Following a recent meeting during the Great American Outdoors Show, the Pope and Young Club crowned a new Pope & Young World Record Black Bear. The meeting took place on February 8th in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. When it was all wrapped up, Jeff Melillo’s massive black bear was confirmed with a score of 23 5/16 and is now the largest bow-harvested black bear in North America.
“I knew I was going to be looking at an impressive Black Bear skull, as it was officially measured at over 23 inches and weighed in at 700 pounds,” said Eli Randall, Records Director for the Pope and Young Club.
“I was not prepared for the amount of mass the skull possessed, not only was the skull huge, but the bone structure was the heaviest I had ever seen. Congratulations to Jeff Melillo on harvesting this outstanding black bear. This is a true testament to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and a shining beacon of what can be accomplished with efforts and funds being dedicated to wildlife.”