The Largest Black Bear in Canada

Within the New Brunswick area are some of the biggest game you’ll ever come across. Everyone plans on running into the big ones when they are in Canada, and even with preparation it can turn into a stunner. This is especially true for hunters that are moving from deer to black bears for the first time. When the shock wears off and they get their first kill, it becomes hard to believe just how massive the target was. Of course a bigger target means an easier takedown, correct?

A big bear doesn’t make it easier to take down, and doesn’t make the critical area any better to locate. The black fur from the largest black bear will just make the target harder to spot. So regardless of how big the bear is, the location that you need to target does not all of a sudden become easier. The average size of the black bears in New Brunswick hover around 400 to 600 pounds. This is typically larger than the normal hunting size in other areas where hunters may see bears that are not even 400 pounds.

The largest black bear on record in the New Brunswick area was caught in 1972, weighing an incredible 1,100 pounds. This monster still had an ultimate weight of 902 pounds after it was dressed, far beyond the normal weight for the area. If you look at a top 10 list of the largest black bears on record, expect to see multiple Canadian spots mentioned. The laws are in effect in a lot of Canadian areas that protect smaller bears. So when hunting season rolls around, the average weight of available bears is more than double that of other areas.

It’s always an amazing story to see big black bears, as they are considered the smallest of the species. This is due to diet and general genetics, so when getting large bears of this size, it is always an accomplishment. Therefore a lot of credit goes to the New Brunswick area for consistently cranking them out at a pace that makes other spots jealous. For the biggest and the tallest, this really is the place to be. Expect more world records to continue to break in the area. And for the lucky hunters, more inclusions in the world’s top list of black bear weight records.