The Largest Black Bear Ever Caught in Georgia Was a Water Goliath

Before the eighteenth century, black bears were prevalent in Georgia. However, because of habitat loss and unrestricted hunting, Georgia’s black bear population dropped significantly. That is why Georgia has focused on strong wildlife management practices to protect their black bear population, up to 5,100 bears across the state. Black bears thrive in the mature pine forests and swamps across the state, and some grow quite big. Find out about the largest black bear ever caught in Georgia!

Black Bear Distribution

The American black bear may be found across most of North America. From Canada and Alaska to the northern parts of Mexico, black bears thrive in forested areas and mountain ranges. Specifically in Georgia, black bears may be found throughout the northern part of the mountain region. Many black bears also congregate around the Ocmulgee River drainage system in the middle of the state. And finally, they also inhabit the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia.

Habitat

The black bears of Georgia live in wide areas of swamps and forests. In particular, anywhere with an abundance of mature pines draws black bears. Pines provide lots of natural food for the bears, and the thickets give them shelter and security. They also use brush piles, rock crevices, or hollow trees for den sites.

About Black Bears

Black bears have a life span of about eight to 15 years. But wild bears often live 23 percent longer than the ones that live off of garbage and other unnatural foods. Typically, female black bears grow to be around 300 pounds, whereas male black bears can exceed 500 pounds. Black bears average four to six feet in length.

While black bears may have poor eyesight, they make up for it with an incredible sense of smell. They are excellent tree climbers and swimmers. Plus, black bears can run up to 30 miles an hour. That’s as fast as an electric scooter.

Diet

Black bears are omnivores, meaning they eat various plants and animals to sustain themselves. This may include berries or other fruit that is in season, insects, fish, and small mammals. Even though the black bear is the apex predator in most habitats, they consume up to 75 percent of their energy from plants. And during the summer, a black bear needs about 5,000 calories a day. By eating roots, leaves, nuts, and more, their omnivore diet gives them many options to fulfill their calorie needs.

However, as black bears get closer to winter, they will consume as much as 20,000 calories daily in preparation for hibernation. But this isn’t too tough for black bears, who are opportunistic eaters. Adapting to the available food, they will even eat leftover meat from other predators or rummage through accessible garbage. Black bears will spend up to 18 hours daily foraging to build up fat stores for winter.

How Trophy Sizes Work

The Boone & Crockett organization has a scoring system to determine the size of record-breaking bears. To find out the score, you must measure the width of the bear’s skull and then you add that to the length of the skull minus the lower jaw. The sum of those two numbers is your bear’s overall score.

Largest Black Bear Ever Caught in Georgia

In 2002, hunter Everett D. Sirk broke the record for the largest black bear ever caught in Georgia. His trophy bear had an overall score of 21 14/16″. The previous record was held by John M. Wood, who had seen his trophy bear in 1995. That bear had an overall score of 21 13/16″.

Largest Black Bear On Record

In November 1972, a world record bear was shot in New Brunswick, Canada. The largest black bear ever caught, this bear was estimated to be 1,100 pounds and was an impressive seven feet and 11 inches tall.

Though the New Brunswick bear is a famous account, it is not substantiated in any official capacity. The biggest, verified black bear ever caught was in Utah in 1975. That giant was registered with Boone & Crockett with an overall score of 23 10/16″.