KEVIN RAUCH/THE EXPRESS

A busy evening brought the bear count to 45 bears checked into the Chapman Township bear check station at the fire hall in North Bend by days’ end on Saturday. It was the first day of rifle season for black bear and an unusually slow start to the activity was often blamed on bad road conditions in the mountainsides, according to several hunters. Some who stopped by the station reported they spent as much time digging out their stuck vehicles than they did hunting, a direct result of Thursday night’s snowfall that left more than a foot of snow throughout the county’s mountain top roads. Just six bear were brought in by 4 p.m. The evening however proved much more eventful as 39 more bear were brought in between 4 and 9 p.m. Two bear brought into Chapman exceeded 300 pounds as the two largest of the day were males weighing in at 440 pounds (the heaviest) and 357 pounds. The gender count was basically split evenly as 22 males were taken compared to 23 females. Fourteen of those weighed in tipped the scales under 100 pounds, the majority of those female. The weighing part of their successful hunt is often the final highlight the successful hunters. Shown above, Raymond Diebert, left, watches carefully while his female bruin was weighed in at 151 pounds.