Preliminary Three-Day Pennsylvania 2013 Bear Harvest Results

Hunters check 264 bears in sloppy conditions; 600-pounder added to top 10 list.

 Daniel Beavers of Covington Township, Lackawanna County bagged this 773 lb black bear. So far it’s the largest bear taken in Pennsylvania this season, and it was shot near Daleville in
Lackawanna County. “I wasn’t even going to go hunting.
 First drive of the morning he just came right out to me
and I shot him,” Beavers said.

Despite nasty weather throughout much of the state, Pennsylvania bear hunters added to statewide harvest totals on Tuesday, the third day of the statewide bear season, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced today.

An additional 264 bears were checked on Tuesday, based on preliminary numbers, bringing the harvest during the statewide season to 2,308.

That number could nudge further upward considering inclement weather left a handful of check stations unable to transmit data from bears checked Tuesday.

Archery and other early bear season harvest data still is being entered into the Game Commission’s database, and is not available at this time.

Bears have been harvested in 51 counties during the statewide season so far.

The top 10 bears processed at check stations by Monday were either estimated or confirmed to have live weights of 557 pounds or more. The largest bear checked Tuesday weighed an estimated 601 pounds.

The largest bear overall – a male estimated at 772 pounds – was taken in Covington Township, Lackawanna County by Daniel J. Beavers, of Covington Township.

Other large bears include: a 632-pound male taken by Michael L. Truax, of Everett, Pa. in East Providence Township, Bedford County; a 627-pound male taken by Wayne A. Gehers, of Mohnton, Pa., in Tioga County’s Bloss Township; a 616-pounder taken by Bradley S. Rohrer of Lancaster, Pa., in Tioga County’s Union Township; a 601-pound male taken by Jeffrey C. Kratz, of Collegeville, Pa., in Shrewsbury Township, Sullivan County; a 597-pounder taken by Jenna L. Schoenagel of Greentown, Pa., in Pike County’s Greene Township; a 595-pounder taken by Maurice C. Younker of Mercersburg, Pa., in Fulton County’s Thompson Township; a 586-pounder taken by Jalynn N. Macnelley of Laceyville, Pa., in Bradford County’s Wilmot Township; a 560-pounder taken by Ernest W. Lucrezi of Beachlake, Pa., in Wayne County’s Berlin Township; and a 557-pounder taken by Ronald P. Fitzgerald of Forksville, Pa., in Sullivan County’s Elkland Township. 

 

This year’s three-day preliminary harvest compares with 2,442 in 2012, when hunters harvested 3,632 bears – the third-largest harvest in state history. The largest harvest – 4,350 bears – happened in 2011, when preliminary three-day totals numbered 3,023.

The preliminary three-day bear harvest by Wildlife Management Unit was as follows: WMU 1A, 15; WMU 1B, 79; WMU 2C, 218; WMU 2D, 143; WMU 2E, 76; WMU 2F, 269; WMU 2G, 490; WMU 2H, 72; WMU 3A, 155; WMU 3B, 161; WMU 3C, 59; WMU 3D, 193; WMU 4A, 71; WMU 4B, 55; WMU 4C, 54; WMU 4D, 176; and WMU 4E, 22.

The top bear harvest county in the state on the first two days of season was Tioga, with 163.

Two- day harvests by county and region are:

Northwest: Warren, 130; Jefferson, 63; Venango, 60; Clarion, 46; Forest, 44; Crawford, 31; Butler, 24; and Erie, 4.

Southwest: Somerset, 97; Fayette, 63; Indiana, 38; Armstrong, 35; Westmoreland, 30; and Cambria, 22.

Northcentral: Tioga, 163; Lycoming, 155; Potter, 118; Clearfield, 107; Clinton, 101; Cameron, 96; Elk, 87; Centre, 72; McKean, 64; and Union, 23.

Southcentral: Bedford, 50; Huntingdon, 46; Mifflin, 23; Blair, 22; Juniata, 22; Fulton, 17; Perry, 12; Snyder, 11; and Franklin, 8.

Northeast: Pike, 82; Wayne, 52; Sullivan, 47; Luzerne, 46; Carbon, 31; Monroe, 30; Wyoming, 28; Lackawanna, 26; Bradford, 21; Susquehanna, 13; and Columbia, 10.

Southeast: Schuylkill,18; Dauphin, 9; Lebanon, 5; and Northampton, 1.

In addition to participating in the closing day of the four-day season on Nov. 27, hunters with an unfilled bear license may participate in extended bear seasons in specific WMUs that run concurrent with all or portions of the first week of the firearms deer season. For those deer hunters who didn’t purchase a bear license, but are headed to an area where the extended bear season is being held, bear license sales will reopen from Nov. 28 through Dec. 1.

For details about those areas open to extended bear hunting and the dates, please see pages 36 and 37 of the 2013-14 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest. Bear check stations opened during the extended bear seasons can be found on page 38 of the digest.