Handout
John Sanders of Denver took this Pope & Young qualifying black bear near Steamboat Springs in late September. Bears qualifying for the bow-hunting record book are a rarity in Colorado. Photo courtesy of John Sanders.
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Elk hunter bags huge black bear instead
January 18, 2012 2:03 PM
John Sanders went out elk hunting and came back with a huge black bear. Huge.
Scott Willoughby got Sanders' story for The Denver Post.
The last Saturday of archery elk season was shaping up to be a bust for the Aurora resident. He had spooked nearby elk and had seen only cubs and sows.
And then he saw a wall of shaggy black fur.
One shot and it was down, he said.
The bear's skull measures nearly 19 inches.
"I knew when I saw him that he was big.... But I didn't know he was that big."
Find out how much the bear weighed and how "tall" it stood in Willoughby's story.
