New State Record Bear?

[jjcoffe]

Has anyone heard of the 800+ lb bear Shot by Menaga MN?  Just wondering if this is the truth or just a rumor going around.

[Mayfly]

800+ lbs!

Wow, you would think you would of heard of that from more than one place if it was true. This is the first that I have heard of it....

[Cody Gruchow]

yeah i dont think thats true it would be everywere plus im from that area and have lots of family around there they got bears but not of that size

[dag1980]

I'm sure this story came from someone in a bar  up there. It was probably a "Cougar" record. I know I wouldn't be bragging         

[jjcoffe]

Got some more information about this.  I talked to my friend who is a cop and he said he heard it from a county cop from menaga that it was in the Menaga paper.  So i think it is from a reliable source. 

But anyone know anymore post on here would love to hear more about this Monster.

 

[CampYJewel]

The story was in the Sebeka/Menahga Review Messanger, I tried to find the story online but can't.  I will contact them and get a copy.

The bear was not 800lbs it was around 700lbs and was huge.  Very interesting article and it was shot by Badora which is north and east of Menahga.  If you get pine trees to plant at your place they most likley came from the Badora Nursery.

I will get more info.

[CampYJewel]

This is the article that was in the Review Messanger New Paper from Sebeka/Menahga.  Sorry it is really long and skinny, this is how I got it from the paper.  I will also try to post the picture that came with it.


DeBoer Bags Big Bruin at Badoura
Dwight DeBoer harvested a record-size black bear near the Badoura
State Forest on September 25. The bear field-dressed at 611 pounds and
the hide was 8’ 11” from nose to tail. – Photos submitted
By Bob Guelker
Dwight DeBoer knew the
bear that had been visiting
his bait pile the two weeks
before bear season opened on
Sept. 1 was a big one. His trail
camera had photographed
the huge bruin coming to eat
on a daily basis.
It wasn’t until the evening
of opening day of the hunting
season that DeBoer found
out just how big the bear
really was.
After an unproductive
watch over the bait the evening
of opening day of the
season DeBoer was disappointed
the bear hadn’t come
to his bait.
“I got out of my stand,”
DeBoer said, “and took three
or four steps and we were
looking at each other at 20
yards!”
The bear had come through
the brush to the bait without
making a sound and it
apparently watched DeBoer
climb down from his stand.
The bear went one direction.
DeBoer went the other.
He said the huge bear didn’t
exactly run off as if it was
frightened. It just ambled
away into the brush.
DeBoer decided to hang up
his bow for the bear season
and dust off his Weatherby
7mm magnum rifle.
DeBoer, who divides his
time between Lafayette,
near New Ulm where he is
in the insurance business,
and Nevis, has been hunt-ing bear for 20 years. He has
taken a dozen in Minnesota,
other states and Canada.
His biggest, which made the
Boone and Crockett big game
record book with a skull measurement
of 19 3/16 inches,
was shot on land his family
has owned and hunted for
24 years near Badoura State
Forest.
DeBoer first became aware
there was a very big bear frequenting
his Badoura hunting
grounds in 2007. He didn’t
draw a bear permit that year
and was concentrating on
bow hunting for deer. He had
his trail camera set near a
deer mineral block to get an
idea what he might expect to
see from a deer stand when
that season opened. The bear
came by and took a few licks
of the mineral block and got
its picture taken.
It was a long year for
DeBoer, wondering if the big
bear would still be around
and if he would even draw a
bear permit for 2008.
The permit arrived and
DeBoer planned his hunt.
“Baiting” bear can be complicated,
smelly and just
plain hard work. Beginning
two weeks before the season
the Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) allows
hunters to put food out for
bears to attract them.
Due to the nomadic nature
and unpredictable habits of
bear, very few bear would
be taken by hunters and
the population would soon
become out of control if it
weren’t for baiting them.
Many northwoods dwellers
who have bird feeders,
cornfields, gardens and garbage
cans can attest to the
fact bears are “opportunists”

[CampYJewel]

when it comes to dining
and sometimes don’t show
any fear of humans when it
comes to filling their belly.
Most folks are thankful for
the DNR control of the population
and would rather not
have any more close encounters
with bears in their yards
than they have already had.
There are as many theories
of what makes good bear bait
as there are bear hunters.
The idea is to make the bait
so appealing that in search of
putting on a winter’s worth of
fat the bear will abandon its
nomadic streak and campout
nearby and then come to
the bait on a regular basis,
allowing a hunter the opportunity
to harvest it.
Examples of common bear
baits are beef trimmings,
cooked pork and bacon,
grains of all kinds, fresh
sweet corn, apples, honey,
rolls and bread, molasses,
candy, other sweets and various
“aromatic” secret potions
hunters have concocted.
Of course, other critters
in the woods also like those
foods. So most hunters dig
a pit to contain the bait and
cover the hole in the ground
with logs of 100-200 pounds
- heavy enough that the only
animals in the woods that can
move them to get at the bait
are bears. And then to keep
the bear coming in, the hunters
“freshen” the bait daily
once a bear hits the bait.
DeBoer had a better idea.
“I have a friend who owns
five kettle corn carts that he
sets up at county fairs, carnivals
and other festivals,”
said DeBoer. “He saved me
all of his screenings and
leftovers.”
When baiting season began
DeBoer hauled up a pickup
full of garbage bags of kettle
corn. He set up his trail
camera and dumped a huge
pile of kettle corn on the
ground near his bow stand.
He had so much bait he
didn’t bother to cover it.
Apparently the big bear had
a sweet tooth and a weakness
for salt. It came to the bait
(and got its picture taken)
within hours of DeBoer leaving
the kettle corn.
Frustration set in for
DeBoer after that first night
of the season when the bear
figured out a human was now
intent upon lurking near the
kettle corn.
DeBoer kept hunting, to no
avail. The camera showed
the bear kept coming to eat,
but after dark. It finally occurred
to DeBoer, after noticing
the time of day that
was imprinted on each photo,
the bear was always coming
to the bait within five to 20
minutes after he left the
area.
Obviously the bear was
lurking within hearing distance
of the bait (maybe even
“seeing” distance), waiting
for DeBoer to leave before
coming in to eat.
A friend suggested to
DeBoer a method to fool a
smart night-feeding bear
into coming to the bait
during legal daylight shooting
hours. He suggested to
have an extra person go to
the bait area with him and
then after leaving more bait
have the extra person leave,
making the usual noise on
the way out. Maybe the bear
will assume the hunter has
left and it will be safe at the
bait and will be tempted to
come right in.
DeBoer asked his wife,
Geni, if she’d like to be the
bear “decoy.”
Geni quickly and unequivocally
declined.
DeBoer’s friend had another
idea. He suggested for
DeBoer himself to leave his
stand well before dark, again
making the usual noise, and
then quietly take a position
on the ground in sight of the
bait, 40-50 yards beyond his
tree stand.
It worked Thursday evening,
Sept. 25, the first evening
DeBoer tried that ruse.
DeBoer said he hadn’t been
settled against a tree for five
minutes and the huge bear
came to the bait.
At first the bear was facing
away - not a shot DeBoer was
going to take. At 70 yards
DeBoer could plainly hear the
bear crunch-crunch-crunching
on the kettle corn. Soon
the bear turned broadside.
At the shot the bear turned
and faced DeBoer. It growled
and then tore off, thankfully
away from DeBoer.
DeBoer sat for a few
minutes and collected his
thoughts.
“I was really positive I made
a good shot,” he said.
He went to where the bear
had been standing when he
shot. DeBoer looked into the
woods the direction the bear
had charged off. It lay dead
35 yards away.
DeBoer had to double up
the rope between his fourwheel
drive ATV and the
bear to drag it to where he
could load it into his truck.
He and Geni couldn’t budge
the bear. It took a tractor and
loader to lift the bear into the
truck.
The folks at Meyer’s Meats
north of Nevis, where DeBoer
took the bear for processing,
have seen some huge bear
come through the doors over
the years.
The last three years they
processed three that were

[CampYJewel]

over 400 pounds (fielddressed
weight), with the
largest being 454 pounds.
DeBoer’s field dressed bear
tipped the scales at 611
pounds!
“On the hoof,” the bear
would have weighed about
750 pounds.
Dell Karl of Meyer’s Meats
did some measurements of
the bear. The forearm near
the elbow was 22 inches
around - about the size of
most human’s thighs. The
hide measured an unbelievable
8’ 11”, from nose to tail.
Karl said the bear had a
six-inch thick layer of fat
over much of its body.
The preliminary measurement
of the bear’s skull for
the Boone and Crockett
record book is a whopping 22
inches. It will place very high
in the world record book.
DeBoer guesses the bear
was 15-20 years old. He’ll
know for sure after the DNR
examines the tooth he sent
to them.
DeBoer is having a fullbody
mount of the bear done
by a taxidermist in New
Ulm. Taxidermy supply companies
don’t make black bear
forms that big so the taxidermist
said he is going to have
to use one made for a grizzly
bear.
While preparing the hide
the taxidermist discovered
the bears’ rear end contained
dozens of BBs from a shotgun
blast, long-ago healed, right
under the skin. It’s anybody’s
guess how that could have
happened - a chance encounter
with a terrified grouse
hunter?; an annoyed gardener
protecting the strawberries
and carrots?; or a “reminder”
from a bird feeding
enthusiast those sunflower
seeds are for grosbeaks and
the like?
The bear’s ears are very
scarred and tattered, and its
snout also heavily scarred,
most likely from a couple of
decades of mating and territorial
fights with other
bears.
The bear will make an impressive
mount that will be
displayed in DeBoer’s insurance
office.
“I still can’t believe there
was something that big in
the woods,” said DeBoer.

[CampYJewel]

Here is the picture that was in the paper. 

Jewel

[attachment deleted by admin]

[22lex]

Good for him!

That is a massive animal. I can't believe how big it is!

[sjohnnie26]

Thanks for the info Jewel.  That thing is just plain enormous!

[jjcoffe]

That's the one.  Thanks guys for finding that info.  What a monster.

 

[Cody Gruchow]

well im proven wrong i knew they were decent size around there but i didnt think they could get that big. but wow. guess im going to have to watch my back when i leave the deer stand from now on....thats a monster

[Outdoors Junkie]

That is one impressive brute.  Wow!!!

[GirlGuide]

MY GOD, THAT THING IS HUGE!!

Thanks for finding the story and posting it Jewel! 

~gg