There’s a reason why this year’s bear harvest is on pace to set a record.
Opportunity.
After a new one-week muzzleloader season in October followed by two-week archery season, hunters have taken 1,808 bears, more than half of the total harvest of 3,153 in 2018.
In the northeast, hunters harvested 132 bears during the archery season, which concluded on Nov. 9, following up the harvest of 342 bruins during the October early season, which included muzzleloader and a special firearms season for junior, senior, disabled and active duty military.
Thanks to the expanded seasons, there were 484 bears taken in the northeast so far, more than half of last year’s total of 775.
And it’s not over yet.
The statewide firearms season (Nov. 23-27) and two extended seasons in certain Wildlife Management Units (beginning Nov. 30), means the bulk of the bear harvest may be yet to come.
And there’s a good chance the statewide record harvest of 4,350, set in 2011, could fall this year.
“It’s definitely a possibility,” said Kevin Wenner, a biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northeast Region. “The only thing that can hurt it would be bad weather. Otherwise, we’re on pace to easily break any previous record.”
While plenty of bears have already been taken due to the added opportunity from the early seasons, Wenner said there are still plenty of bruins left. When it comes to the northeast, he said, the archery harvest is an indicator of the abundance of bears.
Considering the amount of bears taken during the October muzzleloader season, Wenner said he was impressed to see the region’s archery harvest remain high.
“Knowing the amount of hunting pressure and the number of bears taken in muzzleloader season, to have a have an archery harvest that was comparable to past years tells me the bear numbers are there,” he said.
Locally, 11 of the 13 counties in the northeast region have already exceeded 50 percent of the total harvest from last year. In Luzerne County, the harvest stood at 74 bears compared to 105 taken in all seasons combined in 2018. Luzerne also has the highest number of bears harvested in the region, followed by Pike, 60. In Lackawanna County, 26 bears have been harvested this year, compared to 34 in 2018.
One of the lucky hunters to find success in the early bear seasons was Hollenback Township resident Shawn Good. He used a muzzleloader to bad a 211-pound bear in Luzerne County on Oct. 25.
It was Good’s first bear, and he said the extra opportunity this year compelled him to buy a muzzleloader and give it a try.
“I liked the fact that you could hunt for bear or deer at the same time. It made it interesting,” Good said. “The advantage with hunting for bears in October is most of the corn is still standing, and that’s where I found mine. When the regular season opens up, most of the corn is gone and that can make it tough.”
Typically, the majority of the bear harvest occurs during the four-day firearms season. Even though more than half of last year’s total harvest has already been taken, Wenner believes hunter participation will remain strong for the upcoming firearms season.
“Just because we had a strong harvest so far, the opportunity hasn’t waned,” he said. “The bears taken during the early season will be supplemental to the harvest that’s yet to come. I don’t think hunter participation will drop off that much to impact the overall harvest.”
While the bear population, which is estimated at 20,000 statewide, remains strong, so does the size of the bruins. There have been five bears exceeding 600 pounds taken in the muzzleloader and archery seasons, including two that weighed 610 pounds from Monroe and Susquehanna counties.
Wenner said game wardens in the northeast handled multiple bears over the summer in the 500-pound range, and he estimated they added another 100-plus pounds over the fall.
“There are a lot of bears out there weighing 600 to 700 pounds, or more,” Wenner said. “With the added opportunity of the early seasons, plus the potential
to hunt bears in the regular season with a tracking snow, anybody who’s a bear hunter should be thrilled.”
Archery bear harvest by county in the northeast:
Bradford – 6
Carbon – 12
Columbia – 16
Lackawanna – 4
Luzerne – 23
Monroe – 11
Montour – 3
Northumberland – 2
Pike – 8
Sullivan – 9
Susquehanna – 11
Wayne – 19
Wyoming – 8
Total – 132
