A huge black bear, taken early in the 2012 bear season, now stands as an Ontario muzzleloader record for bear.
Liz St. Thomas of the Foundation for the Recognition of Ontario Wildlife (FROW) said the skull of Henri Lapensee’s black bear, taken on September 4, 2012, measured 217⁄16 inches. That easily surpassed the long-standing 2015⁄16-inch bear record taken by Guy Stackhouse in 1995 near Dwight.
Lapensee’s bear dressed out at 424 pounds and he estimated it weighed about 525 pounds live.“Its paws were almost 9 inches,” he said.
He shot the bear with a .50-calibre muzzleloader, having seen it previously in trail camera photos — after which, it didn’t show up for days.
“I hoped no one had shot it,” he said. “Then it returned.”
There’s no doubt Lapensee was dedicated. At the time of the hunt, he had recently undergone open heart surgery, yet routinely drove three hours from his home in Cornwall to his stand in Renfrew to bait. At press time, he is waiting to hear from the Boone & Crockett Club to see if it makes that record book as well.
The bear was measured by FROW evaluators Terry Merkley, Rick Teal, and Rick Poulin.
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