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While hunting on his family's farm in Charlotte County Virginia on Saturday morning December 7th, 2013 Tyler Napier's day began with both rain and ice. Due to the weather he decided he would not to take a stand but that he would do some walking.
Over the past decade Tyler has had several encounters with an overgrown black bear on his farm, but the bear was always at distances beyond his weapon's potential. The latest encounter came on opening day of bow season October 5th. That morning Tyler climbed into his tree stand overlooking a 10 acre corn field prior to daylight. After settling into his stand he heard something moving in the corn some distance away. As daylight came he saw what was making all the racket. It was a giant black bear sitting on it's rear end, upright pulling in rows of cornstalks with both front paws while eating every ear of corn from each stalk. The bear would then move 10 feet and repeat this action. After 6 straight hours of the bear gorging itself on corn it finally walked off into the surrounding woods.
Work obligations didn't allow Tyler time to hunt the farm again till after Thanksgiving and by that time all the corn had been cut and the field was bare so another encounter with the bruin on this early rainy December morning wasn't exactly planned. Not long after daylight on his stalk hunt through the property he came upon several large indentions in the wet leaves. Initially he thought that one of their cows had got loose so he continued to follow the tracks.
Soon Tyler came to a small creek crossing and immediately noticed claw marks on the creek bank accompanied by a tremendous paw print. At that point he knew he may be onto this big bear and continued following the freshly marked path. After 5 minutes of following the tracks he looked up to discover the giant bear denned up under some blown down trees that were laying on the ground.
Due to the conditions and the wind being in the hunter's favor the bear didn't even sense Tyler's presence, who by that time stood only some 15 feet from the denned bear. At first Tyler could only see a mass of black and couldn't define what size of bear he was dealing with. Within moments the bear raised his enormous head and looked directly at Tyler. He could tell by the size of the bear's head that indeed it was the giant that he had encountered in the corn field several months ago.
Tyler quickly raised his rifle and fired a shot into the bruins neck. The bear attempted to get to his feet as Tyler fired a second round from his 30.06, again striking the bear in the neck. On it's second attempt to get to it's feet Tyler fired a third and fatal shot and the beast rolled over onto his back, let out a loud roar and soon after that expired.
Updated specifications on the bear are as follows:
The bear weighed 728lbs and measured 8" 7"inches from nose to tail. The bear was 16 years old and the Boone & Crokett score is 19-14/16. It's skull measurement is 28.5" which falls just short of the current Virginia record of 31". The taxidermist labeled this bear as a "snub nose" because it's skull was enormous, but it lacked in length.
This is a true great Virginia black bear and an all time trophy in anyone's book. I truly enjoyed my interview with Tyler and we appreciate him sharing this unique, once in a lifetime event with our hunting community!
Jeff Phillips- Star City Whitetails
While hunting on his family's farm in Charlotte County Virginia on Saturday morning December 7th, 2013 Tyler Napier's day began with both rain and ice. Due to the weather he decided he would not to take a stand but that he would do some walking.
Over the past decade Tyler has had several encounters with an overgrown black bear on his farm, but the bear was always at distances beyond his weapon's potential. The latest encounter came on opening day of bow season October 5th. That morning Tyler climbed into his tree stand overlooking a 10 acre corn field prior to daylight. After settling into his stand he heard something moving in the corn some distance away. As daylight came he saw what was making all the racket. It was a giant black bear sitting on it's rear end, upright pulling in rows of cornstalks with both front paws while eating every ear of corn from each stalk. The bear would then move 10 feet and repeat this action. After 6 straight hours of the bear gorging itself on corn it finally walked off into the surrounding woods.
Work obligations didn't allow Tyler time to hunt the farm again till after Thanksgiving and by that time all the corn had been cut and the field was bare so another encounter with the bruin on this early rainy December morning wasn't exactly planned. Not long after daylight on his stalk hunt through the property he came upon several large indentions in the wet leaves. Initially he thought that one of their cows had got loose so he continued to follow the tracks.
Soon Tyler came to a small creek crossing and immediately noticed claw marks on the creek bank accompanied by a tremendous paw print. At that point he knew he may be onto this big bear and continued following the freshly marked path. After 5 minutes of following the tracks he looked up to discover the giant bear denned up under some blown down trees that were laying on the ground.
Due to the conditions and the wind being in the hunter's favor the bear didn't even sense Tyler's presence, who by that time stood only some 15 feet from the denned bear. At first Tyler could only see a mass of black and couldn't define what size of bear he was dealing with. Within moments the bear raised his enormous head and looked directly at Tyler. He could tell by the size of the bear's head that indeed it was the giant that he had encountered in the corn field several months ago.
Tyler quickly raised his rifle and fired a shot into the bruins neck. The bear attempted to get to his feet as Tyler fired a second round from his 30.06, again striking the bear in the neck. On it's second attempt to get to it's feet Tyler fired a third and fatal shot and the beast rolled over onto his back, let out a loud roar and soon after that expired.
Updated specifications on the bear are as follows:
The bear weighed 728lbs and measured 8" 7"inches from nose to tail. The bear was 16 years old and the Boone & Crokett score is 19-14/16. It's skull measurement is 28.5" which falls just short of the current Virginia record of 31". The taxidermist labeled this bear as a "snub nose" because it's skull was enormous, but it lacked in length.
This is a true great Virginia black bear and an all time trophy in anyone's book. I truly enjoyed my interview with Tyler and we appreciate him sharing this unique, once in a lifetime event with our hunting community!
Jeff Phillips- Star City Whitetails
While hunting on his family's farm in Charlotte County Virginia on Saturday morning December 7th, 2013 Tyler Napier's day began with both rain and ice. Due to the weather he decided he would not to take a stand but that he would do some walking.
Over the past decade Tyler has had several encounters with an overgrown black bear on his farm, but the bear was always at distances beyond his weapon's potential. The latest encounter came on opening day of bow season October 5th. That morning Tyler climbed into his tree stand overlooking a 10 acre corn field prior to daylight. After settling into his stand he heard something moving in the corn some distance away. As daylight came he saw what was making all the racket. It was a giant black bear sitting on it's rear end, upright pulling in rows of cornstalks with both front paws while eating every ear of corn from each stalk. The bear would then move 10 feet and repeat this action. After 6 straight hours of the bear gorging itself on corn it finally walked off into the surrounding woods.
Work obligations didn't allow Tyler time to hunt the farm again till after Thanksgiving and by that time all the corn had been cut and the field was bare so another encounter with the bruin on this early rainy December morning wasn't exactly planned. Not long after daylight on his stalk hunt through the property he came upon several large indentions in the wet leaves. Initially he thought that one of their cows had got loose so he continued to follow the tracks.
Soon Tyler came to a small creek crossing and immediately noticed claw marks on the creek bank accompanied by a tremendous paw print. At that point he knew he may be onto this big bear and continued following the freshly marked path. After 5 minutes of following the tracks he looked up to discover the giant bear denned up under some blown down trees that were laying on the ground.
Due to the conditions and the wind being in the hunter's favor the bear didn't even sense Tyler's presence, who by that time stood only some 15 feet from the denned bear. At first Tyler could only see a mass of black and couldn't define what size of bear he was dealing with. Within moments the bear raised his enormous head and looked directly at Tyler. He could tell by the size of the bear's head that indeed it was the giant that he had encountered in the corn field several months ago.
Tyler quickly raised his rifle and fired a shot into the bruins neck. The bear attempted to get to his feet as Tyler fired a second round from his 30.06, again striking the bear in the neck. On it's second attempt to get to it's feet Tyler fired a third and fatal shot and the beast rolled over onto his back, let out a loud roar and soon after that expired.
Updated specifications on the bear are as follows:
The bear weighed 728lbs and measured 8" 7"inches from nose to tail. The bear was 16 years old and the Boone & Crokett score is 19-14/16. It's skull measurement is 28.5" which falls just short of the current Virginia record of 31". The taxidermist labeled this bear as a "snub nose" because it's skull was enormous, but it lacked in length.
This is a true great Virginia black bear and an all time trophy in anyone's book. I truly enjoyed my interview with Tyler and we appreciate him sharing this unique, once in a lifetime event with our hunting community!
Jeff Phillips- Star City Whitetails
While hunting on his family's farm in Charlotte County Virginia on Saturday morning December 7th, 2013 Tyler Napier's day began with both rain and ice. Due to the weather he decided he would not to take a stand but that he would do some walking.
Over the past decade Tyler has had several encounters with an overgrown black bear on his farm, but the bear was always at distances beyond his weapon's potential. The latest encounter came on opening day of bow season October 5th. That morning Tyler climbed into his tree stand overlooking a 10 acre corn field prior to daylight. After settling into his stand he heard something moving in the corn some distance away. As daylight came he saw what was making all the racket. It was a giant black bear sitting on it's rear end, upright pulling in rows of cornstalks with both front paws while eating every ear of corn from each stalk. The bear would then move 10 feet and repeat this action. After 6 straight hours of the bear gorging itself on corn it finally walked off into the surrounding woods.
Work obligations didn't allow Tyler time to hunt the farm again till after Thanksgiving and by that time all the corn had been cut and the field was bare so another encounter with the bruin on this early rainy December morning wasn't exactly planned. Not long after daylight on his stalk hunt through the property he came upon several large indentions in the wet leaves. Initially he thought that one of their cows had got loose so he continued to follow the tracks.
Soon Tyler came to a small creek crossing and immediately noticed claw marks on the creek bank accompanied by a tremendous paw print. At that point he knew he may be onto this big bear and continued following the freshly marked path. After 5 minutes of following the tracks he looked up to discover the giant bear denned up under some blown down trees that were laying on the ground.
Due to the conditions and the wind being in the hunter's favor the bear didn't even sense Tyler's presence, who by that time stood only some 15 feet from the denned bear. At first Tyler could only see a mass of black and couldn't define what size of bear he was dealing with. Within moments the bear raised his enormous head and looked directly at Tyler. He could tell by the size of the bear's head that indeed it was the giant that he had encountered in the corn field several months ago.
Tyler quickly raised his rifle and fired a shot into the bruins neck. The bear attempted to get to his feet as Tyler fired a second round from his 30.06, again striking the bear in the neck. On it's second attempt to get to it's feet Tyler fired a third and fatal shot and the beast rolled over onto his back, let out a loud roar and soon after that expired.
Updated specifications on the bear are as follows:
The bear weighed 728lbs and measured 8" 7"inches from nose to tail. The bear was 16 years old and the Boone & Crokett score is 19-14/16. It's skull measurement is 28.5" which falls just short of the current Virginia record of 31". The taxidermist labeled this bear as a "snub nose" because it's skull was enormous, but it lacked in length.
This is a true great Virginia black bear and an all time trophy in anyone's book. I truly enjoyed my interview with Tyler and we appreciate him sharing this unique, once in a lifetime event with our hunting community!
Jeff Phillips- Star City Whitetails
While hunting on his family's farm in Charlotte County Virginia on Saturday morning December 7th, 2013 Tyler Napier's day began with both rain and ice. Due to the weather he decided he would not to take a stand but that he would do some walking.
Over the past decade Tyler has had several encounters with an overgrown black bear on his farm, but the bear was always at distances beyond his weapon's potential. The latest encounter came on opening day of bow season October 5th. That morning Tyler climbed into his tree stand overlooking a 10 acre corn field prior to daylight. After settling into his stand he heard something moving in the corn some distance away. As daylight came he saw what was making all the racket. It was a giant black bear sitting on it's rear end, upright pulling in rows of cornstalks with both front paws while eating every ear of corn from each stalk. The bear would then move 10 feet and repeat this action. After 6 straight hours of the bear gorging itself on corn it finally walked off into the surrounding woods.
Work obligations didn't allow Tyler time to hunt the farm again till after Thanksgiving and by that time all the corn had been cut and the field was bare so another encounter with the bruin on this early rainy December morning wasn't exactly planned. Not long after daylight on his stalk hunt through the property he came upon several large indentions in the wet leaves. Initially he thought that one of their cows had got loose so he continued to follow the tracks.
Soon Tyler came to a small creek crossing and immediately noticed claw marks on the creek bank accompanied by a tremendous paw print. At that point he knew he may be onto this big bear and continued following the freshly marked path. After 5 minutes of following the tracks he looked up to discover the giant bear denned up under some blown down trees that were laying on the ground.
Due to the conditions and the wind being in the hunter's favor the bear didn't even sense Tyler's presence, who by that time stood only some 15 feet from the denned bear. At first Tyler could only see a mass of black and couldn't define what size of bear he was dealing with. Within moments the bear raised his enormous head and looked directly at Tyler. He could tell by the size of the bear's head that indeed it was the giant that he had encountered in the corn field several months ago.
Tyler quickly raised his rifle and fired a shot into the bruins neck. The bear attempted to get to his feet as Tyler fired a second round from his 30.06, again striking the bear in the neck. On it's second attempt to get to it's feet Tyler fired a third and fatal shot and the beast rolled over onto his back, let out a loud roar and soon after that expired.
Updated specifications on the bear are as follows:
The bear weighed 728lbs and measured 8" 7"inches from nose to tail. The bear was 16 years old and the Boone & Crokett score is 19-14/16. It's skull measurement is 28.5" which falls just short of the current Virginia record of 31". The taxidermist labeled this bear as a "snub nose" because it's skull was enormous, but it lacked in length.
This is a true great Virginia black bear and an all time trophy in anyone's book. I truly enjoyed my interview with Tyler and we appreciate him sharing this unique, once in a lifetime event with our hunting community!
Jeff Phillips- Star City Whitetails
While hunting on his family's farm in Charlotte County Virginia on Saturday morning December 7th, 2013 Tyler Napier's day began with both rain and ice. Due to the weather he decided he would not to take a stand but that he would do some walking.
Over the past decade Tyler has had several encounters with an overgrown black bear on his farm, but the bear was always at distances beyond his weapon's potential. The latest encounter came on opening day of bow season October 5th. That morning Tyler climbed into his tree stand overlooking a 10 acre corn field prior to daylight. After settling into his stand he heard something moving in the corn some distance away. As daylight came he saw what was making all the racket. It was a giant black bear sitting on it's rear end, upright pulling in rows of cornstalks with both front paws while eating every ear of corn from each stalk. The bear would then move 10 feet and repeat this action. After 6 straight hours of the bear gorging itself on corn it finally walked off into the surrounding woods.
Work obligations didn't allow Tyler time to hunt the farm again till after Thanksgiving and by that time all the corn had been cut and the field was bare so another encounter with the bruin on this early rainy December morning wasn't exactly planned. Not long after daylight on his stalk hunt through the property he came upon several large indentions in the wet leaves. Initially he thought that one of their cows had got loose so he continued to follow the tracks.
Soon Tyler came to a small creek crossing and immediately noticed claw marks on the creek bank accompanied by a tremendous paw print. At that point he knew he may be onto this big bear and continued following the freshly marked path. After 5 minutes of following the tracks he looked up to discover the giant bear denned up under some blown down trees that were laying on the ground.
Due to the conditions and the wind being in the hunter's favor the bear didn't even sense Tyler's presence, who by that time stood only some 15 feet from the denned bear. At first Tyler could only see a mass of black and couldn't define what size of bear he was dealing with. Within moments the bear raised his enormous head and looked directly at Tyler. He could tell by the size of the bear's head that indeed it was the giant that he had encountered in the corn field several months ago.
Tyler quickly raised his rifle and fired a shot into the bruins neck. The bear attempted to get to his feet as Tyler fired a second round from his 30.06, again striking the bear in the neck. On it's second attempt to get to it's feet Tyler fired a third and fatal shot and the beast rolled over onto his back, let out a loud roar and soon after that expired.
Updated specifications on the bear are as follows:
The bear weighed 728lbs and measured 8" 7"inches from nose to tail. The bear was 16 years old and the Boone & Crokett score is 19-14/16. It's skull measurement is 28.5" which falls just short of the current Virginia record of 31". The taxidermist labeled this bear as a "snub nose" because it's skull was enormous, but it lacked in length.
This is a true great Virginia black bear and an all time trophy in anyone's book. I truly enjoyed my interview with Tyler and we appreciate him sharing this unique, once in a lifetime event with our hunting community!
Jeff Phillips- Star City Whitetails
