Pennsylvania hunters record third highest bear kill

Dauphin County bear weighed at check station A Dauphin County bear of nearly 500 pounds is processed at the Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check station in Harrisburg.

Pennsylvania hunters killed 3,748 bears in 2015, the third highest harvest ever in the state.

The record still stands at 4,350 bears taken by hunters in 2011, followed by the second highest harvest of 4,164 in 2005.

In making the announcement, the Pennsylvania Game Commission pointed out that eight of the top 10 bear kills have been recorded in the past 10 years. The other top years were 2012, 3,623; 2009, 3,512; 2013, 3,510; 2008, 3,458; and 2014, 3,371.

The commission also stressed that 68 of the bears harvested in 2015 weighed more than 500 pounds. That marked a large uptick for 2014, when 41 of the 3,371 bears killed topped the 500-pound mark.

The huge harvest and the percentage of the 900-plus bears the commission handled and tagged alive that showed up in the harvest, indicates the state's bear population grew from 2014 to 2015, according to Mark Ternent, commission bear biologist.

Weather thwarted bear hunters across most of the state on the opener of the 2014 rifle hunting season - usually the top harvest day of the year - and likely contributed to the bear population bump from 2014-15, after years of a stable bear numbers of about 18,000 from 2008-2014.

The population increase apparently occurred despite a record number of hunters pursuing bears. According to the commission, a record number of bear licenses - 175,314 - were sold in 2015.

Paul Mahon, of Montoursville, took a 561-pound male bear Nov. 17, during the archery hunting season for bear, in Plunketts Creek Township, Lycoming County. He was one of 68 Pennsylvania hunters in 2015 to harvest a bear weighing more than 500 pounds.

The top bears of 2015, both males, each weighed 713 pounds. Gregory Wilson, of Lewistown, shot one of them Nov. 23, the second day of the rifle hunting season for bear, in Granville Township, Mifflin County. Richard Watt, of Gallitzin, killed the other on Nov. 21, the season opener, in Blair Township, Blair County.

The other eight top bears of 2015 were a 685-pound male taken Nov. 21 in Letterkenny Township, Franklin County by Dustin Foust, of Orrstown; a 652-pound male taken in Todd Township, Fulton County, on the Nov. 16 opener of the statewide bear archery season by Garry Miller Jr., of McConnellsburg; a 649-pound male taken in Limestone Township, Warren County, by Matthew Stanga, of Tarentum; a 648-pound male taken in Brush Creek Township, Fulton County, by Andrew Fischer, of Crystal Spring; a 640-pound male taken in Weatherly Township, Carbon County, by Kenneth Mehlig, of Weatherly; a 632-pound male taken Nov. 24 in Worth Township, Centre County, by Chad Seeger of Port Matilda; a 631-pound male taken Nov. 25 in Hillsgrove Township, Sullivan County, by Skyler Hubler, of Dushore; and a 629-pound male taken Nov. 24 in Greene Township, Pike County by John Gilpin, of Newfoundland.
Hunters killed bears in all eight of the commission's regions across the state and in 57 of the state's 67 counties.

Again in 2015, Lycoming County was the top bear producer, with hunters harvesting 312 bears there, up from 286 in 2014. The other top counties of 2015 were Clinton, 265 (179 in 2014); Tioga, 196 (275); Pike, 180 (111); and Centre, 162 (117).

Most of the bears - 2,724 - were harvested during the four-day rifle hunting season. Another 803 bears were harvested in extended seasons, while 209 were taken during the archery bear season.

By commission region, the 2015 harvests were as follows, with 2014 harvest in parentheses:

Southeast - 123 (95): Dauphin, 52 (35); Schuylkill, 45 (39); Northampton, 13 (9); Lebanon, 5 (2); Berks, 3 (6); Lehigh 3 (4); and Bucks, 1 (0).

Southcentral - 452 (391): Huntingdon, 120 (89); Bedford, 74 (70); Blair, 43 (41); Juniata, 41 (28); Fulton, 39 (28); Mifflin, 37 (42); Perry, 36 (56); Franklin, 26 (19); Snyder, 26 (14); Cumberland, 10 (4); and Adams, 0 (1).

Southwest - 317 (312): Somerset, 102 (109); Fayette, 87 (103); Armstrong, 41 (35); Cambria, 31 (15); Westmoreland, 27 (29); Indiana, 22 (19); Allegheny, 6 (2); and Beaver, 1 (0).

Northeast - 965 (795): Pike, 180 (111); Luzerne, 123 (75); Wayne, 107 (87); Bradford, 103 (108); Monroe, 101 (79); Sullivan, 73 (76); Carbon, 60 (47); Wyoming, 60 (55); Susquehanna, 59 (74); Lackawanna, 41 (51); Columbia, 38 (23); Northumberland, 20 (8); and Montour, 1 (1).

Northcentral - 1,436 (1,383): Lycoming, 312 (286); Clinton, 265 (179); Tioga, 196 (275); Centre, 162 (117); Clearfield, 114 (72); Potter 97 (157); McKean, 95 (100); Elk, 79 (79); Cameron, 78 (76); and Union, 38 (42).

Northwest - 455 (394): Warren, 126 (100); Forest, 77 (41); Venango, 76 (71); Clarion, 69 (54); Jefferson, 59 (56); Butler, 22 (28); Crawford, 13 (26); Mercer, 8 (5); and Erie, 5 (13).

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