If you wanted to kill a bear that tipped the scale in access of 600 lbs where would you head? Now I’m talking about a black bear not a brown or a grizzly so that narrows your choices downs a bit. North Carolina should be at the top of your list and eastern North Carolina to be more specific. The North Carolina Wildlife Commission has done a phenomenal job at managing the black bear. The eastern part of the state of North Carolina has some of the best bear habitat anywhere and the bear population is booming there and the photos I have to show you will prove we have some monsters walking around.
This bear is being called “Maximus” and rightly so when you look at these photos. I acquired these photos from Mike Noles owner of Conman’s Guide Service. I’ll admit that judging the size of bears can be difficult but this bear is huge. This bear will easily go over 600 lbs and Mike believes it is in the 800+ neighborhood and he sees a lot more bears then I do. I wonder if we might not be looking at a new state record if not possible one of the largest black bears ever. Heavens know how big Maximus will be by the time the hunting season rolls around.
Bear hunting in North Carolina is either done by two methods; stand hunting like Mike does, or hunting them with hounds. Baiting is not a legal practice in this state. When I talked with Mike this past Friday he still had a couple of openings for this November’s bear hunt. If you think this bear is some kind of a fluke check this photo of another bear that was photographed last summer.
This is obviously a different bear because of the scarring on the face and none of their hunters took this bear last year.
Two years ago a couple of 600 plus bears were taken just a day apart at Conman’s so he certainly has the habitat to grow’em big.
Jim Delpapa – 11/13/06 – 663 lbs
Charles Miller – 11/14/06 – 616 lbs
If you want to bust a big bruin head for eastern North Carolina and if you want someone with a proven record for putting folks on some nice ones give Mike Noles a call.
Story by Dan McLaughlin (AKA Moose) Photos courtesy of Conman’s Guide Service Creswell, NC
