A year or 2 ago DFGW tagged an 800 pound black bear in north NJ (watershed property, westmilford, thereabouts)
We dont hunt them by us, but some residents have farm/cull/damage permits of some kind.
Local farmer shot 3 this year, 2 "small" ones, one 598 pounds.
I asked him if the 600 pounder was the "bigger one" that I/we had seen in prior years and he was pretty sure it wasnt.
We see them regularly, and in the past I have seen a few that I considered to be "quite large". This year I have seen a lot of small ones. I have no frame of reference for what weight the "large" ones are really, other than one 400 pound bear in PA I saw and then saw dead & weighed. My mental image is that it was big, not huge. I have also seen a 200 pound BB in at the butchers and I'd consider that to look little by comparison.
Based on this, I'd have to assume that some of the "BIG" bear I've seen are in the 400-600 pound range easily.
They get big around here... plenty of food, good habitat, not a lot of pressure, and one hunting season in 30+ years.
We've never had any issues whatsoever, but they get annoying sometimes when they wont leave and your in the treestand. One followed me in the snow while I dragged out a dead deer once, but I cant blame her for being interested in 100 pounds of fresh bloody meat in the January!
