BIG BEARS ARE WHERE YOU FIND THEM

SPRING OR FALL, THE TRICK TO BAGGING A GIANT BEAR IS MAKING SURE IT’S TRULY A GIANT.

Craig Boddington

The most amazing thing about a black bear: suddenly, it’s just there, appearing in absolute silence. My first big black bear materialized like that at the forest’s edge. No warning, just there. Although I was young, I knew it was big. A quarteringto shot from my .375 anchored him. Big and burly, over 7 feet. Sadly, I don’t know exactly how big that bear was. The skull mysteriously disappeared, and the rug showed shrinkage. That was 50 years ago. Since then, I’ve taken a few good black bears, but I’m not sure I’ve taken another as big in all dimensions. In the last half-century, the black bear has increased in population and has reoccupied historic habitat. He has the largest range of any North American game animal, from the Atlantic…

You're reading a preview of

Game & Fish East (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2025

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.