in Pennsylvania 17 bears over 600# were killed in a 3 day season (in some WMU the season is extended 2 weeks) the largest had an actual live weight on 733#. Total kill was over 4,000 bruins in that short time.

That was out of a total of about 14,000.The're gettin smaller since the last few ears the biggest have topped 800 lb, the largest was 862 !!! The average must be around 300 lbs. I met one about 400lb in Pike Co 15' away but of course didn't have my camera !!He just sat there shoveling acorns into his mouth !!

I've heard that PA bears get mighty big, those must be monsters. Never seen anything even close to that in a Montana black bear. I just hope they are socially responsible and embrace diversity so that they can be treated like our grizzlies.

Those bears must be eating at McDonald's!

Yes.

IV

Some of the facts. -TONY

Pennsylvania Hunters Post Incredible Bear Harvest Record

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania's hunters crushed the Commonwealth's all-time black bear harvest when they took 4,164 bruins in the regular and extended 2005 bear seasons in November and December, according to the official final tally released today by the Game Commission. Hunters set the previous record of 3,075 bears in 2000.

"Any time Pennsylvania hunters exceed the state record bear harvest by 25 percent, you have to figure they had some things working in their favor," noted Mark Ternent, Pennsylvania Game Commission black bear biologist. "Five factors that helped were that hunters had more opportunity to take bears in the extended season; bear populations continue to remain high; we had a record number of bear hunters; a tremendous mast crop kept bears on the move and out of dens; and weather cooperated.

"For the first time in the Game Commission's history, 100 black bears or more were taken in 18 counties; four counties - Clinton, Lycoming, Potter and Tioga - posted harvests in excess of 200; and Lycoming County became the first county to record a bear harvest exceeding 300 with a kill of 313. To place things in perspective, the statewide bear harvest in 1969 was 295."

Since 1999, more than 20,000 black bears have been harvested in Pennsylvania, making it one the top bear hunting destinations in the eastern United States. Further sweetening the state's attraction to hunters is that 800-pound-plus black bears have been taken by hunters in recent years.

Hunters took 3,354 bears during the three-day season held the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and 810 during the extended season held in five Wildlife Management Units (3B, 3C, 3D, 4C and 4E) during the first week of the firearms deer season, which began the Monday after Thanksgiving.

"We had a record three-day kill," Ternent pointed out. "But, the three-day total exceeded the previous record by only 278 bears, which would be expected given the favorable hunting conditions this year. Consequently, we are comfortable with the three-day season harvest, despite it being above-average in some areas. Hunters subsequently went on to report 810 bears in the extended season, which ultimately led to high harvests in some WMUs."

To address these areas, Ternent has recommended a few changes for the next season. Specifically, he recommended to close the extended season in WMUs 3B, 4C and 4E, and to shorten the extended season for WMUs 3C and 3D to the Wednesday through Saturday of the first week of the rifle deer season.

Ternent stressed that the traditional, statewide three-day bear season would remain unchanged. He also noted that the recommendation to offer a two-day archery bear season (Nov. 15-16) in WMUs 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 4A, 4B and 4D has not changed.

The Board of Game Commissioners will consider these recommendations and others to seasons and bag limits at its meeting set for April 17-18.

Bears were taken in 52 counties. The largest bear taken was a 733-pound (actual live weight) male taken in Dunbar Township, Fayette County, by Andrew Seman Jr. of Dunbar on Nov. 22. Other large bears included a 694-pound male taken in Gregg Township, Centre County, by Charles W. Homan Jr. of Spring Mills on Nov. 21; a 689-pound male taken in Harris Township, Centre County, by Joel J. Kuhns of Centre Hall on Nov. 23; a 657-pound male taken in Cogan House Township, Lycoming County, by Wesley J. Springman of Montgomery on Nov. 21; and a 657-pound male taken in Paupack Township, Wayne County, by Lawrence J. Schultz of Hawley on Nov. 23.

In all, 17 bears taken by hunters weighed 600 pounds or more. In addition, female hunters took 47 bears during the seasons.

Hunters who harvested a bear reported that 4,107 used a rifle; 15 used a shotgun; 15 used a muzzleloader; 12 used a handgun; and nine used a bow. There were six that did not report the type of sporting arm used.

The bear harvest by WMU for the statewide three-day and extended seasons, including 2004's harvest results in parentheses, were: WMU 1A, 9 (6); WMU 1B, 37 (21); WMU 2A, 4, (0), WMU 2C, 313 (187); WMU 2D, 127 (103); WMU 2E, 115 (67); WMU 2F, 259 (195); WMU 2G, 908 (632); WMU 3A, 289 (163); WMU 3B, 542 (321); WMU 3C, 303 (200); WMU 3D, 394 (419); WMU 4A, 148 (40); WMU 4B, 41 (22); WMU 4C, 202 (278); WMU 4D, 309 (247); WMU 4E, 160 (69); WMU 5C, 1 (1). There were three additional bears for which harvest location information was not available.

In addition to three unknowns, following is a breakdown of county harvests by region with 2004's harvest figures in parenthesis:

Northwest: Warren, 78 (48); Forest, 68 (50); Jefferson, 62 (45); Venango, 38 (36); Clarion, 30 (31); Butler, 10 (5); Crawford, 10 (3); Mercer, 4 (0).

Southwest: Somerset, 107 (51); Fayette, 75 (57); Indiana, 65 (53); Westmoreland, 45 (44); Armstrong, 33 (35); and Cambria, 30 (21).

Northcentral: Lycoming, 313 (244); Tioga, 242 (119); Clinton, 227 (218); Potter, 214 (87); Cameron, 172 (95); Clearfield, 159 (94); Centre, 150 (95); McKean, 146 (103); Elk, 112 (73); and Union, 35 (26).

Southcentral: Huntingdon, 127 (73); Bedford, 94 (25); Blair, 47 (26); Mifflin, 29 (25); Fulton, 21 (6); Snyder, 14 (11); Juniata, 11 (11); Franklin, 7 (2); and Perry, 7 (1).

Northeast: Wayne, 165 (135); Bradford, 159 (72); Pike, 158 (155); Luzerne, 137 (138); Sullivan, 134 (56); Susquehanna, 114 (80); Monroe, 107 (82); Columbia, 81 (57); Carbon, 73 (95); Wyoming, 67 (59); Lackawanna, 34 (54); Northumberland, 15 (14); Montour, 4 (0).

Southeast: Schuylkill, 66 (66); Dauphin, 40 (50); Berks, 10 (16); Lehigh, 6 (5); Lebanon, 5 (19); and Northampton, 4 (14).

mt Al:

It is a well guarded secret with us Easterners that Pennsylvania has big black bear. Frankly, I don't know why but it's so. In my own state of NY, there are occasional 400 and even 500lb blacks taken. I myself saw a black that weighed in at over 400 lbs taken in our Catskill Mountains (barely more than a hundred miles from New York City) but it remains a fact that PA always had big bear and big deer. I never figured out why. I would welcome opinions from anyone besides the PA Tourist Board.