Discover the Largest Bear Ever Caught in Vermont

Vermont keeps pretty good records of bears killed in the state. Therefore, we know the exact size and weight of the largest bear ever captured.

The heaviest bear in the state was actually caught fairly recently, in 2021. This black bear weighed 527 pounds after being field dressed. This means that it probably weighed quite a bit more beforehand. It was taken in Mendon, which is in wildlife management unit C.

It beat the previous “heaviest” bear, which a hunter harvested in 1965, by only two pounds.

Most of the other bears caught in the season were in the 300-pound range. For instance, the second-heaviest bear was 391 pounds.

Other Close Records

Because Vermont keeps a close eye on their records, it’s very easy to learn the stats of the bears caught during any particular year. The state publishes all measurements in the yearly hunting reports.

Several large bears are taken each year in Vermont. For instance, in 2020, a bear hunter took a 426-pound bear near the town of Holland.

In 2012, Machael Davenport took a 501-pound bear in Vermont. While this bear was very large, it surprisingly didn’t beat any records at the time. It is quite a few pounds below the current records, as well.

Factors that Affect Bear Size

Before the county records details about the animal, they measure the bear’s skull. Sometimes, other parts of the bear’s skeleton may be measured as well. Regardless, these records are not solely based on weight — and for good reason.

A single bear varies greatly in size throughout the year. Black bears consume tons of food throughout the summer and fall to bulk up for hibernation. Some may nearly double their body weight during this time! However, bears lose practically all of their reserves during the winter, and by the spring they are quite small.

Therefore, it doesn’t make much sense to only record the bear’s weight as the sole measurement. After all, bears taken in the fall would almost always out-weigh those taken in the spring.

However, a bear’s skeleton doesn’t change after adulthood. Therefore, an adult bear’s skull is a good indicator of its average size, regardless of weight variations from season to season.

For this reason, what a bear eats as an adult doesn’t affect their final size. Instead, their genetics play the biggest role. If a bear has a large mother or father, they are more likely to be large, too. Therefore, some areas simply have bigger bears than others, as the local population has “bigger” genes.

There are other factors at play, too. For instance, malnutrition before adulthood can lead to stunted growth. In the wild, this isn’t all that uncommon. If food is scarce while the bear is growing, it simply won’t have the ability to grow to its full size. Therefore, this bear will be smaller, even if it is genetically meant to be larger.

Put another way, despite its smaller size, this bear would still have the “big” genes. As a result, the bear may have larger offspring, despite looking quite small.

As you can see, there isn’t always a straightforward answer as to why a bear is larger than other bears in the same state. Many factors must align, including genetics and food availability, to produce a record-breaking bear.

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The photo featured at the top of this post is © Holly Kuchera/Shutterstock.com