HARRISBURG (TNS) — Pennsylvania bear hunters harvested at least 3,619 black bears this year, which would rank 2021 as the 7th top bruin harvest of all time.
With the last of the extended hunting seasons for bears ending Saturday, this year’s harvest trails the No. 6 year of 2020 by just two. The tally for 2021 could increase as the Pennsylvania Game Commission takes in last-minute reports and does final calculations for the year.
The top 10 Pennsylvania bear harvests currently are 4,657 in 2019, 4,350 in 2011, 4,164 in 2005, 3,748 in 2015, 3,632 in 2012, 3,621 in 2020, 3,619 in 2021, 3,530 in 2016, 3,512 in 2009 and 3,510 in 2013.
Those years are far removed from the days when the annual bear harvest was less than a thousand. The first time hunters killed more than 1,000 bears was in 1983, when they took 1,529 bruins. The harvest topped 2,000 for the first time in 1989, when it reached 2,213. The first 3,000-plus year was 2000, which saw 3,075 bears taken.
The 2021 total includes 1,205 bears killed in the early archery, muzzleloader and special firearms hunting seasons in October, 1,314 in the Nov. 20-23 firearms season and 1,100 in the extended seasons in some areas of the state.
The top harvest counties this year have been Lycoming, 212 bears killed; Potter, 179; Pike, 167; Tioga, 165; Clinton, 155; Bradford, 136; Sullivan, 127; Wayne, 119; Centre, 116; and Huntingdon, 115.
The largest bears harvested in 2021 were a 722-pounder take in Franklin County; 681 pounds, Luzerne County; 676 pounds, Armstrong County; 640 pounds, Clearfield County; 640 pounds, Lycoming County; 615 pounds, Carbon County; 614 pounds, Pike County; 605 pounds, Clearfield County; 602 pounds, Clinton County; and 599 pounds, Franklin County.
Last year’s largest bear harvested was a the 719-pound male taken with a crossbow last Nov. 7, 2020, in Ayr Township, Fulton County, by Abby Strayer, of McConnellsburg. Hunters also took numerous other bears exceeding 600 pounds.
“We’ve got many, many black bears, including some of the biggest in the country, spread across the Commonwealth and within reach of hunters everywhere,” said Bryan Burhans, executive director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. “Plus, our various bear seasons give hunters the opportunity to pursue them in numerous ways throughout the fall.
“This is an exciting time to be a bear hunter,” he said. “It’s no wonder more and more people are taking to the bear woods every autumn.”
Emily Carrollo, commission bear biologist added, “Pennsylvania has been a bear hunting destination for many, many years. I don’t expect that to change. Despite large harvests in the past, we’ve still got plenty of bears, and lots of big ones, out there.”
Typically, 2% or 3% of licensed bear hunters bag a bruin each year.
