The New Jersey man who bagged the biggest black bear in state history brought him down with one shot and then spent hours hauling the 745-pound beast out of the woods.
But for Mark Utter, the experience was worth every minute.
"You have to understand, a bear this size for me is a once-in-a-lifetime trophy," said Utter, 54, an electrical and excavation contractor who has shot three other bears, two in Canada and one in New Jersey.
On Saturday, the last day of the season, Utter and his brothers, Keith and Lee, found a huge set of tracks and followed them to a thick part of a swamp.
"I was within 10 feet of him. He was just sitting there, but I could not see where to shoot, so I called for the others to get him out in the open," he told the Daily News.
Utter's brother Lee, and three other hunters drove the animal into a less wooded area, where Utter and his brother, Keith, were waiting. Utter fired his Remington slug gun from about 30 yards away, striking the animal in the lung.
"When you shoot a bear, you want to make sure you kill it," Utter told reporters. "They can be aggressive at times."
It took another three hours to field dress the animal and hoist it onto a flat-bottom boat, which Utter and his pals then hauled by winch onto the trailer of an all-terrain vehicle.
The beast had been plaguing his neighborhood, rummaging through garbage cans and scaring neighbors, so when the state issued hunting permits this year for the second time in 35 years, Utter saw his chance.
"I've hunted a lot so I'm not afraid of bears. You just need to use your head in how you take them," said Utter, who was recently elected to the Montague Township Committee.
Utter plans to have the bear stuffed and mounted on all fours, which measures about 7-1/2 feet in length. On his hind legs, the animal would reach a height of 9 feet, Utter said.
Meanwhile, Utter and his family have a freezer full of bear meat - roast, ground round, tenderloin and so on, which he pronounced "delicious."
"I love to marinade it with teriyaki sauce and put it on the grill," he said.
Bears are people dammit! Im not crazy about it, but go shoot deers instead, theyre cute but dumb leaf munchers. Their purpose in life is to be eaten. Bears are sentient!
