A New Jersey bow hunter established a new state record on Tuesday morning by harvesting a 770-pound black bear in Morris County.

Brian Melvin shared with NJ Advance Media that he first spotted the enormous bear approximately three years ago and had been tracking it during the last two hunting seasons. He successfully shot the bear from around 45 yards away at approximately 7 a.m. in Kinnelon. “It never lingered in one location for over six months,” noted Melvin, 39, who began bow hunting in his early twenties. “I spent weeks obtaining permission for land where I believed the bear might be or pass through. Last year, I captured it on camera, but it disappeared until May of this year.” State wildlife officials have confirmed that the bear’s dressed weight of 770 pounds is the largest ever recorded during New Jersey's black bear hunt. Melvin remarked that his dedication paid off when he located the bear a month prior to the hunting season. “I tracked him down in a new swamp about a mile away and began to understand his movements,” Melvin explained. “I knew when the wind was right and set up to catch him heading back to his bed. The rest is history.” Previously, Melvin had harvested a bear weighing around 400 pounds. He dressed the bear before it was weighed, indicating that its true weight could be higher. “While records are great, it’s not worth it if it leads to wasting an animal,” Melvin added. This bear surpassed the previous record set on October 14, 2019, when hunters in the same county took a bear over 700 pounds. The current bear hunt in New Jersey began on Monday and will continue until Saturday. In its first four days, hunters have killed 285 bears, with a significant number from Sussex and Warren counties. The second segment of the bear hunt will commence on December 9, restricted to shotguns and muzzleloaders.