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Lots of good food. And I have a theory that since alot of our winters aren't very harsh so they dont do as much hibernating and just keep eating.
Age/Food/Genetics >> great bear habitat in that area, lots of acorns
That about sums it up. They are versatile animals when it comes to habitat and coexisting with humans. There's virtually unlimited food both natural (acorns, nuts, berries) and human provided (garbage, bird feeders, dumpsters, cornfields). There's no baiting here and hunting is only done through either sitting in treestands or large orchestrated 25 man bear drives which lends itself to some bears in less hunted areas getting big, old, and fat. Thats even though we have more bear hunters by square mile than anyone else by a LONG shot (200,000 bear licenses sold)
Whats crazy is that here in July he was probably as lean as he was going to be all year after chasing sows around. I'd guess 500-550 lbs in these pictures. By hunting season he was 25-35% heavier and looked morbidly obese. Unfortunately I can't find the photo of him I used to have from November but trust me, he was the stomach-dragging kind of fat and his neck rolls were swallowing his head
