All rights reserved. Even smaller bears can be difficult for one person to handle. BLACK BEAR, ARCHERY (WMUs 1A, 1B, 2A, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 5A):Oct. 15-Nov. 5. Its followed by Potter with 179, Pike at 167, Tioga with 165, Clinton had 155 andBradford at 135. Northcentral 1,220 (1,310): Lycoming, 212 (186); Potter, 180 (188); Tioga, 166 (185); Clinton, 156 (150); Centre, 118 (117); McKean, 107 (87); Clearfield, 94 (158); Elk, 80 (140); Cameron, 68 (61); and Union, 39 (38). As of Tuesday, Dec. 1, a combined total of 3,178 bears were harvested statewide (17 Early Archery Season, 1,965 Combined Seasons, 1,167 Firearms Season and 29 Extended Season). The Pennsylvania Game Commission this week reported results from the 2021-22 deer seasons, which ended in January. Like our sister agency, the Fish and Boat Commission, the Game Commission does not receive money from the General Fund. Pennsylvania continues to offer tremendous bear hunting, said Emily Carrollo, the Game Commissions black bear biologist. Hunters have harvested more than 3,600 black bears across Pennsylvania this fall. We are confident that by working with hunters and our conservation partners on implementing these strategies we can limit the spread of this disease, and in so doing, ensure thriving deer and elk populations for future generations. For ages of bears with legal seals #4411-2105019, For ages of bears with legal seals #2105020 2109264, For ages of bears with legal seals #2109265 21158652, For ages of bears harvested in the NW region, For ages of bears harvested in the SW region, For ages of bears harvested in the NC region, For ages of bears harvested in the SC region, For ages of bears harvested in the NE region, For ages of bears harvested in the SE region, Special Requests to Use State Game Lands Information, Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP). The largest bear harvested last season, though, was a 722-pound male taken with a shotgun in the extended season in Letterkenny Township in Franklin County. In fact, key business functions, such as license sales and law enforcement continued without interruption. The board approved the acquisition of an about 12-acre parcel adjoining State Game Lands 148 in Shenango Township, Lawrence County. There are about 20,000 black bears in Pennsylvania, and more than 3,400 have been harvested this year. Those with archery gear, muzzleloaders and special firearms and an early archery season bagged 1,204 bears. The decline in numbers is nothing to be concerned about, says Pennsylvania Game Commission black bear specialist Emily Carollo, who points out that the states population is healthy at nearly 16,000. It also includes the muzzleloader and special firearms seasons. Southcentral 466 (419): Huntingdon, 115 (91); Bedford, 82 (82); Mifflin, 55 (30); Fulton, 47 (51); Perry, 42 (36); Blair, 39 (29); Juniata, 36 (35); Franklin, 19 (31); Snyder, 12 (20); Adams, 10 (7); Cumberland, 8 (6); and York, 1 (0). The following resources will help you get resolution: Most issues are solved by clearing your browser cache. Only hunters with harvests will be allowed in the checking area. In 2020, Saturday and Sunday of the season saw 908 bears brought to the check stations. Hunters may only hunt bears and the usual Sunday huntinganimals foxes, coyotes and crows Nov. 22. Potter County ranked second with 180, Pike County third with 167, Tioga County fourth with 166 and Clinton County fifth with 156. The 2020 . For ages of bears with legal seals #4411-2105019 Realtree is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible experience to everyone, including those with disabilities.2023 Jordan Outdoor Enterprises, Ltd. All rights reserved. Thats not new. Today, consumers can purchase a car or apply for a home mortgage with several clicks on their phone. This change was implemented in 2020 and was met with great enthusiasm by hunters who have sought the chance to hunt on Sundays for several decades. The extended bear season adds excitement for hunters, allowing them to seek deer and bears at the same time, doubling their chances of placing their tag on an incredible trophy, said Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans. The Board of Commissioners increased the length of squirrel season, starting it almost a month earlier than in prior years, creating an opportunity for young and new hunters to take advantage of a season that is often the gateway to a lifetime in the outdoors. Biologists don't seem concerned, By The last time the Game and Wildlife Code was updated was in 1987. Bear. Pennsylvania's State Wildlife Agency. Finally, theres the extended bear season, which allows hunters with a license for bears to take one during all of part or the firearms deer season. Carrollo always enjoys hearing the hunters talking about their trophies, especially when getting one for the first time. Thirty-one of the agencys 134 game warden districts were vacant and dependent upon wardens in neighboring districts for coverage. Over the past decade, and largely under the leadership of Chairman Gillespie, we have worked with this Committee to implement important legislative changes. The locations of those are listed on page 41 of the Hunting & Trapping Digest every hunter gets when buying a license. (1 rating, 17 views) PA Game Commission WMU Map Web Mapping Application by PAGameCommissionGIS. Myths and Misconceptions about PA Black Bears - WITF Smart Talk radio interview with Game Commission Bear Biologist, 2019A February Bear Den Visit (2:20)Summer Bear Trapping (1:20)On the Trail of the Pennsylvania Black Bear; 1991 (1:41:48)Springtime Ecology of Pennsylvania Black Bears - a webinar (46:29)Living with Black Bears Urban bearsWhy is there a bear in my yard? As the numbers show, hunters are finding much success, too, in this and other bear seasons, and statewide bear hunting is about to kick off once again. Pennsylvania Black Bear Harvest Certificate, Myths and Misconceptions about PA Black Bears, On the Trail of the Pennsylvania Black Bear, Springtime Ecology of Pennsylvania Black Bears, Black Bear Expansion Based on Harvest Distribution, Pennsylvania Residents' Opinions On and Attitudes toward Black Bears, Pennsylvania Residents' Opinions On and Attitudes toward black Bears - Executive Summary, Special Requests to Use State Game Lands Information, Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP). In the past, when there was only a rifle bear season, the check stations received more bear over a shorter window. License Type 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021; Resident Archery: 277,602: 285,549: 297,031: 312,045: 319,850: 326,870: 327,674: 324,877 . Ursus americanusSeasons and Bag Limits: 2022-23Digest, Black Bear Section. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. Please enable scripts and reload this page. It is worth noting that a recent report from the National Deer Association credited Pennsylvania as one of only three states in the entire U.S. to harvest more than 300,000 deer annually. The board extended archery deer season further into the rut than ever before. Hunters certainly appreciate the opportunity Pennsylvania bear hunting represents. If the hunter no longer has the seal number, age. Sign up for Outdoor stories:Go Outdoors PA free newsletter. Where to find bears:Black bear opportunities abound in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, a massive black bear was hit by a truck on Route 49 in Potter County. I am pleased to report that the two elk Special Conservation licenses, one auctioned off by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), and the other through raffle sales by the Keystone Elk Country Alliance (KECA), generated a record setting $150,000 and $215,375 respectively. The certificates issued in 2009 were printed and distributed prior to the agency's transition to a new website format, which has significantly changed the navigation features of the new website. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. More: Pa. Game Commission gives bear hunters opportunities as bear population booms. We know lack of free time is often cited as the No. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. This final trial will focus on CWD detection in field situations. COVID-19 did increase the demands placed on the Game Commission. Fredrick Kyss took this 202-plus buck in the 1960s. 6/13/2022. More people purchased hunting and furtaking licenses, applied for an elk license, hunted over managed dove fields, bought a pheasant permit, used our shooting ranges, and found time to hunt and trap. Overall the bear population is healthy and doing well, Carrollo concluded. Statewide. Hunters can go to thiswebsiteand click on the black bear harvest under the "quick links" section. For ages of bears with legal seals #2105020 2109264 In fact, that very situation is occurring this year; we are projecting a decrease in revenue from oil-and-gas-development on game lands which will require us to pull over $11 million from our reserve so we dont have to reduce services. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website. Where to find bears: Black bear opportunities abound in Pennsylvania The average over the last 10 to 15 years has been a little over 3,000 bears. Southwest 246 (260): Armstrong, 57 (56); Somerset, 58 (70); Fayette, 49 (43); Westmoreland, 41 (32); Cambria, 19 (24); Indiana, 12 (30); Allegheny, 7 (3); and Greene, 3 (2). Hunters took 1,315 bears in that four-day hunt. Hunters harvested an estimated 376,810 white-tailed deer. Postal Service delivers the application in a timely manner to a county treasurer. Licenses purchased online cannot be used until they are received through the mail because bear licenses contain harvest ear tags. Bear - Regular Firearms. Working with Wildlife Futures, we launched a CWD visualization tool to allow hunters and the public to view results from our testing efforts based on location. The board also expanded the length of the bear season, providing for the bear archery season to take place for three full weeks in 2020. The statewide buck harvest was estimated at 145,320 and the antlerless harvest at 231,490. Just $1 per month , Are Keystone State bear numbers dropping? Funds from the RMEF were used to improve elk habitat and the revenue from KECA were used for wildlife-conservation education and elk-habitat improvement in the elk range. Lycoming County has the most bears harvested this fall with 212. 2021 was the sixth highest bear harvest of all time, according to the PA Game Commission. Under our current two-farm business model, we are stocking the same number of pheasants as we did under the previous four-farm model, but at a per-bird cost of less than $14 compared to about $21 previously. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. Potter County ranked second with 180, Pike County third with 167, Tioga County fourth with 166 and Clinton County fifth with 156. Mar 27, 2020. Watch as this tired Black Bear sow is woken by her cubs and takes some morning stretches before nursing the cubs back to sleep. Finally, hunters who take a bear in the extended season must take them to one of the check stations listed on page 42 of the Hunting & Trapping Digest. For ages of bears with legal seals #2109265 21158652. Lycoming County gave up 211 bears to rank first among counties for bear harvest in 2021. They also remove tags or radio collars that were placed on the bear in the past. Rounding out the top 10 were Bradford County (136), Sullivan County (127), Wayne County (120), Centre County (118), and Huntingdon County (115). November 21, 2020 / 5:09 PM / CBS Pittsburgh. And on Thursday, Myers was found guilty of the . And finally, the Game Commission has focused hard on creating high-quality early successional habitat on our state game lands. Wade Glessner of Shippensburg used a shotgun to take the year's largest bear, a 722-pound male on. Pennsylvania had been home to over 20,000 bears for several years, but the approximate population fell this year from an estimated 16,268 in 2020 to 15,666 last year. Each year there are bears weighing more than 600 pounds. The legal seal number is also found on the plastic tag the Pennsylvania Game Commission official at the check station put through the ear of your bear. That includes the archery bear season, which runs from Sept. 17 to Nov. 25 in Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) 2B, 5C and 5D, from Oct. 1 to Nov. 18 in WMU 5B, and statewide from Oct. 15 to Nov. 5. HARRISBURG, PA - The Pennsylvania Game Commission today reported results from the 2021-22 deer seasons, which ended in January. The accident occurred around 6:30 am in Harrison Township, and the driver was not injured. but aligned with the Pennsylvania Game Commission's average of 3,675 over the past five seasons. Creamy Hungarian Turkey Leg and Mushroom Soup, Preparing for the Beginning of Another Archery Season, North American Super Slam: 29 Big Game Animals You Need, Strut Report: Southern Hunters Successful Despite Cold and Wind, Wyoming and Colorado Wildlife Managers Adjust Hunting License and Season Proposals Due to Harsh Winter, 8 Reasons You Wont Kill a Public-Land Gobbler. During last years annual report to this committee, I told you about a bold and innovative pilot project undertaken by this new partnership to train dogs to detect chronic wasting disease. ** Total included Resident Antlertess and Resident Special Regs We continue to operate on a licensing structure that is over two decades old, and pricing hasnt kept pace with inflation even though our expenses have. Hunters have already taken almost 2,000 bears, according to a press release. She said over the years only about 2% of hunters fill their bear tag each autumn. Sullivan had 127, Wayne came in at 119, Centre had 116 and Huntingdon roundedout the Top 10 list with 115 bears this fall. Since 1992, seven black bears weighing at least 800 pounds have been lawfully harvested in Pennsylvania hunting seasons. With the pandemic forcing many forms of recreation and entertainment to shut down, visitors to our state game lands system increased dramatically. The largest bear in the state was taken in southcentral Pennsylvania. Benji Lilly caught the strikingly pale stocked trout Canada has seen a staggering rise in the Everything you need to know before hunting raccoons, Sign up for the Field & Stream newsletter and get the latest intelligence straight to your inbox. We also believe it is necessary to conduct a full, comprehensive update to many sections of Title 34. Thank you to Pennsylvania Game Commission for the trail cam footage! Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Outdoors Newsletter emailon your website's homepage under your login name. Then click on "Bear Check Station Data." HARRISBURG, PA - Pennsylvania bear hunters had quite the year in 2021. Hunters can take only one bear during the license year. For ages of bears harvested in the NW region(Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties), For ages of bears harvested in the SW region(Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland counties), For ages of bears harvested in the NC region(Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, and Union counties), For ages of bears harvested in the SC region(Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, and Snyder counties), For ages of bears harvested in the NE region(Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties), For ages of bears harvested in the SE region (Berks, Bucks, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, and York counties). We constantly receive feedback from hunters on how much they appreciate these fields and the hard work put in by the agencys habitat-management crews, as managed dove fields represent the first time that dove hunters in Pennsylvania have a dedicated location on public lands to enjoy fast-action dove hunting. The legal seal number can be found on the bottom right hand side of your bear certificate that was given to you when you checked your bear. More people wanted to hunt and trap, visit state game lands, and purchase our products. If you harvested a bear that was deemed a cub at the check station, no tooth was pulled and your bear was 10 months old at time of harvest. From 2010. Northeast 1,121 (988): Pike, 167 (105); Bradford, 136 (108); Sullivan, 127 (71); Wayne, 120 (100); Luzerne, 111 (125); Carbon, 103 (97); Monroe, 95 (152); Susquehanna, 77 (54); Wyoming, 66 (42); Lackawanna, 62 (56); Columbia, 36 (53); Northumberland, 16 (22); and Montour, 5 (3). A list of them is available atwww.pgc.pa.govunder the Hunt/Trap tab. Contact(s): Debra-Ann Brabazon WARREN, PA, (November 12, 2020) - The USDA Forest Service, working in cooperation with the Pennsylvania game Commission, has announced that the Allegheny National Forest's Marienville Ranger Station will host an official bear check station from . No maximum draw weight currently exists in Pennsylvania. Please note age certificates will not be mailed to hunters, all successful hunters already received a certificate recognizing their harvest while at the check stations last fall. The extended season held in some parts of the state during rifle deer season has accounted for almost a third of the harvest with 1,095bears. In all these areas, the increase in participation resulted in an increase in the responsibilities and workload on our employees. This was recently noted in the 2020 audit report conducted by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee. The population increases and decreases depending on a variety of factors. I am pleased to report that two dogs have successfully passed the first phases of this pilot research and have shown that they can detect CWD infected samples and are now entering the final trial. Get instructions for your browser here. Quota. The plan incorporates measurable goals and objectives along with an adaptive approach to ensure appropriate and effective responses are implemented. Congratulations on harvesting a Pennsylvania black bear, one of the state's most impressive big game animals. The second component of Pennsylvania bear hunting is the regular statewide bear season. As far as the size of bears go, she said Pennsylvania has a reputation for having really large animals. Please enable scripts and reload this page. The COVID-19 pandemic, if anything, demonstrated what happens when people have more free time hunting licenses sales and participation increased. Pennsylvania's Board of Game Commissioners today approved two land acquisitions and a real-estate exchange that together would add about 19 acres to the state game lands system. Throughout the year, changes at our Haldeman Island and Blue Marsh Wildlife Management Areas were dramatic, with us heading in the direction of creating long term, year-round habitat for a multitude of wildlife species. Being able to detect CWD in the field has the potential to provide us with another surveillance tool to identify new infections and respond accordingly. Prior to the first round of Antlerless License sales, Landowner License sales will be reflected in the number of available licenses for each unit. In 2021, hunters harvested at least one bear in 59 of the states 67 counties and in 22 of its 23 WMUs. Were right on par with what I would expect.". Learn moreabout Pennsylvania black bears at Pennsylvania Game Commission's website. Weve got lots of bears, and lots of big ones, and hunters can pick and choose when and how they want to pursue them. These numbers are a testament to the hunting culture and traditions in our state that remain alive and well, as well as the health and productivity of our deer herd. Under our current two-farm business model, we are stocking the same number of pheasants as we did under the previous four-farm model, but at a per-bird cost of less than $14 compared to about $21 previously. Combined, those 1,208 bears amounted to about one-third of the total 2021 harvest. Conversation about bears:Want to know about black bears in Pennsylvania? That ranks as the states fifth-best harvest ever, and the second-largest recorded since 2011. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Where the harvest has averaged around 20 percent of the bear population for the past 20 years, it has crept up to 22 to 23 percent. Enjoy this highlight from the live Pennsylvania Bear Den and watch three cubs play while mom takes a snack break in the den. HARRISBURG, PA -- Hunters interested in learning the age of the bear they harvested during the 2009 seasons can log onto the Pennsylvania Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us). Brian Whipkey is the outdoor columnist for USA Today Network sites in Pennsylvania. Five whopper Pennsylvania bull elk are in this year's state record book, including the new state #1 non-typical, 455-inch bull elk taken in 2020 in Elk County by hunter Duane Kramer. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. In reflecting on this autumns season, she feels positive about whats happening with bears. Alsorespect the privacyof the bears and the landowners, to whom we are extremely grateful for their enthusiastic cooperation in allowing us to share this peek into the lives of black bears. But hunters still must undertake a multi-step process that involves manually filling out an application and self-addressed stamped envelope and hoping that the U.S. More: Pa. Game Commission gives bear hunters opportunities as bear population booms Hunters have already taken. 2021 PA Bear Den returns in February at the same location in Monroe County with a new sow and three cubs. All ages are given in both years and months. 2019 PA Bear Den Live Cam goes live for the first season in Monroe County with a sow and her cub. The extended season ended Saturday in some areas, but the final number may continue to climb as bear hunting is still permitted through Saturday in Wildlife Management Units 2B,5B, 5C and 5D. The largest bear through all 2020 seasons is the 719-pound male taken with a crossbow on Nov. 7 in Ayr Township, Fulton County, by Abby Strayer, of McConnellsburg. This habitat type continues to be in serious decline across Pennsylvania and we are working toward a long-term goal of balancing our age class distribution of forests at the landscape level on our game lands. 1B 2F 3A 2H 2G 2E 2C 4D 4A 4B 5A 5B 4C 4E 3B 3C 3D 5C 5D 1A 2A 2B 2D. 2023 IP Video Specialists, Inc. dba HDOnTap, Yes, I want to receive emails from HDOnTap. In 2020, hunters harvested 3,608 bears the sixth-best harvest ever and it followed last years harvest of over 4,600 bears. The harvest figures do show a couple of trends that, while not causes for concern, will need to be monitored. The Game Commission is considering setting .24 as the minimum caliber for deer and bear hunting, which would rule out a few smaller, popular rounds, such as the .223. Click on the map below to view information being collected at check stations. This concludes my prepared testimony. Bears were taken in 59 of 67 counties and 22 of Pennsylvanias 23 Wildlife Management Units in the 2021 seasons. Scientific Name: A lower proportion of the 2022-23 season harvest consisted of female bears (41%) than the previous year (44%). Hunters should call the aforementioned numbers to get their bear checked. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and to deliver the Game Commissions 2020 annual report. Lycoming County gave up 212 bears to rank first among counties for bear harvest. Second, hunters have been taking more female bears. Pennsylvania's bear age harvest data from the 2019-2020 season is now available! And this past year we continued our efforts to provide more opportunities for Pennsylvanias hunters. NCPA Staff. If we need to make changes, we will be able to make them accordingly and in an appropriate amount of time,she says. A bill that has the support of the Game Commission and our license buyers is House Bill 207 by Representative Mullery, which would allow us to leverage the advantages of our new licensing system to provide a much-more-efficient process for hunters to apply for antlerless licenses. The 2020 bear harvest, for comparison's sake, was 3,621. In addition, if nuisance bears are being attracted to an area by other wildlife feeding, game wardens can issue written notice to temporarily halt the activity. The average over the last 10 to 15 years has been a little over 3,000 bears. We're sorry to hear that you are experiencing an issue! Hunters who want to pursue bears in Pennsylvania need a general hunting license or mentored hunting permit, as well as a bear license. Junior and Senior license holders, those with disabled person permits, and Pennsylvania residents serving on active duty in the armed forces, may hunt bears or antlerless deer with a rifle during the special firearms season from Oct. 20-22. Of interest: Hunters take record number of black bears in Pennsylvania in 2019. To view a copy of the agencys annual legislative report, please visit www.pgc.pa.gov, and click on the link under Quick Clicks on the homepage.

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