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Bear necessities: bear hunting season underway

By Mike Reuther 3 min read

Another black bear hunting season is underway and that will likely mean a good share of the harvests occurring in the state's north central region.

"We generally lead the state or come close to bear harvests," Sheldon Helm, game warden for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said. "The north central region has a pretty strong output."

The statewide firearms bear season opened Saturday and ends today.

The limit is one bear per hunter during a licensed year.

The state's north central region led the state for bear harvests in 2022 with 1,028.

That included 187 harvests in Tioga County, the highest among all counties, followed by Lycoming with 152.

Hunters trucks lined up outside the Trout Run Volunteer Fire Company waiting their turn to have their bears health checked and weighed last weekend.

Every bear harvested in Pa. must come to a bear check station, according to Mercy Melo, state environmental specialist. There is at least one station in each county, she added.

Bears are weighed, and the live weight is estimated, because the bears are dressed in the woods to preserve the meat, said Melo.

The estimated live weight is calculated by adding 18% to the dressed weight, she added.

The health of the bear is also checked at the stations, checking for mange and a tooth is removed to check the bear's age.

Bear teeth grow a ring every year, just like trees, so the age is determined by cutting the tooth in half and counting the rings, said Melo.

A total of 213,639 people, including 9,717 non-Pennsylvania residents bought a bear license in 2022, the third highest ever.

Helm noted that bears become increasingly wary of hunter intrusions this time of year.

Hunting in groups can increase the chances of a bear harvest.

Early mornings and late evenings are considered the best times to hunt bears.

Hunters are advised to stay downwind from a bear as they have a keen sense of smell and pick up the scent of human presence.

But there is no guarantee of a successful hunt.

Between 1.5% and 2.5% of licensed hunters harvest a bear each year, according to statistics.

The first bear that was brought to Trout Run early Saturday morning was harvested by a 12-year-old hunter and had an estimated live weight of 431 pounds. While this was one of the largest harvested it wasn't the largest overall weighed at Trout Run, which was 564 pounds.

The Trout Run check station drew not only hunters but a crowd eager to see the bears be weighed.

Families waited and enjoyed refreshments in the dining room of the fire hall until they would see headlights of a truck pass by the glass doors, signaling a bear had arrived.

"It's my third bear, I have been hunting since I've been 12-years-old, 32 years," Kevin McCarthy, of Montoursville, said as his bear was being weighed in Trout Run on Saturday.

"The camaraderie, being out in the woods with all our friends," is the best part of bear hunting, McCarthy added.

Dave Kennedy and Karen Vibert-Kennedy

contributed to this report.

Starting at /week.