Pennsylvania's bear season has strong start

HARRISBURG - Bear hunters started Pennsylvania’s statewide four-day black bear season with a bang Saturday on the heels of an early winter storm.

On the first day of bear season hunters killed 1,241 black bears, according to preliminary totals released Monday by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Among them was a 581-pound male bear killed in Fannett Township, Franklin County,

Last fall, bear hunters took a preliminary harvest of 659 bears on the opening day, which became a record-low harvest for what is normally the best day of the annual four-day bear season.

And although Winter Storm Avery might have impacted hunter travel and access to the state's more remote forested areas bears, hunters found a way to reach bears.

This year’s first-day preliminary bear kill positions the state for a bear harvest that could challenge for a Top-5 harvest year, the game commission reported. The state’s fifth-best harvest occurred in 2016, when a preliminary harvest of 1,297 bears was taken the opening Saturday.

Snow cover remained across much of the state’s mountainous and forested regions Monday, which could increase bear visibility and offer a tracking snow, the commission said.

Pennsylvania's bear population is currently estimated at about 20,000.

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The state's best opening day preliminary harvest occurred in 2011 when 1,936 bears were killed. The state record bear harvest also occurred in 2011 when 4,350 bears were killed.

Archery-bear and other early-bear season harvest data were not included in preliminary harvest for the statewide four-day bear season running from Nov. 17 to Nov. 21.

Bears had been bagged in 53 counties during the statewide season as of Monday, the commission said.

The top 10 bears processed at check stations by Monday were either estimated or confirmed to have live weights of 559 pounds or more.

The largest of those bears – a male estimated at 704 pounds – was killed in Goshen Township, Clearfield County, by Mickey L. Moore, of Clearfield. He shot it with a rifle at about 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 17.

The second-largest bear was a 679-pound male shot at 5 yards with a .357 handgun by Jordan M. Tutmaher, of Warren. Killed in Farmington Township, Warren County, at 8 a.m., the bear appeared in a drive of a Christmas tree patch, Tutmaher said.

Other large bears killed on opening day – all with a rifle – included: a 623-pound male killed in Newport Township, Luzerne County, by Corrina M. Kishbaugh, of Nanticoke; a 614-pound male killed in Toby Township, Clarion County, by Thomas C. Wilson, of Rimersburg; a 607-pound male killed in Hazle Township, Luzerne County, by Brian P. Bonner, of McAdoo; a 604-pound male killed in Young Township, Jefferson County, by Matthew J. Smith, of Punxsutawney; a 601-pound male killed  in Greene Township, ­­­Pike County, by Thomas B. Hallowell, Lebanon; a 585-pound male killed in West Penn Township, Schuylkill County, by Daniel T. Fetzer, of New Ringgold; a 581-pound male killed in Fannett Township, Franklin County, by Jared E. Hevner, of Red Lion; and a 578-pound male killed in Pocono Township, Monroe County, by Nathan S. Fryer, of Tannersville.

The overall 2017 bear kill was 3,438, the ninth-largest in state history. In 2016, hunters took a total of 3,529 bears – the fifth-largest harvest all time.

Other previous first-day statewide bear harvest totals were 659 in 2017; 1,297 in 2016; 1,508 in 2015; 1,623 in 2014; 1,320 in 2013; 1,320 in 2012; 1,936 in 2011; and 1,751 in 2010.

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The preliminary first-day bear harvest by Wildlife Management Unit was as follows: WMU 1A, 15 (1 in 2017); WMU 1B, 68 (11); WMU 2A, 5 (0); WMU 2C, 85 (18); WMU 2D, 83 (32); WMU 2E, 46 (5); WMU 2F, 120 (65); WMU 2G, 208 (129); WMU 2H, 46 (31); WMU 3A, 67 (43); WMU 3B, 71 (74); WMU 3C, 29 (44); WMU 3D, 90 (101); WMU 4A, 94 (29); WMU 4B, 44 (14); WMU 4C, 58 (20); WMU 4D, 77 (26); WMU 4E, 32 (14); and WMU 5A, 3 (2).

The top bear-hunting county in the state on the first day of the season was Clinton County, with 75. It was followed by Huntingdon County with 64.

Opening day harvests by county and region are:

Northwest (245): Venango, 52 (16); Jefferson, 46 (14); Warren, 32 (22); Forest, 30 (12); Crawford, 29 (7); Clarion, 24 (17); Mercer, 11 (0); Erie, 11 (0); and Butler, 10 (2).

Southwest (128): Somerset, 39 (8); Fayette, 29 (6); Indiana, 23 (1); Armstrong, 19 (4); Cambria, 13 (4); and Westmoreland, 5 (0).

Northcentral (411): Clinton, 75 (41); Clearfield, 56 (12); Tioga, 53 (58); Lycoming, 50 (47); Cameron, 45 (20); Potter, 36 (31); McKean, 32 (16); Centre, 31 (5); Elk, 25 (28); and Union, 8 (5).

Southcentral (192): Huntingdon, 64 (16); Bedford, 39 (12); Fulton, 28 (9); Juniata, 14 (3); Franklin, 12 (4); Blair, 11 (1); Perry, 11 (3); Mifflin, 6 (5); Adams, 3 (2); Snyder, 3 (0); and Cumberland, 1 (2).

Northeast (221): Monroe, 32 (18); Luzerne, 32 (15); Bradford, 26 (10); Pike, 26 (55); Wayne, 24 (32); Wyoming, 22 (15); Sullivan, 15 (24); Carbon, 12 (9); Columbia, 10 (4); Northumberland, 9 (1); Lackawanna, 8 (14); and Susquehanna, 5 (13).

Southeast (44): Dauphin, 24 (9); Schuylkill, 12 (2); Lebanon, 4 (0); Lehigh, 3 (0); and Berks, 1 (3).