Shot a bear in NY in 2015. 348 lbs dressed. Skull was in my freezer until last summer.
Shot a bear in Maine in 2018. Scale we didn’t trust had it near 500lbs. Skull was also in my freezer.

Sent them both out along with some other stuff. Just got them back from the getting bug cleaned. Measured them out at 19 3/8 each.
NY bear was a touch wider. Maine bear was a touch longer.



NY bear


Maine bear
anthropologist education and training

Congrats, both of them are beautiful bears!

Nice man..👍

Couple of pigs there.....brag worthy for sure......

Congratulations.

Congrats, big bears!

those are honkers, well done.

mike r

Thanks fellas. I’ve been pretty fortunate with shooting nice bears. Heading to Montana in the next month (hopefully this bug is done) going to try my first diy spot and stalk bear hunt. Should be fun and hopefully my good luck continues.

Whoa! Nice bears.

Damn! nice bears, a Hearty Congrats!

Those are beautiful bears! Nice job!

Hope you got rugs made out of those two. Their hides look prime, beautiful bears.

Nice bears, congrats.

Thanks guys. NY bear was turned into a gorgeous rug. Maine bear was done as a half mount/ wall pedestal type. I wanted something different. The form was way too small so he added to it but still had to cut a bunch of skin off to make it work. It turned out ok but it’s noticeably smaller than the bear was. Probably a good thing because it takes up more space than I have right now.

What guns and loads did you use on those beautiful bears hunter4623? big bore revolver?

NY bear was 7-08 Ruger frontier. HSM bullet...I believe it was 139 or 140 gr
Maine bear was marlin 35 rem. Shot was 40+ yards and couldn’t see my sights and the bear good enough so switched to my lever gun. 150 gr corelok. He went 35 yards and piled up.

Nice, I have an old 1955 year model Marlin 35 Remington, have often wondered how the 220gr Speer bullets would work on a big black bear, thanks for answering that for me.

I was shockingly impressed by the bullet. Didn’t hit any bones but it went thru 3’ of bear and mushroomed perfectly. I usually use my .45-70 with 405 gr buffalo bore soft points for everything. I haven’t taken this .35 in the woods in a few years. I wanted to use a handgun so this was the backup I didn’t plan upon using. Shot was further than I felt comfortable with at the end of shooting light. Honestly, I felt under gunned but I have a new found respect for that little 150 gr bullet.

Heck of a deal and good to know that big 220gr Speer would most likely exit also, the 35 Remington is undoubtedly one of those cartridges that punches above it weight class.

Maybe it's the camera angle but the top skull in the pic looks "heavier boned". Top teeth look larger as does the nasal opening. Am I seeing camera angle or is that top one bigger/heavier even though they tape out the same?

Congrats by the way, couple of bruisers!

Top one came from the NY bear. I thought it would’ve been much bigger but they’re close. 150lbs lighter than the Maine bear but he’s all head and shoulders. The head on the Maine bear didn’t match the body. It seemed too small. The taxidermist agreed with it. NY never sent me age data from the tooth. Maine bear was aged at 7-8. Both were fighters. A whole bunch of Bite marks, split ears, chipped teeth but in excellent shape.

Here’s a pic of the Maine bear with me for some detail. I’m 5’8” 220lbs. No trick photography. He’s big as hell but the head seems smaller than the NY bear above

Both are nice looking bears...Congrats!

😎

Congratulations, those are nice bears.

Very cool

When I first saw that NY bear I called it The Tug Hill Tanker. One great bear! The Maine animal is also a wonderful trophy. 500 lbs ! You've accomplished twice what most NY hunters will never accomplish during a lifetime of hunting. Congratulations!