is eating the left over corn from a moonshine still somewhere up there.

[bula]

Bear hunting rules vary widely, no idea what they are like there. Bait allowed ? Dogs ? Etc.. Penn has a short season, no bait, no dogs, no etc.. Where tracks of land are big enough, large organized drives have evolved as the way to go. Not my favorite way to go. It does put lots of people in the woods, as in sells tags. Yet success rate is very low. Truly, that bear is BIG ! His village will be happy, food in the lodges. 

[contender]

"I have absolutely no evidence, and I know I sound like a crab, but I'd opine that bear had been eating a lot of discarded pastries and molasses and such, from a barrel."

Knowing many of the hillbillies in that County,, that's also a good possibility.

As for the laws about baiting bears. Here in NC,,, only natural, unprocessed food product that is a grain, fruit, nut, vegetable, or other material harvested from a plant crop that is not modified from it's raw components.
Bears are not allowed to be taken while consuming bait.

Yes,, the hunters were using dogs.

I tried to transfer a picture from ICloud to my computer to share it here. I'm either "computer stupid" or whatever. it didn't work. I don't fool with ICloud much, and it's "supposedly" simple process has eluded me so far. the "share" or Send to" feature didn't work the way I tried it.

[kevshell]

And heres another NC whopper.

www.fieldandstream.com/hunting/717-pound-black-bear-north-carolina/

[contender]

A good example of an eastern NC swamp bear.


As I've mentioned,, we do have good sized bears on both ends of the state.

All this week, the local TV station has been running a special commentary about our local bears. They call it "bear week."
I chuckled at the NC biologist who stated that; "The NCWRC got about 1200 encounter reports in 2022 with bears. About 785 of those were in Buncombe County. Buncombe county is a haven for protecting the bears,, people feeding them, and a few "groups" such as "Save Asheville Bears" & others.

I just keep waiting until a child gets killed by a bear, and how they react. Of course,, they will downplay it or say it's an isolated incident. We do have a lot of them around,,AND many get BIG!!!

[bula]

Kevshells posted link to a story has 2 problems with it. In tongue in cheek mode now.. One, no such thing as a retired Marine. Two, he killed it with a 30-30 ? Aw'com ! Ya need twice the bullet, bore and velo to dent that 700lb whopper bear ! 

[contender]

bula,, some "reporters" have no clue about the difference in how a Marine looks at themselves. It most likely should have said; " a retired former Marine."

And lest we forget,, a 30-30 used to be the most common hunting caliber and especially in a lever action for decades.

(Yes,, I knew you were just a joshing here!)

[kevshell]

Definitely a bit of a sensationalized article. As with any of these articles you have to look for the nuggets. The more I read about frontiersman, trappers, mountain men, etc. the more I realize sensational writing has been going on since the beginning of time.

The more man influences nature (feeding bears) the more things get out of whack. Good intentions have consequences - wolves reintroduced in the west comes to mind. Fat bears too. Look up the original range of the bison and the grizzly bear.

And although I did not serve - 🫡 🇺🇲

[bula]

At deer camp there is a @ 6ft wide gun rack. Another outside under the porch overhang, another in the new building. You will see a few 30-30's and 32's each year. Most guys bring a back-up rifle, and it's usually their first rifle, a hand me down. Often I think, it is so Dad or Gran'Pa is felt to be there in spirit. My hand me down, back up is from an Uncle, a 1917 Enfield by Winchester 30-06. Haven't shot it in a while, have blooded it. It brings a trail of memories with it. 

[LeverGunner]

Wow that's a huge bear. Thanks for sharing. Beautiful pelt. Awesome to know that they are still around.

We are starting to get more bears in my area. There is hunting of them in the eastern part of Ky, and only recently did they officially recognize that there are indeed bear around these parts. I seen a track when I was a kid at an out of the way fishing hole. Course no one really believed it, but it couldn't have been anything else, and I was familiar with the various tracks common for our area at the time. There is some folks we know up the road that saw a few bear on their property, and some folks that live the other way that has seen some, so they are all round, and behind us, to the west, is some pretty rough country, so I am hopeful to see one or at least some sign.

I've had bear meat once, at a wild game banquet put on by a friends church. I had a steak and some roast. Both was pretty good. I liked the flavor and the texture. So bear is definitely on my menu as soon as I get the chance.