Possible State Record Black Bear Killed in Keysville

Tyler Napier was hunting Saturday morning on his family’s farm in Keysville when he saw the 7 to 8-inch wide tracks of a large bear in the mud in a farm road. (Note: A rough estimate of mature black bear size is 100 pounds per inch of front track width.) Napier followed the tracks down the road and into the woods and finally flushed the bear from a large brush pile.

Napier said, “I was only 15 to 20 feet from the bear when he came out of the brush pile. I shot five times with a 30.06. Then the bear roared at me and I was really nervous because I was out of bullets.” It took five men and a tractor to pull the bear from the woods.

The bear was taken to Duffey’s Mini-mart in Meherrin to be checked in and for processing. The behemoth weighed in at 728 pounds making it the largest black bear on (unofficial) record in Virginia. It was approximately 6 feet nose to tail, over 3 feet tall at the shoulder and measured 7’ 2” hanging.

The previous unofficial Virginia record black bear was a 674-pound monster killed in adjoining Lunenburg County last year. Most black bears killed by hunters weigh less than 300 pounds.

In Virginia the official black bear record is determined not by weight or size but by skull measurements. In addition to weighing, Virginia Game Checking stations remove a tooth that is used to determine the age of the bear.

The bear had been seen previously on the Napier farm where it had destroyed crops. He was also seen by other farmers and residents including at least one sighting within the town limits of Keysville.

The black bear population has been exploding in Southside Virginia in recent years in part due to increased food supply from farms and homes. Many sows are bearing litters of three cubs. A spokesman from Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said, “The increase in black bear population is due to the bears reclaiming their traditional territories.” However, homes and farms provide better habitat for bears than natural woodland.

Black bears are Apex predators which means no other animal (except man) threatens them. They are also omnivores and eat anything from insects and plants to meat.

Bears are well known for destroying beehives. Contrary to myth they eat the bees and brood, not the honey. They are opportunists and will eat crops, garbage, pet food and bird seed.

Napier plans on eating the meat which has already been processed by Duffey’s and is having the head and hide made into a rug.