high_brass,
I asked Dr. Ault about why the Pa. bears get so big...answer is simple : good food and age, just like deer.
From what I read about the eastern NC bears, they live in a agricultural are. The big Pike County Pa. bears live in huge swamps that are loaded with berries. Lots of sugar, high calories = fat, plus the swamps are big and thick. The bears can grow to an age where they are huge.
They are very hard to hunt. We drive the swamps where we can. It is tough and I have had bears jump out so close it was almost like hunting rabbits. You usually only catch a very brief glimps of them while driving.
The older smarter ones, are like the older, smarter bucks, they circle back or hang tight in the thickest nastiest stuff they can crawl into.
Tony
