CNB Hunting/Fishing NJ: The Largest Black Bear on the North Continent Harvested in NJ

(olive-wolverine-471793.hostingersite.com)(March 2, 2020)–The biggest black bear ever killed with a bow and arrow in North America was taken last year in New Jersey according

to Fox News.

The 700-pound bear was shot by Jeff Melillo on Oct. 14, 2019 in Morris County during NJ\’s bow season.

Jeff Melillo shot a 700-pound black bear in Morris County, NJ on Oct. 14, 2019. The bear was the biggest taken in North America, according to the Pope and Young Club, a national bowhunting organization

In February the Pope and Young Club, a national bowhunting organization, announced that there was a new world record for the largest bow-harvested black bear on the

continent.

On Feb. 8, the bowhunting and conservation group Pope and Young Club assembled a special panel of judges during the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Penn. to verify the record, the club said in a

news release.

Melillo’s bear scored 23 5/16, toppling a record set in 1993 by a hunter in Mendocino County, Calif.

\”It has been an inspiring journey, to say the least,” Melillo, a native of New Jersey, said in a statement. “Many years ago, I read an article in Outdoor Life magazine stating that the new world record black bear will most likely come from New Jersey. They were spot on, and I never doubted it for one second.”

Eli Randall, records director for the Pope and Young Club said, \”I knew I was going to be looking at an impressive black bear skull, as it was officially measured at over 23 inches and weighed in at 700 pounds. I was not prepared for the amount of mass the skull possessed, not only was the skull huge, but the bone structure was the heaviest I had ever seen.”

Preserved through taxidermy, the 700-pound bear will be displayed at the Pope and Young Annual Convention in Chantily, Va. in March.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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