Trophy Black Bear in Pennsylvania

[Hikenhunter]

Check this out. Back in the '70s Pa. bear season was one day long and was limited to several counties in the northern half of the state. Now we have a longer season in most counties and bear in really good physical condition as you can see here: http://wnep.com/2013/11/26/hunter-bags-772-pound-black-bear-in-lackawanna-county/ Make no mistake about it this has been brought about by good management of our bear population, management that includes hunting and was paid for with hunters dollars.

 

[mamabear]

That's a big bear Hikenhunter. I'm glad you added the part about controlling the bear population. I'm not a hunter so killing any animal makes me sad. Even bears.

 

[ppine]

We have a black bear season in Nevada now with a quota of only 25 bears. The bears at Lake Tahoe have been causing serious problems for years. Some of them are garbage bears that don't even hibernate in winter. They just sleep for a couple of days under someone's deck and then get up and forage around. Some have "knicknames" like MiniVan. The big old boars are in the 600 pound and up range. They lose their fear of humans and break into houses. The typical scenario is they rip off the siding, push out the sheetrock and let themselves in without knocking. They take everything out of the pantry and knock over the refrigerator and have a big feed. Then they take a nap in the lving room right about the time the residents come home.

The worst offenders get trapped and turned loose out behind my house. The wild bears might only weight 200-300 pounds when mature or less in the case of females. The behemouths are dangerous and it is good to carry bear spray and a large caliber pistol.

Hunting pressure puts the fear of God into the normal wild bears.

 

[Grandpa]

That old boar got into someones garden and ate the miracle gro. He is huge for a wild bear.

Idaho has a large black bear population and hunting keeps the bears well mannered. Seldom do we have a problem. Grizzlys on the other hand, have become very much a nuisance.

 

[ppine]

The bear in the video did not get to be that big without utilizing human food sources. The hunter said he walked right up to it. That is because the bear was habituated to humans. That was a dangerous bear that needed to be killed. It is the same old story.

When I worked in Alaska, and saw bears all the time, the black bears were rarely over about 300 pounds, even when they had salmon to eat. People over estimate the weight of bears by a lot. Most females are under 200 pounds if they eat wild foods.

 

[Hikenhunter]

The bear in the video did not get to be that big without utilizing human food sources. The hunter said he walked right up to it. That is because the bear was habituated to humans. That was a dangerous bear that needed to be killed. It is the same old story.

When I worked in Alaska, and saw bears all the time, the black bears were rarely over about 300 pounds, even when they had salmon to eat. People over estimate the weight of bears by a lot. Most females are under 200 pounds if they eat wild foods.

While you are correct that bears here do frquently utilize human food sources that doesn't mean that bears are dangerous simply because they do so. A bear this large has probably spent a life time learning how to avoid humans. With a human population as dense as we have in the east, for a bear to grow this large he has to keep himself out of sight, otherwise once humans know he exists they will persue him unrelentlessly.The hunter in the video did not say that he walked right up to it. What he said was that the bear walked out in front of him on the first drive of the day. I do not know how hunters out west find game but around here driving game out of their bedding and hiding spots is a commonly accepted way of moving game into open areas where standers wait for their chance at filling their tags. Bear that are considered to be nusance animals in populated areas are usually trapped and moved to more unpopulated areas by the game commission.This bear was moving so as top avoid the drivers and the hunter who bagged him just happened to be in the right spot at the right time. While any bear is dangerous and unpredictable I don't think this bear was taken because he lost his fear of humans but rather because he had a natural fear that caused him to flee the guys who were making the drive. Not really the same old story.

 

[Hikenhunter]

That's a big bear Hikenhunter. I'm glad you added the part about controlling the bear population. I'm not a hunter so killing any animal makes me sad. Even bears.

Ah yes to some it maybe sad but since man has destroyed their habitat it is only fitting that we keep their numbers limited to what the land that is left can sustain to keep our herds from eating themselves out of house and home.And to prevent them all frombecoming diseased and starving.

 

[ppine]

A herd of bears is a formidable thing to deal with. I still think that the big bears get addicted to human food. That makes them bold and puts them closer to humans. Over time they start to lose their fear of the scent of humans. All of those things make them dangerous. When they get really big they don't fear other bears. Everything gets out of their way. They are doomed to be killed if they continue.

 

[BigSur]

Wow, that is unbelievable! I've never seen a bear that big before unless it was stuffed in a museum. I kind of agree that he had been getting big from human help. Why else would he just walk up on him like that?

 

[Hikenhunter]

A herd of bears is a formidable thing to deal with. I still think that the big bears get addicted to human food. That makes them bold and puts them closer to humans. Over time they start to lose their fear of the scent of humans. All of those things make them dangerous. When they get really big they don't fear other bears. Everything gets out of their way. They are doomed to be killed if they continue.

"Herds" was a bad choice of words. I should have said something like our populations. I totaly agree that any predator that loses it's fear of humans becomes dangerous and they are doomed to be killed when that happens.

 

[Hikenhunter]

Wow, that is unbelievable! I've never seen a bear that big before unless it was stuffed in a museum. I kind of agree that he had been getting big from human help. Why else would he just walk up on him like that?

I refer you to my earlier post #6