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world record weight on Black Bear answered

13K views 16 replies 15 participants last post by  Bukshot  
#1 ·
Everyone has been asking so this is what I found.

What is the record weight of an American black bear?
The world record weight for an American black bear is 880 pounds. This was the recorded weight of a 10.75 year-old male bear shot in North Carolina in November 1998.

A black bear was hit and killed by a car near Winnipeg Canada, in 2001. The official recorded weight was 856.5 pounds, but it is estimated that the live weight of this large male was more than 886 pounds. The driver was not injured and there appeared to be little damage to the Mazda.

An 805-pound male American black bear was shot in Manitoba Canada, and in Pennsylvania males fairly consistently reach the record weight of 800+ pounds.


the one that was killed last year in PA with the crossbow is #2.I also saw they go by the skull measure instead of weight.

The world-record black bear scored 23  10/16 inches, according to Boone and Crockett records. It also was a pickup, in Sanpete County, Utah, in 1975. It is owned by Cabela's Inc.
 
#3 ·
I spoke to a rep from Fish and Game, they darted and weighted a giant NJ bear in the spring, he said if it eats well over the summer it may approach 900lb before it dens this year. So there's a potencial world record bear in NJ, go figure. Go nail that guy, I bet Cabela's would offer a pretty penny for having that one in it's store, especially if they ever open a store in NJ.
 
#6 ·
An 856 lb bear dressed would weigh WAY more than 886 lbs live weight...
I think the bear was not field dressed since it was hit by a car and some body fluids nd what ever else was lost since it was hit by the car.
A black bear was hit and killed by a car near Winnipeg Canada, in 2001. The official recorded weight was 856.5 pounds, but it is estimated that the live weight of this large male was more than 886 pounds. The driver was not injured and there appeared to be little damage to the Mazda.
 
#9 ·
Black bear weight tends to vary according to age, sex, health, and season. Seasonal variation in weight is very pronounced: in autumn, their pre-den weight tends to be 30% higher than in spring, when black bears emerge from their dens. Black bears on the East Coast tend to be heavier on average than those on the West Coast. Adult males typically weigh between 57–250 kg (130–550 lb), while females weigh 33% less at 41–109 kg (90–240 lb).[33] Adults have a typical size range of 120–200 cm (47–79 in) in length, and 70–105 cm (28–41 in) in shoulder height. The tail is 7.7–17.7 cm (3.0–7.0 in) long.[30][34][35][36] Although they are the smallest species in North America, large males exceed the size of other bear species except the Brown and Polar Bears.[30] The biggest wild American black bear ever recorded was a male from New Brunswick, shot in November 1972, that weighed 409 kg (900 lb) after it had been dressed, meaning it weigh an estimated 500 kg (1,100 lb) in life, and measured 2.4 m (7.9 ft) long.[37] The North American Bear Center, located in Ely, Minnesota, is home to the world's largest captive male and female black bears. Ted, the male, weighed 950–1,000 lb (430–450 kg) in the fall of 2006.[38] Honey, the female, weighed 555.5 lb (252.0 kg) in the fall of 2007.[39]
 
#16 ·
Keep in mind that we had a closed season for black bears for 31 years..
That combined with all the nice garbage and corn piles lying around the woods is enough to get them fat.. I would think if they closed the bear season almost anywhere that has bears for 31 years you would see some monsters like you are seeing in NJ now.