Another Huge Pennsylvania Bear

[Nice Racks]

WOW!  We were chasing another one that would rival that, but he out started us.

https://www-explorejeffersonpa-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/www.explorejeffersonpa.com/780-pound-forest-county-bear-largest-harvested-in-pa-this-year/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHCAFYAYABAQ%3D%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.explorejeffersonpa.com%2F780-pound-forest-county-bear-largest-harvested-in-pa-this-year%2F

[BLR 243]

I just butcherd 2 2 year old red angus steers 777 and 752 them bears r giants

[Boss .300 winmag]

I just butcherd 2 2 year old red angus steers 777 and 752 them bears r giants

Those are baby steers, my 2YO this summer dry weight hanging was 1,068.🤣

But yes those are big bears, just imagine all the sausage.🤔

[pianoman9701]

The harvest numbers for PA are staggering. Lots of bears back east.

[C-Money]

Just got home from Pennsylvania. Locals are beginning to feel as if there are to many bears. I heard stories of home invasions by bears. Hard to keep a bird feeder anymore due to bear damage. I think its kinda neat to see the bears doing so well. WMU 1B, 120 bear harvest, 59 bears in Crawford county alone. Thats huge! As there have always been bears around, but now there is a real and growing population in NW Pennsylvania. We did not see any bear while deer hunting this week, but there are a lot around.

[CaNINE]

What are the skull measurements on these giant bears? 

[ThomMedic]

Interesting, there was an newspaper article last week of a woman that was pretty well tore up by a bear in PA. Do they have a bear problem there? May be?

It takes a lot to feed a very large bear, I truly hope we do not read in the papers about children being hurt.

[WAcoyotehunter]

Mast producing trees and crops have to play a part in those weights.  That's huge!!

[Guy]

What are the skull measurements on these giant bears? 

Curious about that as well.

Guy

[DOUBLELUNG]

What are the skull measurements on these giant bears? 

21"-23" or thereabouts.  I don't have the current B&C records book, but an article from 2017 stated 5 of the top 10, and 9 of the top 20, are from PA.

PA is the #2 state/province for B&C black bears at 241, WI is #1 with 427 (from the same article).  Both WI and PA have very similar conditions, with hardwood dominated forests with abundant oaks and beeches, and lots of corn and other ag crops.

WA is #15 with 56 for comparison.

My grandmother lived in Lycoming County, PA's #1 bear county for 50+ years until she passed.  I can recall several of her neighbors and my uncle's friends killing 500+ lb "nice bears".  The locals didn't get too excited by bears until they started pushing 700, with anything over 800 "huge".

[Pa hunter]

Don't be fooled by this. Yes there are big bears in Pa. but you need to hunt in large gangs or be very lucky! There are a lot of state game lands in Pa. but there are also a lot private acres with no trespassing signs.  I live in Pa. and I have yet to see a bear in season.  I have been hunting bear in Pa. for over 50 yrs. I go to Canada for bear and I have shot 7 so far and hate to admit it but I wounded 3 more that got away due to poor shot placement and passed up a bunch more due to size. If you're still interested check Pa. Game commission website, they list the harvest records by management units. Usually Northern Lycoming county is top harvest.

[bearpaw]

PA has a huge number of hunters so the chance of taking a bear is quit low. I get a lot of hunters from PA who book hunts and come out to WA or ID where the odds of taking a bear is much higher than in PA.