The new record for largest black bear harvested in Wisconsin may soon belong to 11-year-old Naiya Iraci.
Naiya and her grandfather Michael Frank were hunting on Sept. 9 when she shot a more than 700-pound black bear from 27 yards away.
Naiya told WBAY that she was nervous and shaking when she took the shot.
According to her grandpa Michael, the bear was dressed in the field and later had its field-dressed weight of 720 pounds verified by the Wisconsin DNR. Michael estimated the bear weighed over 800 pounds when it was alive. Wisconsin does not determine state records by weight, it is determined by skull size.
Now, the skull of the bear Naiya shot will have to be cleaned and dried before an official measurement is taken, however, a taxidermist measured the skull measured the skull at a would-be record-breaking 22 inches.
Naiya had never seen a black bear in her life before taking the shot.
“I’m not a bear hunter,” Michael told WBAY. “My granddaughter wanted to go bear hunting and I was up there all summer so I baited all summer for her and it worked out really great.”