NJ beat hunt © Tanya Breen / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Kinnelon, NJ) — A New Jersey bow hunter has set the record for the largest bear ever taken down during the state’s bear hunt. Brian Melvin used a bow and arrow to kill a massive 770-pound black bear in Kinnelon last week. He says he had been tracking the bear for three seasons.
State fish and wildlife officials confirm that Melvin’s bear comes in at the largest dressed weight of any bear bagged during the hunt and, before it was gutted, probably weighed nine-hundred pounds. Officials claim the controversial hunt is necessary to reduce the bear population and help lower the number of negative bear-human interactions.
