Upcoming black bear season looks promising
HARRISBURG – Whenever a near-record black bear harvest occurs, as in 2003, hunters typically expect the next year’s harvest to drop off. But Pennsylvania Game Commission field officers and biologists don’t believe the state will head in that direction when the statewide three-day bear season opens Monday, Nov. 22, so long as inclement weather doesn’t keep hunters out of the woods. “The last few years have been phenomenal for black bear hunting,” said Game Commission Executive Director Vern Ross. “Our bear population has been growing for some time and field officers have been tasked to perform more and more bear nuisance work. Residents are seeing bears everywhere. And each year, bears move into more areas where they haven’t been seen in a long, long time.
“The first time hunters took 3,000-plus bears in the state, they followed the season with another 3,000-plus harvest. Of course, there’s no way of guaranteeing they’ll do the same in 2004, but there surely is no shortage of bears in the Commonwealth.”
Pennsylvania recorded its first 3,000-plus harvest in 2000, when hunters took 3,075 bears. In 2001, the harvest dropped slightly to 3,063. Then in 2002, it slipped to 2,686. Last year, the harvest totaled 3,000 bears.
Pennsylvania’s four largest black bear harvests have occurred over the last four years, which seems odd for a somewhat reclusive big woods species at a time when development – particularly in the Poconos, a historic black bear stronghold – continually claims more of Penn’s Woods. But not according to Mark Ternent, Game Commission black bear biologist.
“Our record black bear harvests have been occurring because the bear population has been increasing, not because hunters are starting to take progressively more bears out of the population each year,” Ternent said. “Hunters have consistently taken about 20 percent of the state’s bear population annually since 1980. The last four years – although record harvest years – were no exception. Population growth has been most noticeable in places where bears have been expanding their range, like our southern and western counties.
“Right now, the Game Commission believes the state’s bear population is nearly 15,000 bears, which is close to where it was last year. These estimates are based on an intensive monitoring program that involves the capture and ear-tagging of about 600 bears annually. Observations of many Wildlife Conservation Officers have likewise followed the same trend – that bears are as abundant as ever, despite record harvests in the past four years.”
Game Commission field personnel collectively believe bear numbers are stable or rising in most areas where bears have been established for some time. They rate bear hunting prospects as good to excellent and also note that large bears are being seen with regularity. In the heart of Pennsylvania’s traditional bear range, Clearfield County WCO Chris Ivicic reported he is looking for all the hunter help he can get.
On the heels of two very successful years of expanded bear hunting in the Poconos, the Game Commission for the first time is expanding bear hunting in the first week of the rifle deer season – Nov. 29-Dec. 4 – to include WMU 4C, which comprises portions of Berks, Carbon, Columbia, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties.
In the past two years, hunters have taken 323 bears – including 149 in 2003 – in Pennsylvania’s extended bear season. WMU 4C was added to this year’s season because two years of hunting bears concurrently with deer in the Poconos didn’t lead to unacceptably large harvests or negatively impact the conservation of local bear populations.
“Another reason for adding WMU 4C to the extended season is that although good bear habitat can be found throughout the unit, bears do not have to wander very far south before they are in marginal bear habitat and areas with high-conflict potential,” Ternent said. “We generally place the southeast limit for bears in Pennsylvania at the Blue Mountain.”
Ternent is expecting a bear harvest of 2,500 to 3,000, with the chance for slightly more if the weather is ideal for hunting.
“It will be interesting to see by how much – if any – the changes to the expanded bear season this year influence the statewide harvest,” Ternent said. “The expanded hunting areas have well-established bear populations and typically attract substantial hunting pressure.”
In a county breakdown of the 2003 bear harvest, Lycoming led all others with a harvest of 202. It was followed closely by Clinton, 193; Tioga, 156; Pike, 147; and Wayne 130. Bears were taken in 52 counties in 2003 (49 in 2002).
In 2003, hunters took three bears – one eventually was determined to have been taken illegally – with estimated live weights exceeding 800 pounds. The largest was an 864-pound male taken in Dingman Township, Pike County, by Douglas Kristiansen of Milford.
“Bears weighing up to 800 pounds certainly exist in Pennsylvania, but they are quite uncommon,” Ternent said. “On the other hand, few states produce big black bears as consistently as Pennsylvania. On average, 30 hunters a year take a 500-pound or larger bear in the Commonwealth.
“Big bears can be found just about anywhere in the state. They have two requirements that must be met to become exceptionally large: great food supplies and a chance to get older. If I were hunting for a big black bear, I’d look for good food conditions and low hunting pressure.
Last year, a record 123,911 hunters purchased Pennsylvania bear licenses. In 2002, 122,046 hunters bought bear licenses.