MAITLAND - A normal day for a hunter in Kemptown recently turned in to the type of story from which legends are born.
Maitland resident Randy Clooney never considered himself a trophy hunter, choosing his prey for meat instead of how it would look hanging on a wall.
But on Sept. 21 he bagged one of the biggest male black bears ever to be taken down in the province, weighing in at an enormous 550 pounds field dressed.
"It will be in the record book," he said. "It's unusual to get a bear that size."
Black bear season opened on Sept. 14 for hunters using registered bait sites. Clooney said he had gone to his tree stand every afternoon for six days and hadn't seen any bears but knew they were around because the bait had been hit.
He had been silently waiting for three hours when he first heard a soft rustle of brush come from behind him.
"When he stepped out I knew he was big," said the hunter. "Oh my heavens, he was huge.
"I didn't waste any time. I hit him then and there."
Clooney took aim, hitting the giant bear in the neck with a shotgun slug, killing it instantly.
"You get excited when you first see it but you have to calm yourself down in order to make the right shot to dispatch the animal quickly," he said.
It was a struggle to get the hefty animal loaded onto an all-terrain vehicle to haul it out of the woods and he enlisted the help of three friends to dress it and remove the hide.
He plans on having the large beast's head mounted and has already had a feed of bear steak.
"The meat is excellent," he said.
The experienced hunter said he's heard that stories about the hunt are spreading around the countryside and feels it was more luck than skill that helped him bag the big one that day.
"I'll never shoot another one like this in my lifetime," he said.
Jim MacNaughton, with the Department of Natural Resources in Bible Hill, said in this region the average size black bear ranges between 200 and 300 pounds.
"That's a big bear and no doubt an old one who has been able to avoid hunters all these years," he said of Clooney's prey.
The last big bear MacNaughton can recall in this region was live trapped a few years ago by the department during a spring month and weighed 425 pounds.
He estimates Clooney's bear weighed about 200 pounds more than that before it was field dressed.
A pre-molar tooth will be taken from the bear to determine its age. However, the results won't be known for several months.
With a black bear kill already notched on his belt, Clooney is setting his sights on whitetail deer hunting season that is set to officially open Oct. 31.
smartell@trurodaily.com
Oh my heavens, he was huge
Oh my heavens, he was huge
- Published on October 8th, 2009
- Published on December 31st, 2009
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Sherry Martell
- Number of views : 3664
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Comments
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- Country
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:16:16
Wow! what Great front page news!,I mean who cares about the important suff,that can wait,but I mean,a bear carcass to see?I reckon thats just fine!
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- chief wiggam
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:15:05
just cut the tongue out and leave the rest. thats is what won the west.(in america)
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- Rob
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:13:59
Yeah it's barbaric! They issue nusiance licenses to kill bears because the big morons destroy blueberry fields and other gardens. So kill them but waste the meat, as long as we save your veggie crops!
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- Mark
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:13:53
Primates (ie. human beings) are not designed to be meat eaters..... our anatomy is designed for vegetables, fruit and nuts.
I think seeing farm animals and wild animals killed is barbaric.
This isn't a story. It's disgusting. Why bother printing it? -
- A
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:13:51
I feel very bad for all animals be ing killed and miss treated.
You should see how some kill their farm animals.they hit them in the head with a mall and cut their throat .The poor things kick and struggle for breath.Something I wish not to see again.
Can you amagine just how they felt??/ -
- Elizabeth
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:12:20
I do not want to look at dead animals, and idiotic hunters!
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- Elizabeth
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:12:14
What if I were to tell you I was a Vegan, or do you know what that is?
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- Country
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:12:03
LOL! hopefully there will be some more good front pagers from that.
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- Steve
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:07:01
Very Nice..... Deer hunting season is set to officially open Oct. 30 not Oct 31 :-)
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- Skeptic
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:06:16
Shame on the TDN for the headline 'Big Bear Bagged'.
The hunter seems experienced and responsible and killed for food, not just adventure. Hopefully, it was all legal.
But the headline takes away any dignity and repect for nature and its creatures. -
- Reg
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:06:03
This is disgusting.
I have no problems with the way animals are treated on a farm... they are being bred for food. -
- misty
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:05:24
my hubby and i hunt because we do like to have food,,,,,nothing goes to waste,,,if we have too much deer meat,,we pass some on to others...i would love to try bear meat,,they say it is tasty if cooked right...no preservatives in it...
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- ArthurStRes
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:03:59
How so many people thinks it wrong to kill the bear for meat but yet so many of you think that it is ok for the police to shot at a man.
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- Kass
- - January 18th, 2010 at 10:03:14
Thanx J from Around Now if you could just spell you could go places since you have so much Knoledge .LOL
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- Countrygal
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:59:23
I think it's quite a picture. That animal is huge! I'd rather see it dead on the ground than in my back yard. I'm not a fan of bear meat but I do like moose and deer.
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- Scott
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:59:22
Wow I hope he feels good about it! I am sure the meat is all he will it this winter!! No need of it!!
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- Disgusted
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:58:15
I can't believe someone would do this!!
That poor bear, and now you are going to go after deer??
You should be ashamed! -
- Jeff
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:57:32
Knoledge. Too funny Kass
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- just a minute
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:56:24
Mark I beg to differ. The human anatomy is designed to be a meat eater - we are omnivores, not carnivores or herbovores. Check out your teeth and you'll find you have canines which are designed for tearing into meat.
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- tom
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:53:18
looking at the comments there must be something wrong with people that live near or in truro.is it the water?
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- Iroquois
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:52:33
to: Disgusted from NS, you should see the way farm animals are treated hunting is the best form to get meat its no different than picking food from your garden all things have spirit.
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- Action
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:50:08
Kass are you a complete idiot? You have no idead about it its clear..sites are regestered with dnr unless its crown property..and people are more then willing to let people shoot bears cause there is so many of them..get your head out of the sand..unreal
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- Bill
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:47:40
I do not personally hunt but I am not against it. If the bear meat just showed up in a grocery store all nicely packed I'm sure most would not have a problem with the fact it was killed to eat. As Iroquois stated hunting is a more humane way of getting food to eat than big corporation food processing.
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- Steve
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:46:59
If you trim all of the extra fat off of it... it's pretty hard to tell a bear roast from roast beef.
My daughter loved it until she found out what it was.... -
- Daniel
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:46:46
Hunting is the most humaine way to kill animals for food (I don't agree with hunting if there is no intent to eat the meat). As for this being front page news, we live in the Maritimes; Hunting and fishing is still a way of life for a good percentage of our population.
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- Rob
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:46:04
All you bleeding hearts are hypocrits. Writing this as you eat your morning bacon. Getting ready for your steak and chicken dinner.
It's hunting and it's a trphy kill at the same time.
get over yourselves. -
- CoolCat
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:45:33
I also shot a bear this fall and the meat is great. For us hunters arguing with you tree huggers is a waste of time as you are uneducated in the shooting sports. If you want to see cruelty go to youtube and type in slaughter house and watch how they kill cows. Hunting if done correctly is very humane. And for all you dumb dumbs yes it was a legal kill. Nice bear Randy I poster it on nova scotia huntings website.
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- Kass
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:41:02
On whose Property did the Big Hunter Kill this Bear if it was not on his Own Property could this be Called Poaching ???Just Wondering .
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- Jeff
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:39:28
How dare you hunt bear and deer legally in N.S. like thousands of others EVERY year.You sir are an animal.I like hotdogs and chicken and beef but thats different, those farmers use a boltgun, sledgehammer or axe.Much more humane.
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- chief wiggam
- - January 18th, 2010 at 09:38:40
thank you!
