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Soggy weather dampens deer season after successful bear season

By Steve Ferris sferris@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read

Hunters enjoyed a successful bear season and managed to take home some venison after persevering the rainy first week of the rifle deer season in Fayette County.

During the four-day, statewide bear season (Nov. 22-26), hunters killed 85 bears in the county, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

“The weather was great for bear season. I had good hunter participation,” said Doug Bergman, the commission’s wildlife conservation officer (WCO) for northern Fayette County.

He said 32 bears were taken in his district. Dunbar Township led the way with 24. A handful were killed in North Union Township and one was killed in Lower Tyrone Township. The largest weighed between 200-300 pounds.

“The bear were out. They seem to be on the move the entire season,” Bergman said.

A lot of sows were included in the rest of the harvest, which should help control the population and reduce the number of complaints he expects to receive over the summer.

“They certainly took their fair share of bear in my district. We needed that. That will cut down on some complaints next summer. That will take care of some of the large population in my townships,” Bergman said.

The favorable weather and a high population drew a lot of bear hunters to WCO Brandon Bonin’s district in the southern part of the county.

“A lot of hunters and a lot of bears,” Bonin said. Most of bears killed in his district were average sized, but he heard of one that weighed more than 400 pounds. He said he was surprised that more bears of that size and larger weren’t taken because “they are there.”

Some of the hunters he said he talked to told him that they went bear hunting for the first time this season because of the large population. Hunters from Pittsburgh, Maryland and Ohio were among those he encountered.

The game commission will release the total bear harvest report including results from the Nov. 17-21 statewide archery season and extended season Dec. 3-6 in wildlife management unit 2C, which includes the western half of the county, in late January.

At least one bear was killed during the extended season in Bonin’s district and he said he heard several were taken in other parts of the county.

The total harvest could approach the county’s record harvest of 101 in 2010 and has already surpassed the 67 that were killed last year and the 79 killed in 2012.

“Deer season, on the other hand, was not as good. The weather was horrible the whole first week. I saw a lot of hunters out, but they were riding around in their trucks,” Bergman said. “It rained so hard Monday, I don’t care what kind of rain gear you had, you were getting wet.

“When you get inclement weather, nobody wants to get out and move the deer and the deer don’t move in the rain. Unless you get out after them, they’re not going to move.”

A couple inches of snow covered the ridges during later part of the second week of the deer season when doe were legal game and more deer fell, Bergman said.

He said he didn’t check many bucks, but a couple were nice.

The abundance of acorns and other mast crops allowed the deer herd to spread out, but the weather was the most significant factor in what is likely to be a small deer harvest, he said.

“The deer harvest was below average, I’d say,” said Bonin, whose district includes eastern Greene County. “The first week — it was slow, not a lot of guys out, quitting early and that naturally effected the harvest.”

Hunting picked up during the second week. On the last day, Dec. 13, Bonin said he and his deputies checked nine deer including a nice, heavy 10-point buck that a junior hunter killed on state game lands.

Area butcher shops had less demand for deer processing than than last year.

“Deer processing was way down this year. Down over 200 deer from last year. We still have the late season, but I doubt we’ll make up 200,” said Billy Crick, owner of the Hungarian Smokehouse in Carmichaels.

He said he processed more than 1,000 deer last year.

“No one was seeing any deer. That was pretty much the consensus,” Crick said.

Some of the buck that hunters brought in had “nice, respectable” eight- and 10-point racks, but none were huge, he said.

A Fayette County processor, who asked not be identified, said the number of deer brought in during the rifle season was slightly less than last year, but the shop saw a record high during the archery season.

Bonin said he encountered too many people hunting without wearing the required orange clothing and driving during the rainy first week with loaded guns in their vehicles.

“If you can’t be seen you could be mistaken for something you don’t want to get mistaken for. Driving around with a loaded rifle just isn’t safe,” Bonin said.

Bonin and Bergman said they expect an average turnout for the flintlock and late archery seasons, which run from Dec. 26-Jan. 10, but they hope hunters with unfilled tags take advantage of the opportunity.

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