There is a new bear record in the Tar Heel State.
According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, a hunter harvested a bear back in October of last year that broke a state record. The black bear weighed in at 695 pounds and was taken down on just the second day of the state’s open season.
The party was in Haywood County when they came across the bear. “We didn’t realize how big it was. I run down the trail and I saw the bear, and I could tell it was a big bear, but honestly, you couldn’t tell that it was 700 pounds,” Jeff Teague explains, according to ABC 13 News.
The hunting party was using dogs to aid them. The men stated that not only are they looking forward to eating all the meat they can, but also, hunting bear helps with population control.
“We’re not getting rid of the population, but we’re helping control it, and that’s just the way nature’s supposed to be,” Teague went on to add.
The previous record was 688 pounds and was claimed back in the 1990s in Madison County, North Carolina.
