First-day bear harvest number in Pennsylvania nearly doubles last year’s amount

The first day of Pennsylvania’s statewide bear season on Saturday resulted in a harvest of 1,241 black bears, according to preliminary totals released Monday by the Pa. Game Commission.

That’s almost double the amount taken on opening day last fall (659).

“Bear hunters started Pennsylvania’s statewide four-day black bear season with a bang, on the heels of one of the nastiest early winter storms the Commonwealth has encountered in years,” the Game Commission said in a press release.

Thirty-one bears were taken in Centre County, and the top bear-hunting counties in the state on the first day of the season were Clinton County, with 75, followed by Huntingdon County with 64.

While last week’s winter storm might have impacted hunters’ travel, they still found a way to reach the bears, the release said.

“Snow cover remains across much of the state’s mountainous and forested regions, which could increase bear visibility on the landscape and offer hunters a tracking snow to locate and follow bears,” the release said. “Without these benefits, it’s tougher to see bears in cover and pinpoint areas they’re inhabiting.”

The release said any advantages hunters can get are important because the state’s bear population is estimated at about 20,000.

The largest bear, a male estimated at 704 pounds, was taken in Goshen Township in Clearfield County, by Mickey L. Moore, of Clearfield, according to the release.

Pennsylvania’s best opening day preliminary harvest happened in 2011 when 1,936 bears were taken, the release said.

This story was originally published November 19, 2018 at 3:47 PM.