Ep.119 How A North Carolina Hound Pack Found A World Record Tied Black Bear

One trail cam photo. A last-second change of plans. Then a black bear so big it ties the world record on skull measurement. We’re joined by returning guest Tyler Young from Old Fort, North Carolina, and he walks us through the full chain of events that led to an officially weighed 574 pound mountain bear and a Boone and Crockett score of 23 9/16. What makes this story hit is how grounded it is: careful dog work, smart choices under pressure, and a crew trying to do it right in steep, thick country.

We talk hound hunting from the inside out: what Tyler keeps in his kennel, why Plotts still have a reputation for grit, and how he trains dogs through the summer on private land when many hunters can’t legally run year-round. Tyler explains baiting realities, seasonal food shifts, and why he often runs at night to protect his hounds from heat and humidity. He also shares a blunt reminder that these animals fight back, including the time a bear grabbed him and bit through his jeans and boot during a ground encounter.

Then we get into the hunt itself, step by step: why they switched locations, why they started with a smaller pack, how the bear kept bailing through cover, and how shot safety around baying dogs shaped every move. We wrap with the brutal pack-out, the scoring and awards, and a bigger conversation about conservation, perception, and what it will take to keep hound hunting alive as land access shrinks and public opinion shifts.

If you care about black bear hunting, North Carolina bear hunting, hound hunting ethics, or what “record book” really means, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with a hunting buddy, and leave a review with your thoughts: would you have made the same switch when that camera alert came in?

Check us out on Facebook  Hunts On Outfitting, or myself Ken Marr. Reach out and  Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!

Transcript

Welcome Sponsors And Guest Setup

SPEAKER_02 0:28

I tell you. I love everything. I think the outdoors and all things associated with it. Hey, thanks for sending me your ears to this week's podcast. I'm always so excited to have you guys listening to the podcast each and every week that you do. And this week's no exception of fired up. I'm really excited because this week we have a returning guest who has been bit by a bear and thought one. He is an incredibly great, humble and awesome talk to God that can tell one heck of a story. Tyler Tyler has been on the podcast previously telling about his really amazing text event. If you haven't listened to that, that was uh a few episodes. I think it's a few months ago. Um, a really great free-range text event, but this time Tyler is going to be telling us the story about a black bear hunt that he was on, and this bear is tied to the world record black bear. What an incredible hunt. What a great story. All in North Carolina running with Downs. Uh it's it's going to be great. And like I said, Tyler knows how to tell a story and it's really good at details, which is awesome. You guys are really going to enjoy it. Uh this past weekend I was at the Grand Lake Outdoor Show with some budget supply that run the big game club here in Brunswick. And uh we're scoring some uh really nice booths, and I don't think we did it there, and they're scoring there, and I was set up there with them and I talked to lots of people. There's some people that I still didn't get a chance to talk to, but I did meet some guys and gals and it's awesome and uh I um we are sitting there and the guy came over to bring us three drinks and it's super awesome, dude. And all I know is that I'm pretty sure his first name is Kyle. I have no idea who his last name is. I just know that it's very uh generous. And if anybody's listening to this and knows a Kyle that was bringing drinks over to the boys at the big game club, uh let me know who he is. Come over, drop them off, and then head out and then come back around. Drop them off stay along the chat. I've never got his last name or anything. So if you know who he is, let me know. Um right now, too, I'm incredibly proud and happy to be an ambassador for the Canadian Wild Turkey Federation. And they are having a contest right now or a giveaway where if you follow one of the five ambassadors, myself being one of them, uh so if you follow me and you like the post that they put up and you share it, you can have a chance with a really nice, genuine Canadian Wild Turkey Federation app. So that's just something to look for. Uh check it out on my Facebook. I've got it up there and share it for you guys to see. Uh and uh also if you guys are looking for some really great uh turkey calls, some mouth calls, some custom pot calls and butt fronts and coyote calls and all that. Check out full or check out uh sorry, rivers, edge, game calls. Uh Kenneth McDonald sets them all over. If you guys are looking, we're gonna be talking about bear on this podcast. Uh if you're hunting bear with a bowl that's beer or turkey or anything else, check out hooligan archery products, use code HUNTON2026 all caps, all one word. You're gonna save yourself some money. And I just got my latest issue of it, the Canadian Access to Firearms. That's where you're gonna find all the latest gear for you Canadians out there uh with firearms and ammo and scopes and knives and everything that goes along with it. It's a great article. It's in print magazine sent right to your door. I definitely recheck the outside at the back, have your coffee, and you don't look it over with some buddies. And um yeah, definitely check that out if you're looking for an in-print magazine for you Canadians. So uh without further ado, let's get chatting with Tyler because I'm excited for this one. And Tyler's so much fun to talk to. Oh, and if you're looking to get a hold of us to maybe come on the podcast or suggest somebody for it or just reach out to me, you can email me at hunt on outfitting at gmail.com or you can find us on Facebook at HuntsOnOutfitting, or uh find myself on there, Kenmair. Feel free to reach out. Some of you guys have been. It's been great talking with you from all over.

Tyler’s Hound Hunting Background

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Tyler, thanks uh thanks for coming on the podcast. I'm really fired up to talk about this world tide for world record black bear that you got. But before we get into that, uh Tyler, you've been on before. We talked about your Texas hunting adventure and we delved a little bit into your hound hunting, but this time we're gonna go all into it. So if you could best describe yourself, Tyler, how would you do it?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Well, my name's Tyler Young. Um I'm 29 years old. I'm from a little town called Old Fort, North Carolina. Uh there ain't much to do around here other than work and hunt and fish, and that's what I've done my whole life, and the what I love to do the most is hunt with my dogs, and that's that's about best sums up me and who I am, is if uh if I can chase it with a dog, I'm gonna be after it.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Yeah, perfect. I love it. Uh and Tyler, you just had a litter of uh you guys just had a litter of puppies, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Yes, sir. Yep, yeah. We uh we actually bred my start dog uh Mojo with my uncle's start dog Pearl. Um both of them are starting to get up in their age a little bit, and it's uh it's kinda it's time to for a new generation, and you never know, you know, in in the line that these dogs hunt and do, you never know when might be the last time that um you're able to have puppies or even see see the mom and dad alive or whatever. So she uh she come in heat at the right time of the the season and we bred them and um we actually it's a little bit of a scare. She had one pup and uh she just you know when they start having them, they should have them pretty consistent. And she went for a little while there and didn't have another one, and we ended up taking her to the vet, and uh they'd done an emergency C-section on her. And uh she actually had six total, but three of them died and three of them made it. So we got two little girls and a little boy, and their eyes are open now and they've got their legs under them, and we're fixing to have our hands full.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Yeah, well that that's good to hear that that it worked out. And you're right saying that about you know breeding your older dogs and they're good and you never know when could be the last time, because um a good buddy of mine, Mike in Maine, Michael Grammanez with Good Old Boys Guide Service, he had an older dog, Duke, that uh a blue tick that got him in. It was his dog that got him into the big game house. And um Duke was really good, he was getting older, and Mike's like, ah, I better get a litter out of him just in case, right? And he bred him that fall, and he died later that winter, he passed away. So uh and the pups that he's got on the ground from them, they're working out great, but it was just lucky, you know, that he did decide to do that when he did.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Right. Yeah, you never you never know. I mean, it's especially in this day and time uh or you know, in anything, you never know when the next time you turn them loose, if that'll be the last time you see them alive, or even just going out and feeding them. You know, I've gone out and fed them before and they pass away. It ain't no different than a human, you know, you never know.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

Yep, yeah. So what what kind of dogs are in your kennels? What kind of hounds are you running, Tyler? I've got a little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

If it'll if it'll run a bear, if even if it's a poodle, if it'll run a bear, I'll hunt it. Uh but no, um I've got I've got three or four plot dogs. Um, I have one little blue-tick female, um, and then I've got mainly English and Walker dogs, is mainly what I have, but I'm I'm very fond of my plot dogs.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Oh, yeah, because I mean they they were bred specifically really for bear. I mean, they're just so gritty, a little too gritty sometimes, and I love the plot dogs, they work great, but they just don't get that mouth of some of your more traditional coon hounds.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yes, sir. Yeah, they're they're more all bite, no bark compared to compared to some, you know, which I mean, and it it's it's wild because I mean, you know, a dog's its own creature and stuff, and I've seen some plot dogs that'll hang right in there and run with your best walker dogs and blue ticks, whatever, as far as noses and stuff, and then as far as just an overall dog, it's truly, I guess what I like about them the most is just their grit and their determination and their their drive and want to put they love their job. That's that's the main thing that I like about it. And then, you know, they talked about in that last podcast, but with my my family history as far as connected to the plot dogs and my great-grandpa, you know, hunting with Teddy Roosevelt with hounds and everything else and and stuff and having plot dogs and everything, it's definitely it's definitely something I'm gonna keep in my kennel yard as long as I'm able to hunt and and hound hunting is a a a live tradition.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, you guys definitely have a rich tradition, especially there in the mountains. I mean, when you think of hunting, a lot of breeds come to mind, but the plot for running bear, especially, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Yes, sir. Yep. Yep, a lot of people like using them for bear, and uh a lot of people like using them for hogs too, which that's the main the main thing that they were bred for was hog hunting and bear hunting. They were made bred uh to catch and keep, you know. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Yeah, yeah, just just so much grit, and and again and some of them a little too much, but uh they're just so so much heart, like any hound, really, any working breed, just a ton of heart. Um so you got uh yeah, you had one heck of a season. You do a lot of hunting with your hounds everywhere. What's what's the run of a season look like

Training Hounds Year Round

SPEAKER_02 10:41

for you? Because I know you don't just stay in your home state.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

No, sir. So um I actually have it's called Youngblood's Kennels, um, and I'm I'm called or I call it Team Launchwoman Training Service. And what that basically stems off of is I actually had a plot dog um back in the day that I got from a buddy of mine, and um I actually got him from some friends of mine in Wisconsin, and uh they actually they had that dog down here because a lot of states and stuff, you know, like Wisconsin right now, they're under three or four feet of snow and they don't have no bears out. And then here the other day it was 80 degrees. Now, right now it's 30 degrees, and the weather can't make its mind up what it wants to do, but uh the bears are starting to get out and move around here. And um, so I am fortunate enough between my family's land and some other land that uh I've you know went and got permission and stuff on, I'm allowed to run dogs in the state of North Carolina 365 days a year on private property. Um you're limited, you're only allowed to run on like the government lands and the public lands certain certain months out of the year and everything. But um, as far as private land, you can uh you can run your dogs, you know, 365 days a year. Now you can still only harvest within the general killing season and stuff. But um on private land, you're allowed to run in the daytime, the nighttime, whenever. And I run, I run a lot in the dark. Just it's cooler on my dogs, and you don't seem to see as many snakes and and stuff. And uh it's to me, I to me the dogs are a little safer at night because a bear sees about like a human and can't see as good in the daylight or see as good in the dark as they can in the daylight. And I seem to have a better success rate as far as getting more trees um in the summertime doing it in the dark, just because I think because that bear can't tell where it's getting hit from with the dogs and everything else, it's you know, it's more apt to put him up. Um, but I had this plot dog, and you know, I'm not saying it because he's mine or whatever, it's just this is how the dog was, but he didn't have a nose. He didn't have, you know, he wasn't the best tree dog or whatever, but honestly, if I put that dog behind a bear, there are two things that's gonna happen. Either you were gonna kill the bear or you were gonna let the bear get away. He was just, he was just the overall bear dog. He wouldn't run nothing else, wouldn't bark at nothing else, wouldn't even hurt a fly, but now he loved chasing bears. And you could turn him loose, and he looked like a bottle rocket coming out of the dog box. And a buddy of mine kept saying launch, his name was Hatchet. He would say launch hatchet, launch hatchet, and I took that launch and I ran with it as far as um during the summertime, people send me their dogs because a lot of people don't have the access to the private land like I do. And so they don't get to run their dogs all year round. And in North Carolina, we're allowed to bake uh with, you know, uh unprocessed feed, so it has to be like apples or corn or peanuts. Peanuts is like the go-to thing just because it's it's full of fat, it's sweet, and it's something the bears here in the mountains don't get. And they really they seem to stick to the peanuts pretty hard. Um about the only time they don't really lay in there on the peanuts is when the actual natural feed hits, like when the blackberries hit and the raspberries and stuff, they will walk right by your big old pile of peanuts and go eat their natural feed. It's just, you know, it's in their natural instincts. But uh I made my team launch on training and and, you know, I guess I basically based it off that dog. He gave me enough inspiration and desire to I I don't make um a true living at it, but it's definitely something I enjoy. And, you know, it's not about the money to me. I like these boys that send me these younger dogs that aren't finished out or whatever, and I'm fortunate enough the way I get to feed and and stuff here in the summertime. I'm able to take your eight, nine month-old pup and put it right on a bear. And it I run them with my personal hounds that I've raised and that I I work with and stuff, and that, you know, it gets them going as far as it it helps their other hunters be successful. And as a houndsman, everything else, it's not a it shouldn't be about the kill. It's not about the kill, it's about the success of the hounds. And I want to see, you know, other people successful with their hounds and everything. And if I can help them keep their dogs in shape and stuff like that, it's just it's a neat opportunity, and not a lot of people up here in the mountains get to do it. A lot of times people have to send their dogs down east and down in the coastal areas and run them. And, you know, there's a lot more bears there. There's a lot bigger bears, and they they have more of a chance to to get on them. But I'm blessed here with this private land, it's it's not hunted, nobody messes with it, they're not allowed to. I'm not even allowed to harvest animals off of it. It's just a strictly train your train your hounds for the general fuel season, and which works out for me because I'm guaranteed to always have bears on the property, you know. And I um, you know, I get to I get to do that, but it generally I start the end of April, the first of May, um, every weekend, two to two two to three times a week, mainly Friday and Saturday nights, um, running my dogs, and I'll train all summer long. Um, generally over the 4th of July, depending on my job. Um, sometimes we're shut down for about half the week of the 4th of July, and I'll go up to Wisconsin. That's their uh the month of July is their training season, and the amount of bears and the terrain and stuff, it's number one, it's like a little mini vacation for me, but just the amount of bears and the up there, they're allowed to feed on the national forest and everything up there. And here in North Carolina, you're not. You can only feed on private property. Um, so they got a lot more opportunities to get on bears and stuff, and I mean like through the summer here, I might treat I might treat 24 to 30 bears through the summer, which if you think about it, twice a week it, you know, say you go, that's nearly treeing a bear every weekend, pretty much, you know. But I can go to Wisconsin and in three or four days we treat 15 to 20 in three or four days. Wow. It's just it's just the amount of, yeah, the amount of bears and everything that they have up there is is pretty awesome. And then generally my season, my actual killing season starts. I go to New Mexico generally August, September, um, and go out there and hunt. Um, and then I just kind of be boff around. I'll go to New Mexico, Virginia, West Virginia, um, Maine, Wisconsin, um, the coast of North Carolina, hunt here. I I truly I'm blessed, uh, save a lot of my vacation time. I don't use vacation time from work for much of nothing else, but uh I'm truly blessed to be able to get to travel and and hunt and see all the new country.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you you seem you get the most of it, that's for sure. Um that's crazy that you guys uh you hunt at night. I mean, I've been out coon hunting and accidentally uh, you know, we've gotten in a small bear chase and it's a little uh hairy, I guess you could say. And then, you know, when I go down to Maine, I'm lucky to do that when we go hunting bear during the day. Uh I just couldn't imagine at night.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

I mean, that's crazy. It's a blast. It's um it it definitely has its sketchy moments, especially if you get on a big bear and it's on the ground and it's dark and you're in, you know, we call them swimming laurels where you're on your hands and knees. And I mean, I've been I've been within feet of them in the dark before, and you know, getting dogs off of it and stuff, but it's uh it's the main reason, I mean, yeah, I I tree more at night and stuff, but the main reason that I run at night here is it's way more healthier and way more cooler on the hounds.

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Um it'll be, you know, with our humidity and stuff, it'll be 90 to 100 degrees during the day, and then it'll fall off to mid sixties to high fifties at night with nowhere near as much humidity, so you run less of a risk of stroking your dogs.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

Yeah, yeah. No, I I can see that, but I mean, boy, you must have had you never been bit before, have you?

Getting Bit And Staying Safe

SPEAKER_02 19:21

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

I've actually it actually wasn't uh uh it actually wasn't on a summertime bear. We actually um it was during our killing season, and we um we turned loose on a bear and the dogs jumped a different one. It wasn't the one that we had had on camera. And all all that one of the boys said was he seen the bear go across the road. We didn't know a size, we didn't know, you know, what was what it was, and I pull up and I put the rest of my dogs behind it, because see, in North Carolina, we don't have a dog limit, so I'm allowed to put as many dogs as I want to, you know, on one or whatever. Um, and I put everything I had behind it. I was like 20 seconds from where it crossed the road, so I was like, uh, you know, they'll catch him and get him put up or whatever. And that little rascal ended up deciding he was gonna be a big bear and not uh climb. And he tried to square off, and the dogs were actually, uh, I mean, they were just doing their job. They caught him and everything, and we weren't gonna harvest the bear. We were just simply trying to get the dogs off of him. And uh, I grabbed one of my dogs, and when I did, the bear lunged at me and wrapped his legs around me and got me down. The dogs piled on top of me and him, and he uh he bit me, he he he bit me through my blue jeans into my air pods and my pocket knife in my pocket, and then he bit through my boot, uh, through my sock and his tooth. It didn't puncture the skin of my ankle, but he actually bruised my ankle from where he bit bit down or whatever. And I mean, honestly, he may have been 90 pounds, and all I could do was I just felt like I was wrestling to him, and I just went to swinging and telling him to get off of me.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

What what was after that was done? Were you like, well, that was crazy, or are you like really shaken up by it?

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Well, honestly, it was one of them like, did that really just happen? Like that little sucker got me down and and all but wallered me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Oh, yeah, yeah. And then it's uh, you know, which I mean the way I look at it is my dogs ain't scared of it, you can't be scared of it. You've got to be able to be there and help them and stuff. But I mean, like I said, I he didn't understand that I was trying to help him. He was just defending himself. But but still, yeah, it could have went, it could have went south, and people don't you don't understand just how powerful those animals truly are, you know, in general, from little fellas all the way up to to big fellas, especially here in these mountains, the terrain and stuff they go through is it's pretty insane.

The Unicorn Bear And Records

SPEAKER_02 22:54

I mean, it's a very good thing. So many black bears taken every year. I mean, we're on that New Brunswick. We are well known around the world for a black bear. North Carolina is known for having an abundant amount of black bear in Maine and Wisconsin and all over. There's so many bears taken every year, and you guys have gotten a unicorn.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yes, sir, for sure. It was a true blessing from the Lord. You know, I mean, um North Carolina is known for producing some of the largest bears in the in the world, you know. And it just um for that to come from where it come from here, I mean, just kind of like my deer that I killed, just something ungodly big from this little old rock bluff here in these mountains is just it it is, it is a true unicorn. It's just a blessing from the Lord. And, you know, it we didn't really even know what we had until we had it. And then even after we had it, still yet, you know, when you see it in person, you're like, there's no way that came from where it came from. But but you know, sure enough, it it truly it did.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Yeah, I mean, it it it's incredible. So that's skull size. Now it's not the heaviest, but the fact that it was still, what was it, 574 pounds?

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Yes, sir. Yep. Um official NC Wildlife Scales um scaled it at 574 pounds. Um the Boone and Crockett measured it, you know, at the 23 and 916. Yeah. And then it is so it is actually a county record for the record or from the county here where we hunt um for overall size. Um, you know, and I mean, there's been people come up and say, well, such and such killed one, it was bigger than that one, and this, that, and the other. And I mean, I don't, I don't doubt it. We're getting the more we're able to bait and stuff, the more, the bigger they're getting. Um, but it's you have to you have to go get them officially weighed and scored, you know, and and luckily we were able to get him out and and do that. But he actually scored um second uh or first, he's the biggest one for our county on overall the size and everything. And then he actually scored the second largest bear ever harvested on weight and size for the mountain region of North Carolina as well, the other one being 680 pounds that was killed probably three or four years ago over near the Tennessee state line.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Wow. Yeah, so uh I was looking at some of the stuff too. So the heaviest bear ever taken in the world uh was I think it's a thousand pounds. But yeah, that's there are heavier bear taken. I don't tell you it'd get anybody in phenomenal shape. It's amazing if he's able to get that big of a belly on him for the amount of walking and hills that he's tackling his whole life.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Sure. And I mean I'll be honest with you, the bear was not fat. Um, I'll send you some pictures of him. Um, you know, I'll send you some pictures of him and stuff and everything. And he he was don't get me wrong, he is, he was fat for four here. But when you go to the coast and you see seven, eight hundred-pound bears at the coast and how they literally are just they look like they've swallowed like a little Volkswagen car, um, this bear was just a big old tall frame muscle bear. And if he he had the frame and was tall enough that if he could have the groceries here like they're able to to have in all the crop fields down east and stuff, I truly think he could have went, you know, 700 or better. I mean, he was already pushing nearly six, so it wouldn't have took much to put another 150, 200 pounds on him.

SPEAKER_02 26:59

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's that's so big for living where he's living is too. I mean, it's it's

Step By Step Hunt Breakdown

SPEAKER_02 27:06

huge. So walk walk me through this hunt. I mean, this is this is huge, you know. This had tied for the world record. This is a big deal. Very cool.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Yeah. Yeah, so yeah. So um it was uh I can't remember what exactly the date and everything, but we uh we were going hunting that morning and stuff, and I actually I've got um I'm fortunate enough to have some private properties that border the government lands and stuff that let me feed on them and everything, and we end up chasing the bears to the the the government lands and stuff, you know, and everything which is a hundred percent legal the way we the way we do it and everything. Um, but I actually had a nice bear come into a different spot and he had been there all night. I mean, you know, just laying there eating and feeding stuff, and and that was when I got off work that morning, I was thinking, well, that's the bear, you know, we're gonna go after and stuff. But it was probably about 10 o'clock the night before this uh big bear. Now, mind you, we've um hunted this one area where the big bear come from for, Lord, since I was 17 years old, and we've never seen anything, you know, of his caliber there. And that night about I had just got to work and um I had a picture, and I seen it was a bear, and then I had two more pictures of him, and he didn't he didn't eat or nothing. He literally just walked by. And I was like, that that's a big old, you know, that's a big bear right there. And I was hoping maybe he would come back through the night or something, but he didn't. And that other bear, like I said, he laid there, I mean, he laid there up until five minutes before I got off of work. So I get off work at 6 30 in the morning, and legal turn loose time is just a little bit after 7 a.m. So I mean, within 30 minutes and him laying there eating on feet all night, he's not, you don't think he's gonna go very far, you know. So um I get off work, I I meet my dad and stuff, he meets me with my hounds and everything, um, the way I work third shift, and I'll collar my dogs up in town and stuff, and then, you know, we'll we'll as a group of I've got a group of about 10 or 15 fellers that hunt with me. We'll we'll head out and go hunting. And uh we got there and we were collaring dogs and stuff, and I actually had my airpods in my ear, and I was talking um to my wife. She actually wasn't my wife yet at the time, uh, or whatever. We actually weren't even engaged. And uh I uh was talking to her about it and stuff, and I was like, you know, I had a uh a good bear come to this site earlier tonight, but I've had this bear stay at this site all night long. And she was like, Well, I'm I'm assuming that's where you're gonna go. And I was like, Yeah, that's that's where we're gonna go. So I went ahead and got the guys around here where we hunt, we can kind of we can kind of figure over the years, we kind of know the which way the bears are gonna go and which way the dogs are gonna take them and stuff, you know. And uh so the guys went ahead and started getting spread out and stuff, and we were leaving, uh, got the dogs all collared up, ready to go after that one, and we were actually gonna go turn loose on that one, and my phone, I just felt my phone go off in my pocket, and I looked, and it was that bear from earlier that night, and it was one picture of him, and he just walked by. And I was like, uh, because I have the philosophy, don't leave a bear to chase a bear. I've messed up many times and had, you know, have a a good solid bear standing there eating, and have a big bear that had been there eight or nine hours beforehand at a different spot, and just because of the want and the desire of wanting to get, you know, just some ungodly big bear or whatever, go and chase it and the dog's not catch it or it get away or go somewhere you can't hunt or whatever, and miss the opportunity of of harvesting a bear that you probably, you know, more likely could have got. And I was I, you know, I seen that and I hollered at them boys on the radio and stuff, and I said, listen, I said, this bear just walked by this other place, you know, we're already set up to hunt this one spot, but if y'all want to transition, we'll uh I we'll go after this one because I mean I've not had, you know, I've not seen this bear, I've not heard of this bear or any any history of him or nothing else. Kind of like my deer, you know, just a unicorn, like you said, just kind of just the right day, the right time, the right place. And we ended up getting um, we transitioned back over and we went and we got, you know, spread out to hunt this specific area. And we uh we just took three dogs in there because I mean, don't get me wrong, I like having 20 dogs on one and them absolutely pouring it on it and just the the sound of them, you know, baying and treeing one and stuff. But every now and then you need to just take a couple that are just truck-to-tree bear dogs that you know are gonna do their job, and a lot of times you're a lot safer with just a couple dogs compared to having a bunch of them piled on one to where to me they don't get as cocky and get overly aggressive because you know, if one sees one grabbing it, the other one's gonna try to do it, and that's gonna get that bear, you know, iller, and especially a bear of this size. Number one, more than likely he ain't gonna tree. I mean, I've seen him tree this big, you know, I've killed bigger than him down at the coast and stuff where we hunt, but these mountain bears are different. These old bears around here, even 100-pounders, they they've got an attitude and they do not care to back up and fight. And you know, you already kind of knew you weren't gonna treat him, and then sometimes you'll get too many dogs on him to where all he'll want to do is sit down and fight and stuff, to where more or less the game plan is just kind of let the let two or three dogs peck at him just enough to irritate him to where he'll get up and move, you know. And we uh we took those three dogs in there, and the bear honestly didn't lay much scent down. Like I said, it was one picture, and I've got that camera set to where if a bug blinks, it's gonna take a picture. So, you know, he didn't stay long at all. And two of the dogs kind of swooped down the ridge, and my wife now, I actually had her dog down here because they only get a month to hunt in Wisconsin, and um I had her dog down here hunting it for her and stuff, and I turned her loose with the other two, and she went a different way. And when I say she went a different way, she absolutely left that country. And I was like, well, what in the world, you know? And eventually the other two start dogs kind of curled around the ridge, and what it was is I guess she could smell more of a direct scent than what the other two could. The other two went the way the bear should have left, according to the picture that I had. She just kind of straight shot through the thicket and was gone with it. But I guess, you know, she took enough time to actually smell and pick her head up and and catch a a s a wind scent over a ground, you know, a track that she was just going for it. And um, she ended up, she went probably almost three miles and just stopped. I mean, instantly just stopped. And I mean, that bear had gone nearly two and a half, three miles in less than 25 minutes. So, I mean, he was truly just cruising, you know, I mean, just walking by. And eventually the other two dogs cut and got on her track and went to her, but she stopped to the point it was showing her treed on the garmin. But you could tell by the way she was barking, she wasn't treed. And I knew if it was that big bear, there's no way she had that big bear treed by herself. And the other two dogs got there and they stopped and sh were showing treed, but you could tell by the way they bark and stuff, they were booger barking at him, you know, looking at him on the ground. They weren't treeing, you know, choppy or nothing. So me and uh my buddy Josh, the he had the other dog that was in there with him. We decided we were going to pack one more dog each, and that would be five dogs, you know, and that was that was more of enough to keep the keep the bear contained, not over be overly aggressive on him, but enough that he shouldn't get away, you know what I mean? And uh we were able to get where we could hear those dogs good. We put those dogs to him, and we uh they ended up just staying there bait, and I pulled the top of the mountain, and the way the mountain is, if he goes off one side, he he's as good as gone from you. It's all private lands, you can't go in there, you know. So the my thought was is if I could get between him and the private land and get the high ground and keep him low, either I could slip in and kill him, or eventually he would have to bump into one of the other guys in the woods, you know. And uh he kept staying there, kept staying there, so I slipped off down in there to him, and I finally seen him. And I'll be honest with you, I mean, it was so thick and stuff, I knew it was a good bear, but I still didn't know how big it was. And but I couldn't, I couldn't get a shot. All I could see was his butt. And eventually I guess he caught wind of me or something, and he he peeled out. Well, he stopped again, and I got in there to him, and this time he turned and looked at me, and when I when I seen his head, I was like, okay, this is we're on to something. This is a good bear. And but still yet, the way the dogs were baying him and they were doing such a a a good job, I I wasn't about to shoot right over top of one of my dogs and take a chance on him stepping into the bullet or nothing else, you know. So I was trying to work around to get a better shot, and he bailed out again. And um, but the good thing is the way I came into him, he wasn't trying to go towards the private. He was going more towards my guys and going in the the direction that we needed him to go. And uh I tried one more time to slip in there to him, and I just all I could see was black and bushes moving, didn't really have a good shot, and he ended up there was a valley there, and it was it was just the one open spot. And luckily one of the boys that hunts with me was posted up there in in that little gully, and he, you know, obviously we've all contracted dogs and stuff, and he just he knew where I was at, and he just kind of posted up there, and sure enough, that bear bailed out and belt out right on top of him right there, and he was actually able to do a one-shot kill. And um, when he shot, I just I just slid on my butt off the mountain down there to him because he rolled off down into the creek, and uh I slid down there to him and stuff, and I mean the bear was you know dead, and the all the dogs, no dogs were cut or harmed or anything else, and that's when we finally got him out of the bushes and got him in the in the creek and stuff. We were like, this is this is a true giant, like this is a monster.

SPEAKER_02 38:18

Yeah, I mean, did you guys still you probably didn't realize when you're looking too how big he is, but like did you ever think like, you know, oh I'm sure he'll make the record books, but you weren't thinking probably that he's gonna make it tied for the world record.

SPEAKER_01 38:33

No, sir, we truly didn't. I mean, when we got to dragging that bear out and stuff, I mean, we're bad to guess on weight and stuff, you know. Some people's like, oh, he's 400, he's 500, you know, bloody bloody blah. And I, you know, Caleb was like, I'm gonna mount him. I was like, well, dude, I was like, and I and that's the thing, is I think a lot of people, I think there have been bigger bears over the years killed as far as their skull, but a lot of people like to head shoot them. And I am by no means opposed to it. I myself have done it. But it it messes their skull up and they cannot accurately score the skull if if you've mushed their, you know, if you've mushed their skull. Yeah. Um, and I told Caleb, I was like, dude, I said, that bear will make Bone and Crockett easy. Hands down, bottom line, that's a bone and crockett bear. But if you would have told me that we would have been getting a phone call saying that it tied the world record on skull measurements, I I still would not have believed it. No, no.

SPEAKER_02 39:32

So w what did he shoot it with?

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Um, he shot it with his grandpa's old rifle. Um, I want to say maybe a 375. I don't hold me to that because I I'm gonna be I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't I don't truly remember exactly what gun he shot it with. But I do know it was a more of an old antique lever action that um that he had. I do know that.

SPEAKER_02 39:57

Yeah. Wow. Yeah, what a yeah. Um yeah, it's just amazing. So how how did you guys go about getting him out?

Getting A 574 Pounder Out

SPEAKER_01 40:06

So there was about ten of us that hunted that day. Yeah. And I mean, honestly, we just one, two, three, hee hoed. I mean, that was we killed that bear. We had him dead by a little after eight that morning, and I think we finally, we were about, we were a little over two and a half miles from the truck and to the closest truck. And I think we got him in the truck at r about 11 45, 12 o'clock midday.

SPEAKER_03 40:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

We broke, uh we broke three or four of my dog leads. I mean, all we had was dog leads and pocket knives. So, I mean, uh, and gun straps. So, you know, um uh I've got some elderly men that hunt with me, and they ended up taking my dogs, you know. I give them the dogs or whatever, and they ended up taking them to the truck and and putting them up and stuff, but I mean, these fellas are 70, 80 years old, so they're only but so much help. But it it took us uh it took us over three hours from the time we harvested it to finally get it to the truck.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

Oh, I believe it. That still doesn't seem like too bad a time, really.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

No, I mean, fortunately, the where we killed it, it was on the downhill side and it was in the creek. The worst part was it's so steep and he was so heavy, we couldn't really get him pulled up out of the creek and get him on the ridgetop to where we could, you know, really make ground with him. Right. So we just had to keep kind of working him down the creek, and then finally, once the ridge and the creek finally met, we were able to get him up into some hardwoods and then finally get out of there with him.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Wow, yeah, it sounds like uh quite the adventure in and of itself to, you know, just get him out.

SPEAKER_01 41:47

Yes, sir, yeah, for sure. That's a lot of times we pack our bears out around here just because we are so far from the truck and and stuff, but I mean, a bear of that caliber and we we knew that he was gonna be pushing the county record and stuff. It was it was worth the reward and a little bit of extra grit to get him out of there and and and give give the bear the credit, you know, he deserves. It's kind of like that deer I killed, you know. It's not about the hunter and what we did, it's about the animal. And you know, we went through Hurricane Helene down here, and I mean we hunt right in the middle of the storm damage and stuff, and it it's amazing the survival these animals have that you know he was able to weather the storm and survive and become become that big, and it was just fortunate enough for us that the good Lord seemed fit to bless us with that animal.

SPEAKER_02 42:37

Yeah, well, so the next thing I was gonna ask was uh did you guys get an estimate on the age of the bear yet?

SPEAKER_01 42:45

So you are required by the state to send in the molars um for them to age them, and we will not get an accurate age of the bear till right before our next bear season. So it'll be the fall before we actually know how old he is. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

Uh because yeah, and any guesses? I mean, I I've heard of some getting that size, especially old, like quite old.

SPEAKER_01 43:10

Yeah, um, we killed a sow bear last year that was probably the the oldest sow bear that I have been able to send a tooth off and and have her, you know, stored or whatever, uh or um aged, and she was right at 14 years old. Okay. Um this bear, honestly, as big and fit as he is, and I mean don't only I don't I can't age a bear good, but I would say he would have to have been probably at least anywhere between six to ten, I would say. Yeah, I'd say at least, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:42

He was definitely he was in his prime, but he had he got two bro uh busted cadines, um, which you can you can actually see in a picture that I've I'll send to you. Yeah. Um and then he had um one molar missing, so I definitely think his teeth were kind of on the maybe. On the downhill side, like this probably was his prime years before he probably started falling off. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:07

Yeah, you guys might have done him a favor, really. True, yes, sir. Um, and then so you you got a few awards uh at the Dixie Deer Classic, did you?

SPEAKER_01 44:16

Yes, sir, yep. So uh we took his skull down there. Um, you know, it's pretty much a hunting show, like where you went to the Safari Club show and everything else, and where I met your friend in Pennsylvania and everything. And um they that's where pretty much everybody in North Carolina brings their deer and their bears to have them scored and stuff. And um he actually won the largest mare male bear scored for 2025, 2026 in the state, the largest skull scored for the the entire state, and won the president's award for most impressive skull at the at the classic. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 44:55

You were you're the talk of uh you were the talk of the classic.

SPEAKER_01 44:59

I yes, sir, yeah. And then obvious yeah, and uh obviously, you know, he made Bone and Crockett and the world record and everything else. It's just it's it's cool to have all the plaques and the paperwork and everything else, and it's not for our publicity.

SPEAKER_02 45:12

It's just it's it's cool for the animal, you know, that something that big come from up here. Oh, it it's it's so cool, yeah. And you know, couldn't happen to a nicer group of guys, from what I can tell. And um, yeah, no, it's funny you mentioning that meeting Ryan. So uh yeah, so I'm in New Brunswick, Ryan's in New Brunswick, you're from North Carolina, and then you met Ryan and both realized that you knew me down in Pennsylvania. So it's like small world.

SPEAKER_01 45:37

Yeah. Yes, sir, for sure. Yeah, we got to we got to talking because I seen his, you know, where he had his bear huts and stuff up for his guide service and everything, and we got to talking about it, and I seen he was from New Brunswick, and then sure enough, I was like, I was like, I just done a podcast about my Texas hunt with a fella up your way, and he asked your name and stuff, and I told him, and he was like, You wouldn't believe that's a good friend of mine.

SPEAKER_02 45:59

Yeah, yeah, it's funny, it's a small world. Small world. Yeah, no, but I mean the bear, but yeah, that's uh yeah, you you've had you've had a good hunting season, and um, but you know, it it you can tell that you really respect what you do and you cherish it, and it means a lot to you. It's not just like you said, not just the harvest and stuff. You respect the animal, you take pride in all that's go involved with it, and just appreciate it so much. And uh it's it's great that an animal like that was able to uh to make its way to you. Are you guys feeling it? Yes, sir, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:34

Yeah, yeah, it it was a true blessing, and I do. I I

Why Hound Hunting Still Matters

SPEAKER_01 46:38

love it. You know, it's um it scares me to death because with the way this world's turning and stuff, hound hunting in general, from rabbit hunting to coon hunting to deer dogging to bear dogs, you know, it's it's a dying art. And it really is an art as far as taking a puppy, training it, you know, and and you can't make that animal do its job. It it's just like a human. It's either gonna want to work or it's not gonna want to work. But to to work with it and do that and the way, you know, around here we're getting so landlocked and everything with all the um industrialization of housing developments and just the new modern world and everything, the the true foundation of what our countries were founded on as far as hunting and fishing and trapping, it's dying. And, you know, I if I can do something or respect an animal in a way that could keep this tradition alive and and and keep this animals and this balance of predator and prey alive, I would I want to do that because I mean that's truly that's what this country was founded on with our ancestors coming over here to to hunt and fish and and live a better life, you know, not not industrialize it and put a house behind every tree.

SPEAKER_02 47:54

Yeah. Yeah, and you you know, there's a lot of downsides to social media, but I'd like to be optimistic and find that there's a lot of upsides to it too. And I find that, you know, I think that there's a lot of there's obviously a lot more at your fingertips as far as watching trapping, watching different kinds of hunting and fishing and all that. And I'd like to hope that you get somebody that's doesn't know anything about it and they're just scrolling through and they happen to find uh you know a hunting podcast or something on YouTube or what have you, and just out of sheer boredom and curiosity click on it, and then you know, sometimes I can take them down to rabbit hole and get them discovering it and realize like I'd like to give this a try and and really enjoy it. So I find yeah, that social media in a way has sometimes hurts, but sometimes helps open up the door for more people to get into this world and realize that it is a nice way of life and a passion, and it can turn into an obsession quite easily too.

SPEAKER_01 48:51

For sure, yeah. And it's you know and like you said about the social media, it's actually kind of worked out from where I get to travel and go and do and everything. My buddy Cody actually owns a a hunting and fishing store called S and S Hound Hunting Supplies. And he he came to me and everything, and yeah, I'm a nobody. I mean, I I just I this is a hobby, but it's a hobby that I'm absolutely obsessed with, you know. And he came to me about my trips and stuff, taking pictures and everything, and using those pictures for his store and everything, and for the hounds and stuff to better expose it's more than just a hunt store, whatever, you know, it's a way of life and that that there's people out there to support it and stuff, and and like you said, use the social media to where somebody may be, you know, tinkering around on Facebook or YouTube or or like, you know, your podcast or something, come across it and man, be like, man, that sounds pretty exciting, and then, you know, go for it. And then who knows, they could be a difference maker in their state when these states are trying to shut down hunting and stuff to where they could stand up and say, hey, look, this they're not they're not hurting anything. If anything, we're hurting them by shutting it down.

SPEAKER_02 50:03

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, that's the thing I I I tell a lot of people, I'm not looking to get everyone into hunting, not at all. But I just don't want them against it. You don't have to do it, you just don't be against it, you know? For sure. Yeah, absolutely. Just getting it out there and just, you know, teaching people about it. Because I mean, I've talked about this on the podcast before. A lot of people's impression of hunting is uh a lot of it, if they grew up in a city or something and not around it, it's from Disney. And you look at Disney, hunters, and especially like you look at the fox and the hound and stuff, that movie hunters are and hound hunters are not portrayed very well. And some people, that's literally their only experience uh with it. Uh is just seeing that that's that's the only uh you know thing that they get they've gotten uh out of it. And uh so it's important to you know hopefully just educate these people. And uh I don't not ask them to go pick up a gun and go out, but if there's a bill coming up or something, don't vote against it. Because uh see, is it uh is it Idaho or somewhere? Well, I mean hound hunting is always under attack, but I I really think it's just lack of knowledge about it.

SPEAKER_01 51:10

It is, and yeah, it's like you said, it's portrayed as we're making these dogs to do it and this, that, and the other, and everything else. We we don't make these dogs do anything. The way I the way I tell people is I give them the opportunity. It's kind of like having a child and taking them to the ball field. You let them, you, you take them out there, you give them the equipment they need, and as for hounds, it's the scent, it's the height, it's the the commands, it's the training, and it's up to them whether to to pick up, you know, what's in them to to hunt and do, or if they don't want to do it, then you know, that's it. I mean, I and I have had hounds that didn't want to hunt, but make the best house dogs you could ever ask for. Uh and you know, and that's just like these dogs. I mean, if you see them on a bear, you would think these ain't nothing but a bunch of just wild, crazy mongrels, but I could go up there right now and unsnap every one of them and then sit on the porch like a house dog. I mean, it's just, you know, and they're they're they're your friend, it's a companionship. And, you know, there are people that treat and do their hounds and stuff wrong, and that's, you know, in this day and time, it's that's what's looked at. It ain't looked at it as, you know, they don't look at like somebody that takes a little kid or something, and like my I've actually got to be a part of some of them, and a friend of mine, he does the make-a-wish hunts for like the little the little kids that have cancer and stuff, you know, that that don't really stand a good chance in life, and he takes them hound hunting with dogs and lets them kill bear. And you don't see that what the Karen remembers is seeing somebody at the gas station pull one out and whoop it for dog barking in the dog box or or you know, just something misleading and mistreating, and and it's you know, there are people that do it wrong, don't get me wrong, but it's it's not what everybody has made it out to be. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 53:05

No, there's there's bad apples in in in anything, no matter what it is. And it yeah, it's true. We don't make them hunt. If I tell people they make me hunt, I mean you want to keep them, you know, out of the woods for uh a few days, three, four days, you're gonna see some wild dogs. They uh they make me go. Yes, sir.

What’s Next And Closing

SPEAKER_02 53:24

Um, yeah, so Tyler, I mean, what's uh what's next? We got spring coming right up around the corner. You got raising the pups.

SPEAKER_01 53:30

I mean, yes, sir. We're raising uh we're raising the pups. I've got this little these uh little puppies here. Um I have I've got that little blue tick female. This will be her first summer. She actually was on some trees and some kills this past year, just like letting her walk in with me to them and stuff, you know. But she is showing phenomenal um chances and is looking like she's gonna be a really good hound. Um I have another little uh three-month-old pup, uh plot puppy right now, and she's all alligators. She'll chase the cows, she'll chase my mom's cat. She don't care if it'll run from her, she'll chase it. And uh I'm super stoked for her. Um we actually, I'm actually fixing to go this week and get a big load of feed. And the bears, I actually have been getting some phone calls and stuff that people are starting to see the bears poke out. The other day it was 80 degrees, and then today it's 27 right now. So it's the weather still ain't made its mind up whether it wants to be summer or spring. But here in a couple of weeks, the bears will really start getting out and moving, and and I've got several people lined up to train their dogs this summer and everything, and just this summer it'll be just uh gritting the teeth and getting in shape and and treeing and training and then and then be ready for the fall and be ready to who knows, maybe this year we can break the world record somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 54:53

Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, maybe. Obviously, you've uh you've proven that it's definitely uh I'd say within reach and possible.

SPEAKER_01 55:01

Sure. I mean it's you just gotta get out there and hunt. I mean, that's that's it, you know. I mean, you you can't kill them at the house. And and I mean, there's days I don't want to go, but these dogs, the way I look at it is they put so much time and effort all summer long and tree and getting in shape and and you know, pretty much practicing for, you know, about like practicing for a ball game. You know, they practice and practice and practice when it comes game time, they're they're ready to perform. And it as a houndsman, it's on me to be ready to perform and be there and back them and chase them through the mountains, and until I can't anymore, I'm I swear I'll but you Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:35

Well, Tyler, uh I appreciate you coming on the podcast, and uh I think that's a good note to to leave it with. And I I'm really happy that we were able to talk because as soon as I saw the pictures from that and you guys got officially scored, I was like, man, I gotta talk to him about uh about this hunt, you know. And uh it it was great to hear about and you guys uh Yeah. It it it's awesome just to hear your your passion for it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 55:59

Yes, sir. Well I appreciate you uh reaching out and giving me the opportunity to to talk about it and everything and hopefully we can do it again sooner rather than later. Absolutely. Thanks again, Tyler. Yes, sir, thank you.

unknown 56:11

Uh