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Rain dampens turnout for black bear season

Bear hunters took to the woods for the final day of the statewide season Wednesday, with Lycoming County leading in harvest numbers. State Game Commission officials said heavy rain during opening day led to a 30 percent decline in harvest numbers.

The commission released preliminary results after three days of hunting on Wednesday. The season opened on Saturday.

In that time, 1,681 black bears have been harvested in 54 counties statewide — 318 of them on Tuesday.

That total is down from the 2,308 harveted last year — the fifth largest in state history.

As well as preliminary results for each day, the commission updates numbers and averages on its website.

According to that website, as of presstime Wednesday, 1,681 bears were harvested in the state during the season.

That number was expected to increase into the night, an official with the commission said. 158 of those bears were in Lycoming County.

Four bears exceeding 500 pounds were taken on the season’s second day.

Another taken Wednesday joined the top 10 list with a weight of 691 pounds out of Warren County.

The top 10 bears processed at check stations on the season’s first three days were either estimated or confirmed to have live weights of 560 pounds or more.

The largest of those bears, weighing in at 700 pounds, was taken in Venango County on Nov. 18, the season’s opening day.

Although none of the top 10 largest were taken in Lycoming County, Tyler J. Bagley, of Montgomery, harvested a 561-pound bruin on Nov. 20 in Sullivan County.

Tioga led in harvest numbers throughout the season until Lycoming County surpassed them as of presstime Wednesday.

The slow season comes after two of the most active.

In 2016, the overall harvest was 3,529 and made it the fifth-largest year in state history. The third-largest harvest occurred a year before that with a harvest number of 3,748. The largest, in 2011, was at 4,350. Preliminary three day totals nearly doubled this year’s in 2011.

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