Potter, Tioga County Lead 2011 Bear Harvest

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today announced preliminary bear harvest results from the state’s three recently concluded seasons show that hunters harvested 3,968 bears, which would rank the total harvest as the second highest in Pennsylvania history.

The preliminary breakdown of harvest by season is: 257 bears taken during the statewide, five-day archery bear season; 3,154 bears taken during the four-day bear season, which included a Saturday-opener; and 557 bears taken during the extended bear season held in various Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) during all or portions of the first week of the deer season.

Official total bear harvest figures won’t be available until early 2012, after a detailed review of each harvest report is completed. Preliminary bear harvest totals do change occasionally by a few bears.

In the 2005 bear season, hunters harvested a record 4,164 bears. The harvest record was set in a three-day statewide season and a six-day extended bear season in five WMUs.

Other recent bear harvests include: 3,090 in 2010; 3,512 in 2009; 3,458 in 2008; 2,362 in 2007; 3,124 in 2006; 2,976 in 2004; 3,000 in 2003; 2,686 in 2002; 3,063 in 2001; 3,075 in 2000; 1,740 in 1999; and 2,598 in 1998.

The preliminary bear harvests by Wildlife Management Unit (with 2010 figures in parentheses) were: WMU 1A, 13 (11); WMU 1B, 60 (42); WMU 2A, 2 (1); WMU 2B, 1 (0): WMU 2C, 223 (307); WMU 2D, 150 (145);WMU 2E, 69 (93); WMU 2F, 344 (199); WMU 2G, 1,070 (892); WMU 3A, 464 (198); WMU 3B, 453 (232);WMU 3C, 170 (108); WMU 3D, 331 (256); WMU 4A, 75 (135); WMU 4B, 70 (53); WMU 4C, 139 (90);WMU 4D, 259 (244); WMU 4E, 72 (31); WMU 5A, 1 (0); WMU 5B, 1 (0); and WMU 5C, 1 (2). The only WMU not to record a harvest was WMU 5D, comprised of Philadelphia, and portions of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.

Bears were harvested in 54 of the state’s 67 counties. The top five bear harvest counties this year, once again, all come from the Northcentral Region. The top county was Tioga, with 343 (183 in 2010); followed by Potter, 327 (148); Lycoming, 291 (228); McKean, 246 (92); and Clinton 198 (248).

Preliminary county harvests by region (with 2010 figures in parentheses) are:

Northwest: Warren, 119 (54); Forest, 90 (47); Venango, 54 (56); Clarion, 45 (47); Jefferson, 45 (33); Crawford, 16 (10); Butler, 9 (12); Erie, 7 (3); and Mercer, 6 (2).

Southwest: Somerset, 75 (83); Fayette, 67 (101); Armstrong, 66 (56); Indiana, 33 (42); Cambria, 30 (18); Westmoreland, 24 (62); and Allegheny, 1 (0).

Northcentral: Tioga, 343 (183); Potter 327 (148); Lycoming, 291 (228); McKean, 246 (92); Clinton, 198 (248); Elk, 150 (89); Clearfield, 143 (182); Centre, 110 (118); Cameron, 95 (138); and Union, 40 (46).

Southcentral: Huntingdon, 65 (95); Bedford, 54 (84); Mifflin, 47 (41); Juniata, 32 (19); Blair, 29 (31); Snyder, 26 (19); Fulton, 15 (11); Franklin, 13 (8); Perry, 13 (17); Cumberland, 4 (1).

Northeast: Sullivan, 177 (57); Wayne, 139 (82); Bradford, 122 (38); Pike, 116 (122); Luzerne, 95 (58); Monroe, 87 (57); Wyoming, 55 (22); Susquehanna, 51 (41); Carbon, 43 (35); Columbia, 24 (20); Lackawanna, 22 (16); and Northumberland, 7 (3).

Southeast: Dauphin, 46 (20); Schuylkill, 34 (27); Lebanon, 13 (7); Northampton, 4 (7); Lehigh 3 (0); and Berks, 2 (2).

According to preliminary reports, 81 bears weighing 500 pounds or more were legally harvested during the three seasons. The top 10 bears processed at check stations all had estimated live weights that exceeded 678 pounds.

Joseph C. Colyer, of Pocono Lake, harvested the largest bear, a male that weighed 767 pounds (estimated live weight). The bear was taken in Tobyhanna, Monroe County, at 6:50 a.m. on Nov. 16, with a crossbow during the archery bear season.

Other large bears (all estimated live weights) included: a 746-pound male, taken by Jonathan E. Byler, of Ulysses, in Ulysses, Potter County, on Nov. 19; a 734-pound male, taken by Steven Camasta, of Lakeview, in Salem Township, Wayne County, on Nov. 19; a 733-pound male, taken by John J. Hennick, of Cambria, in Bell Township, Clearfield County, on Nov. 19; a 733-pound male, taken by Robert Christian, of East Stroudsburg, in Stroud, Monroe County, on Nov. 30; a 729-pound male, taken by William Simpson, of East Brady Township, in Highland Township, Elk County on Nov. 21; a 714-pound male, taken by Timothy Kiser, of Karns City, in Bradys Bend Township, Armstrong County on Nov. 19; a 706-pound male, taken by Paul Hoyt, of Levittown, in Lehigh Township, Wayne County on Nov. 19; a 682-pound male, taken by Robert M. Serfass, of Saylorsburg, in Lehman, Pike County, on Nov. 23; and a 678-pound male, taken by Matthew Romano, of Conshohocken, in Fox Township, Sullivan County, on Nov. 19.