Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Bear, right fair sized one.

Indeed. They're all over Va now. There are big bear where there were scarcely any bears 10 years ago. I think a 650+ lb bear was harvested in Fauquier County in the last couple of years. And a 700+lb bear was killed by a combine in Dinwiddie County when it came out of its den as the combine was going over.

The Virginia peninsula (Charles City, New Kent, York, James City, etc) has historically been bear-free. I-95 and Richmond to the west, and major rivers to the north and south have kept bears out for a long time. But even that has changed. They've been seen in the middle of the James River swimming over from Surry. The police chased one around the coal terminals in Newport News until it was darted. There's at least one big bear living on Ft Eustis that is regularly seen in the marshes near a neighborhood, digging for mussels. A big bear is reportedly living in Lackey, Va near the Yorktown Battlefields and the Naval Weapons Station. And panic set in a couple of years ago when one big bear was seen at a school bus stop in Williamsburg. The DWR is saying there is likely not a city or county in Virginia without at least a few bears. There's a state-wide firearms season now, except on the Eastern Shore. In years past, that season was only in the mountains and in the Dismal Swamp area.

Lived in Hampton Roads VA for20 years. Farmers in SE VA an NE NC grow massive amounts of peanuts and corn yearly. And black bears don’t hibernate there and eat 7 days a week. Lots of big bears there.