“They have confirmed the score, and I can officially say I have a trophy that sits at No. 4 all time in the Pope & Yound record books,” Foster wrote in an April Facebook post. “It’s also the largest black bear at the convention and the largest taken since I believe 2015.”
Foster, 45, harvested his bear on Sept. 8 during the third day of the state’s fall black bear season. He used bait to draw the bear into bow range and killed it on private land in northwestern Burnett County near the Minnesota state line.
“I had a trail camera out over a bait pile, which is legal in Wisconsin, and first got pictures of him on Sept. 6,” Foster tells Outdoor Life. “A visiting friend of mine, Scottie Layman from Tennessee, sat in that stand on opening evening, and he shot a 250-pound bear that may be large enough for Pope & Young.”
“I spotted the bear beyond my bait pile, and he was nervous because he was coming in downwind,” says Foster, who was shooting an Obsession Turmoil bow with a 62-pound draw. “I knew I had to take the first good shot I had because I sensed he was going to wind me and spook. He offered a perfect shot at 28 yards, and I took it.”
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Foster’s arrow, tipped with a Slick Trick fixed broadhead, hit the bear behind the shoulder and made a complete pass through. He found the bear dead only 45 yards away from where he’d shot it.
The bear weighed 478 pounds dressed (with an estimated live weight of 552 pounds), and Foster says he’s having a full-body mount done. When asked what kind of bait he used to bring the bear into range, he chuckles.
“I crushed a bunch of Jolly Rancher candies,” Foster says. “Bears just love ‘em.”