A wild Black Bear. Adobe RGB color profile. (Getty Images)
A man in Pennsylvania shot and killed one of the biggest bears of the 2017 hunting season.
Hunter Bo Bowser had been trying to bag a bear for 13 years, CBS Pittsburgh reported.
"I would have taken a small one for my first one, but I can't complain about a 600-pounder," Bowser told CBS Pittsburgh.
The 25-year-old, who grew up in a hunting family, brought down a 7-foot-tall, 600 pound monster of a black bear in Valley Township, PA.
DOG SHOOTS HUNTER AFTER ANOTHER HUNTER LEAVES SHOTGUN ON GROUND
"He was down by a creek, so it was nice and loud," said Bowser. "I was able to sneak up on him."
Bowser said when the bear first turned around and looked at him, his initial reaction was: “Whoa!”
The gargantuan animal was not an easy one to take down, though. It took four shots before Bowser succeeded. Then he had to figure out how to get the bear out of the forest.
"If we had shot him anywhere deep in the woods, we wouldn't have been able to get him out," said Bowser.
Bowser floated the bear across the creek and then had his friends and dad pitch in to load the animal onto his ATV.
"Five guys, 45 minutes to drag it 15 yards," he said to the news outlet.
Bowser said he doesn’t expect to get such a large trophy next year – just shy of the largest kill of the hunting season, which was 700 pounds according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
"I mean, I'll never shoot a 600-pounder again," he said. "But, like I said, sometimes luck is on your side."
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS
Bowser said he gave the bear meat to some friends, and is deciding what to do with the hide.
"You can't just put it in the corner of your living room," said Bowser. "It would take up some serious space."
Currently the bear is at a taxidermist while Bowser figures out if he wants to have it mounted, which could cost upwards of $3,000.