New Jersey Hunter Sets State Record with 770-Pound Black Bear: ‘Smartest Animal I’ve Chased’

New Jersey Hunter Sets State Record with 770-Pound Black Bear 'Smartest Animal I’ve Chased'

By taking down a 770-pound black bear, which he had been pursuing for the previous two bear hunts, a New Jersey bow hunter has just broken the state record.

In his last two bear hunts, 39-year-old Brian Melvin has been tracking the bear since he first saw it during a hunting session three years ago. He has done this by knocking on doors and obtaining permission to inspect any potential bear travel routes.

When Melvin hit the bear with a compound bow Tuesday morning near Kinnelon, he said, “I wasn’t really chasing records … it was an incredible honor to have chased him because he was the smartest animal I had ever chased.”

When he killed the beast, Melvin, who had been bow hunting since his early 20s, was 45 yards away.

“He never stayed in the same place for more than six months,” he stated. “I spent weeks knocking on doors and getting permission for land that I thought he might be on or at least travel through. Last year I had him on camera. He vanished until May of this year.”

The 400-pound bear Melvin had previously shot and killed was dwarfed by this behemoth.

State fish and wildlife officials say the biggest dressed weight, or the weight of an animal after its organs have been removed, for a black bear during the New Jersey black bear hunt was 770 pounds.

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According to Melvin, the bear might have set a world record of 900 pounds if he hadn’t gutted it.

“If you leave them [the bear] intact for more than an hour, they spoil and you lose the whole bear, and I’m just not about that,” he stated.

Melvin’s bear broke a record that had been set on October 14, 2019, when a group of hunters in Morris County shot a 700-pound grizzly with a bow.

285 bears have been killed in the Garden State so far during the first round of the bear hunt in New Jersey, which started Monday and ends on Saturday.

Bear hunting is restricted to one bear per season per authorized hunter, and cubs weighing less than 75 pounds cannot be killed or collected. New Jersey bear hunting is permitted through the 2027 season.

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With more than two years of expertise in news and analysis, Eileen Stewart is a seasoned reporter. Eileen is a respected voice in this field, well-known for her sharp reporting and insightful analysis. Her writing covers a wide range of subjects, from politics to culture and more.