Area man bags biggest bear of the season so far at Moraine State Park
Nate Miller had his first hunting encounter with a black bear Saturday morning, Nov. 22, at Moraine State Park.
The encounter left Miller, of Rochester Township, Beaver County, shaking with adrenaline and emotion. After firing two shots at the animal from about 60 feet away, Miller thought it escaped into the woods, where he would never find it again.
The fact the bear, weighing 717 pounds, would end up being the biggest bagged so far this year in Pennsylvania was the least of Miller’s concerns.
After calling his wife in a panic and a trek deeper into the woods, Miller found the bear lying dead on a fallen log, which the hunter said was probably the biggest shock.
“I stood there for a little bit and called my wife, shaking like a leaf. It was an emotion, adrenaline dump. You name it, I was feeling it,” Miller said. “I start walking down real slow and found him. He was lying right there like in the picture. I stood there for about 20 minutes just to make sure he didn't move.”
Miller said he remembers the encounter vividly because of the high emotion that came with it. He was traversing the park at around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, in an area recommended to him by a friend who said he had found signs of bear around. He found a spot overlooking a pile of logs, which he waited at for a while watching through his binoculars.
After removing his binoculars, Miller saw a black spot by the log pile with his naked eye, before confirming it was indeed a large black bear with his binoculars.
He assessed the angle of his shot and made sure it was a legal catch before firing a round at the bear. Unsure if he made contact, Miller fired another shot that “definitely” hit the bear, which showed its teeth before running off.
It was at that point he called his wife before venturing into the woods, where he came upon a spot of heavy blood and then, finally, the bear’s body on the log.
It took several people to load the bear onto Miller’s pickup truck, but he was able to haul it to be weighed and to Markers Taxidermy to be stuffed.
Miller said he is just glad to have bagged a bear and is not concerned about holding the record.
“This is my first harvest out of Moraine, first ever Pennsylvania bear I've seen during bear season and (I’m) one of 2% in the state to harvest a bear,” Miller said. “If someone gets one bigger than me I hope somebody does.”
