Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game New #2 Black Bear killed in Eastern NC

Heres one from the Nov hunt in that same area that went 508lbs on the biologist's scale. This one was up close and personal as the picture shows. not sure how you measure the skull but it was approx 10" between his ears.

The Dismal Swamp along the VA and NC is famous for it's bears. Surrounded by rich farm lands of corn and soybeans make for big bears. The Dismal Swamp asways has a big mast crop of acorns too.

The Navy has a signal center in Chessapeake VA that allows deer hunting. Bears on the base are protected and they are plentyful.

Nope , they just eat year round. If you want to see some southeast bear hunting where the bears are BIG and the hunters are crazy check out the bear crazy video series. The hunters shoot these bears by literally crawling up to the bears and hounds , I would pay to do it!

Dead wrong. The area has thousands of acres of peanuts, soybeans and corn. Most growing in river bottom fertile soil. These bears do not hibernate either. They do lay up when it's really cold.

Lots of food + lots of cover (look up pocosin) + no hibernation + no baiting (very strict) = potential for a big ass bear.

Don't forget, we are talking weight not skull measurements. The vast majority of bears killed are run by dogs because these bears are for the most part nocturnal.

Went on a bear hunt down there in Gates county years ago, and let me tell you them local boys are damn crazy. The dogs will back a bear into a thicket of some kind and them boys will slither in there and press the barrel of a 30-30 up to the bears head and pop him. They drug out a 612 pound bear the day I was hunting. It was a brute.

NC held the record for black bear until a few years back when an 800+ pound bear was killed in PA.

That is a BEAST of a bear.

PA kills a number of bears each year that top 600 lbs and usually every year someone shoots one over 700 lbs. No garbage dumps anywhere in the vicinity. 400 lb bears in PA are almost common..............

Holy schneikies!!! That is a BEAR!!!

If anyone needs more confirmation, Craig Boddington did an article many years ago about bear hunting in eastern NC. He said some good ole boys approached him at a convention or something, claiming 600+ lb bears, and he didn't exactly believe them. So they invited him on a hunt. He shot a brute with his 8mm RM out of a tripod stand overlooking a field. I haven't read the article since it was first published, probably 10-15 years ago, but I'm thinking Craig's was approaching 500 lbs(490?) and that someone else took one over 600(630?) while he was there.

Wow!

I gotta get me a bear.

You have to literally crawl through tangled underbrush and tree roots to get a shot at most of the Eastern NC and VA bears. Talking extremely up close and personal.

Without dogs, hunting in eastern NC is a huge challenge. If you can find private land with some food crops still in the ground, it gets easier. With thousands of acres of soy, corn and peanuts they get BIG. Not to mention acorns and black gum mast. And a mild winter. The down side is that almost all of them are jet black. Another reason to move to AZ ...

Here is one shot last week from "Down East" on a lease some of my pards are in. Not the best photos but this what I was emailed. Bear went 535 Lbs.

Yeah right...you have no idea how many peanut and soybean fields are in the area

Those are some nice bears. I was fortuante enough to get a bear this year that went 358#, this was after field dressing too. Funny thing is he wasn't the biggest bear I had on camera, I know I had a bear that would have been over 500. In MN the largest bears are usually shot in the transition zone between the northern forest and the agricultural areas. Good cover combined with excellent and easy food sources. (Sound alot like what you describe in NC) I'm not sure how I would have gotten a 500+ pound bear out of the woods. It was difficult enough just to roll him into a sled!

Big buck, what area do you hunt?

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That is a BEAST of a bear.

Yeah, that's a big bear!