Pennsylvania Hunter Aims for World Record with 772-pound Black Bear
OutdoorHub Reporters 12.02.13
Daniel Beavers, 49, harvested his second-ever black bear on the second day of Pennsylvania’s bear season. According to The Scranton Times-Tribune, the Pennsylvania Game Commission recorded the bear to weigh 772 pounds, making it the largest taken in the state this season. Beavers last bagged a black bear in 2007, but he told reporters that he had been following this bruin for nearly five years.
“I finally caught up with him in hunting season,” Beavers said.
The bear had evaded the hunter in past years but Beaver recognized it by a white “V” mark on its chest, a trait that is common among Asiatic bears but unusual in American black bears. Beavers found the bear only an hour into the hunt and downed the animal with two shots from his father’s .30-06 rifle. His father recently passed away and Beavers intends on commemorating the hunt as a tribute to the man who taught him how to hunt.
“I don’t know why I decided to take his gun,” Beavers said. “I guess I was thinking about him.”
The hunter said he will be submitting the bear’s skull to the Boone and Crockett Club to determine whether the skull is record-sized after the mandatory 60-day drying period.
WNEP reported that bear hunters have kept check stations busy.
“I think we’ll do well. With the bear season running through the deer season, I think hunters will have ample opportunity to harvest a Pennsylvania black bear,” Game Commission conservation officer Ryan Gidea said.
As for Beavers, he says this bear is the trophy of a lifetime.
“I couldn’t believe how big it was. It’s big,” he said.
