Nate Miller knew precisely the place he’d be searching on Nov. 22, the opening day of Pennsylvania’s black bear firearms season. Miller, who lives in Rochester Township, had realized concerning the spot in Butler County from his pal Dan Druschel. His pal had seen good bear signal on rolling oak ridges on some close by public land..
“Dan gave me some coordinates of the world, and that’s the place I headed that morning,” Miller tells Outside Life. “I walked an influence line, then up onto a ridge with a lot of white and purple oak acorns on the bottom. There have been a lot of deer trails.”
Miller first thought the bear weighed round 300 kilos. It was really nearer to 700. Photograph courtesy Nate Miller
After climbing a ridge and glassing the world for bears, Miller sat on the bottom subsequent to a tree till round 8:30 a.m. An hour later, he was strolling additional alongside the oak ridge, stopping and on the lookout for bears, when he noticed one thing black about 70 yards distant.
“I noticed black hair and checked it rigorously with binoculars to ensure it was a bear,” says Miller, a 38-year-old development employee. “It was, so I used a tree to lean in opposition to to regular the .30-06 Remington Mannequin 721 rifle that my spouse, Ashley, loaned me.”
He shot the bear 3 times, then watched it vanish. Miller was shaking, and known as his spouse to inform her what had occurred. Then he walked to the place the bruin had stood on the shot. He discovered some blood, then noticed the bear the place it had rolled down a hill in opposition to a log pile.
Nate Miller with the roughly 717-pound black bear he tagged in Pennsylvania. Photograph courtesy Nate Miller
He tagged the bear, then known as some mates to allow them to know he’d taken a bear that he figured weighed about 300 kilos. When his friends arrived to assist him haul it out, they realized he’d severely underestimated its measurement.
Miller’s brother, Jason, confirmed as much as assist, alongside together with his mates Dan Druschel and Drew Eire, and his son, Shawn. They introduced a slick-bottom sled to haul the beast over hilly terrain, however it nonetheless took greater than 4 hours to get the bear out. 4 state park workers met the group to assist pull the sled the previous few hundred yards.
Some state park workers helped Miller and his mates haul the bear the previous few hundred yards out of the woods. Photograph courtesy Nate Miller
The bear was subsequent checked in with the state sport division at a Venago County station, the place Miller’s spouse met him to take pictures and share within the pleasure.
“The Remington rifle I used was the identical one she used to take a 160-pound bear in Maine for our honeymoon journey in 2019,” says Miller. “I additionally shot a bear that journey, however it weighed solely 130 kilos — hers was greater than mine … however that rifle of Ashley’s has taken some sport – ever since she obtained it as a commencement present from Westmoreland School.”
The bear measured 7 toes 5 inches lengthy, and its dressed weight was 608 kilos. It’s estimated stay weight was 717 kilos, and in keeping with the Pennsylvania Sport Fee, it’s the heaviest black bear taken within the state this yr. (Different bear seasons run via Dec. 7, so a bigger bear could also be taken.)
Nate Miller and his spouse, Ashley, with the bear loaded within the truck. Photograph courtesy Nate Miller
Nate could have a full-body mount product of his large bear, and he’ll have the meat processed by a butcher. He additionally plans to have the cranium measured after the 60-day drying interval has handed.
He is aware of the bear is a once-in-a-lifetime animal, however he says he’d have been glad to take virtually any measurement bear, particularly as a result of solely 3 p.c of Pennsylvania bear hunters tag out in a typical season.
“All I requested the Huge Man upstairs for this season was simply to see a bear. After which he sends me this unimaginable present.”