Pennsylvania Game News - May 2017 - 19

The men would later uncover that
Burns' bolt severed Learn's arrow about a
foot from its broadhead as the bolt passed
through the bear.

Perspective
Located less than a half-hour from
Punxsutawney, the area in which Learn
took his bear is better known for its prognosticator of spring than as the stomping
grounds of the heaviest bear taken in
Pennsylvania's 2016 bear season.
But the bear was weighed intact at 740
pounds.
And there seems little doubt the bear
had an established presence in Rayne
Township, Indiana County.
Game Commission Land Management
Group Supervisor Ned Kimmel, who
works in Indiana County, said he had
received complaints about a big bear in
the community of Clymer, which isn't far
from where the bear was taken.
"Those complaints revolved around
a very large bear frequenting Clymer on
a daily basis, for weeks," Kimmel said.
"But after I set a trap last spring, the bear
was never seen again. I believe it's very
possible that this could be the same bear."
Indiana County WCO Chris Reidmiller, who along with Kimmel, inspected
the harvest site, said the bear had no ear
tags or tattoos, so it's not likely the bear
ever spent time in an agency bear trap.
"For his size," Learn offered, "it's hard
to believe that bear had never been in
any trouble. It's hard to say for sure, but
ya' know, that bear probably was never
shot at."
The bear is one of the heaviest ever
taken in Indiana County with any sporting arm, and its skull measurement would
have made it Pennsylvania's No. 1 bear in
the archery category, had the back of the
skull not been damaged in butchering.
MAY 2017

Even with the broken piece subtracted
from the score, the skull still measured 20
9/16 inches - 12th all-time in the archery
bear category. It's Indiana County's only
archery category entry, and out of more
than 1,000 entries in the firearms category,
just 10 are from Indiana County.
Learn believes the bear was sitting
tight. It's likely a defense that kept it out
of trouble most of its life, he reasoned.
"He had to hear me," Learn said. "He
was probably hoping I'd walk past him!"
Of course, that didn't happen.
Learn also pointed out that big bears
can be lazy and that they do take chances.
"They're not going to jump up and run
if they don't have to," he suggested. "That
bear's bed was back under these shrubs.
He chewed off branches, and pulled in
leaves and stuff. He felt safe in there!"
Reflecting, Learn still assesses the
gravity of it all, including how close he
was to such a huge bear.
"I often wonder, if I knew what that
bear was whether I'd still have shot at that
range," Learn explained."But each of us
realize how lucky and blessed we were to
harvest and just be so near such an amazing, unbelievable and beautiful animal. It
was truly a once-in-a-lifetime hunt."
Burns sees it just a little differently.
"When I shot that big bear in 2015, a
guy said to me, 'You'll never get another
one; you'll never get another one!' Yet,
the first time I'm in the woods with a
sporting arm in my hands the following
year, within an hour, there's this incredible
animal looking at me!"
Effort, Burns contends, is what matters
most. And, with a bear population the size
of Pennsylvania's, he believes trophies
can be anywhere.
But you have to scout for bears to be
successful hunting them, he stresses. And
a great gang of friends always helps!
19
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2017

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