Giant Bears -

Penn has the largest black bears in north America Top weight 874 lbs

If I recall you folks have had a closed season for many, many years and it re-opened a few years back?
Once those wise old large bears get shot off the herd will stabilize and large bears will be few and far between, just like it is here.
Of course a lot depends on how the State decides to allot the number of tags for resident and non-res hunters.

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Originally Posted by JUDGE

You guys had better check the records Pen has some of the largest black bears in north America I believe the record is around 900 lbs.

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Thats fine, but it doesnt dispute the fact they are growing to that size via human interaction.

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Originally Posted by JoePa

I'm told that the reason they are so big is 2 fold - lot of food and genes - a couple years ago there was a bear coming to a corn field next to my place - over time this bear ate acreas of corn - it looked like a bulldozer went through the field - we don't have open dumps around here - we have landfills and everything is covered by bulldozers when garbage is brought in - most of the bears are shot in mountains where no dumps exist - we just have big bears - a couple years ago a black bear that weighted over 800 lbs was shot up in the Poconos - this bear was being fed by the people in that area - it was like a pet - people got mad when some guy shot it - Heck - you guys otta no - everything is big down here -

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Those people were stupid. A "fed" Bear is a "dead" Bear,sooner or later. Be that as it may,what other food is in Pennsylvania that makes Bears and Wild Hogs so large? It sure looks like they're well fed.

I remember the story of that bear over 800 pounds. A rural older guy was feeding him dr pepper, twinkies doughnuts,wagon wheels and other junk daily for many years.The bear was like a pet(unfortunately)and eventually word got out and some good old boys set up on an adjoining property and baited the bear with the same junk.Well they got the bear but I believe they were charged for baiting wich is not allowed in Penn.
Definately not natural.

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Originally Posted by SongDog

A lot of them PA bears live in corn and oat fields all summer/fall. I can't imagine the crop damage from one 700lb bear for a year.

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most of them don't get to play too long in a corn field around here. sss is often in effect whenever a bear is destroying a crop.

I digress, the hunter was not baiting Bozo,my mistake. here is the link.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/...109949654.html

Farming is the biggest industry in Pa - there are a lot of farms mixed in with mountains - the bear and deer and other animals always have a good source of food - where I live there is a big mountain behind my house and around me are farm fields - the wildlife come off the mountain and eat what's available in the farm fields - and in the winter browse and my shrubs - they always have good eats - when I kill a deer in the fall it always has a lot of fat on it and its stomach is full of corn and soy beans - we also have a lot of oak trees around for the acorns - we have had a bear season for a long time so it isn't that these big bears haven't been hunted before - the one thing though is you can't bait them - that makes hunting for them a lot more difficult -

Of the 20 largest black bears in recorded history, three were killed in Wis. Two in Calif. Two in Manitoba. One In Uta. One in Alaska and 11 In Pa. Regardless of the reason, it looks like they have the biggest black bears around.