Story by Jon Dinan
While 16-year-old Sean Mullins of Narrowsburg was accompanying his father during a November 22 hunt at Seven Bucks hunting club in Yulan, New York he heard some rustling in the nearby bushes, and his survival instincts kicked in.
He immediately grabbed his Winchester .308 model 88., raised it, and steadied his aim. Moments later a 550-pound black bear emerged from the woods and began barreling toward the 125-pound teenager. That’s when Mullins, only 30 yards away, fired a shot into the chest of the monstrous animal. Luckily for Mullins, his single shot was powerful and accurate enough to kill it. Not bad for someone who’s never killed anything larger than a squirrel.
“I have been hunting since I was 14 but this is my first bear, it’s my first large animal ever,” Mullins revealed.
He was not without assistance however. The bear was spooked from the woods by several other club members who had surrounded the animal after Mullins discovered it’s presence. “We were driving down a hill when I heard something coming from the bushes and I knew it wasn’t a person, because it kept stopping.”
Mullins, a junior at Sullivan West High School admits that since he bagged his trophy kill he has become something of a local celebrity.
“Everyone who’s seen it has been really excited and impressed by how huge it is,” said Mullins.
But Mullins is a modest hunter, giving much of the credit to his fellow hunters: father Mike Mullins and Robert, John, Pete, Mike, William, James, Justin and Joe Zaccarri.
Mullins is having his bear, believed to be one of the largest ever shot in Sullivan County and probably New York State turned into a rug at Rod’s Taxidermy.

THE BEAR ESSENTIALS

What: 550-pound black bear shot
Shooter: Sean Mullins, Narrowsburg
Where: Yulan
Gun: Winchester .308 model 88.
Distance: 30 yards
Shots fired: 1
People needed to move bear: 12