Signs point to fabulous bear-hunting season in Western Pennsylvania

BY BOB FRYE

Harvesting a bear

Every hunter who kills a bear is required to have it checked by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

How that's accomplished varies by season.

Hunters who kill a bear in the archery season or during the early and late extended seasons in wildlife management units 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D should call the appropriate commission regional office. Arrangements will be made for a conservation officer to inspect the animal.

Hunters who take a bear during the regular statewide firearms bear season are required to take it to a check station. Locations and hours for those are found on page 45 of this year's hunting digest. Some check stations operated in previous years have been closed, so hunters are advised to review the list.

Hunters — especially those who go into the woods alone — also are advised to have a plan should they fill their tag. Getting even an average-sized bear out of the woods is no easy task.

“You can't get your hand around the wrist of a 200-pound bear like you can the wrist of a 200-pound deer. And there are no antlers to grab hold of,” said game commission biologist Mark Ternent. “In fact, you can't really get your hands around any particular part of a bear.

“And when you try, they roll all over the place. It's like dragging a 200-pound bag of Jello.”

On public land, where it's illegal to operate something like an all-terrain vehicle, the best option is often to field dress the bear to allow the body to cool down, then get help, Ternent said. Hunters have 24 hours to get their bear to a check station, so leaving one in the woods overnight if needed is OK, he added.

Returning to the bear with a heavy tarp is a good idea, he added. It's easier to drag a bear wrapped in one that not, he said.

Hunters also can opt to butcher their bear in the field.

“We see a few bears like that at the check stations every year, where a hunter has quartered his bear out just because it was so far back in the woods that they didn't have any other option,” he said.

— Bob Frye

Wild Outdoors Blog

An ugly problem growing more common
November 17, 2016
When healthy, they're among the most beautiful creatures in the woods. Pennsylvania's black bears, though, are showing evidence ...
• Baiting once again a problem
• Time to choose a river of the year

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The stage is set for another big year.

Ask Pennsylvania Game Commission biologist Mark Ternent what determines the size of the black bear harvest from year to year, and he will point to four factors: the number of bears, the number of bear hunters, the availability of food and the weather.

The 2016 season already is three-for-four.

The state has about 20,000 bears, Ternent said. That's a record.

The number of bear hunters is high and climbing, too. Last year there were 175,314, he said. That too, was a record.

Wild food supplies, meanwhile — particularly in regard to red oak acorns — are booming across most of the state. Ternent said bears that might otherwise den early will be active for a while to come as they take advantage of the fat-building feast.

That leaves only the weather.

“If you can predict the weather, you're better than me,” Ternent said. “We'll just have to wait until the first day and see what we get.”

There's not much waiting left to do.

The statewide archery bear season runs from Monday to Friday. The regular firearms season opens Saturday, then comes back in Nov. 21-23.

And in some wildlife management units, hunters can take bears in deer season. The beginning and end of those extended seasons vary — there is no extended season in unit 3A this year, for example, but for the first time ever there is in 1B — so hunters should check their regulations book.

In all cases, chances are hunters will do well.

Eight of the 10 largest harvests have occurred in the past 11 years. Last year's total was 3,748, enough to rank third all time.

The record kill came in 2011, when hunters took 4,350 bears. They took 4,164 in 2005.

Few states can match that.

Hunters killed 3,195 bears in West Virginia last fall. They took 3,118 in North Carolina and 3,016 in Maine. Virginia gave up 2,331, and New York saw its second-best harvest ever, 1,715.

Meanwhile, New Jersey and Maryland already have concluded their 2016 seasons. Both ranked second all-time in their state's histories. The New Jersey kill was 549 animals, and Maryland totaled 167.

And while Ohio has bears, there aren't enough to sustain hunting.

Ternent is expecting — and hoping for — another large kill here this fall. His goal is to take 20 percent or so of the population annually.

The potential is there, said Mario Piccirilli, a land management group supervisor with the commission in Mercer and Venango counties. He said bears are being sighted “on a daily basis.”

“A little preseason scouting for their food sources, such as corn, acorns and soft mast, will benefit those hunters seeking to fill their bear tag,” Piccirilli said.

Finding the food really is the key, especially for hunters who will be out on their own, Ternent said. And that's how most Pennsylvania bear hunters operate.

Putting on organized drives using large groups — up to 25 hunters per party are allowed by regulation — is an effective way to take bruins.

But a 2010 survey of licensed bear hunters found three out of four still hunt — i.e. sneak through the woods slowly — or simply take a stand and wait for a bear to come by. More hunters do a little of both than hunt any other way, the survey said.

There is nothing wrong with that approach, Ternent said. In fact, it's what he would do.

“If I was bear hunting instead of working the bear check station, I'd go out and find a spot with a lot of food, maybe acorns, with some mountain laurel or other thick cover nearby. I'd sit on that spot until 10:30 or so, then get up and move around a little bit, then go back there in the afternoon, sitting from about 2:30 on until dark,” Ternent said.

“You don't need a gang to be successful. You can do it on your own.”

As for where to sit and stand, bears roam far and wide, he said. A male's home range can be 20 square miles, a female's half that.

Movements are seasonal, though, Ternent said. At this time of year especially, when bears are layering on fat in preparation for a winter-long hibernation, they stay where the food is most abundant, especially if that's acorns.

“Bears take the easy route if they can. If they can find a place that has a lot of food, they stay until they eat it all,” Ternent said.

“That can make it easier to pattern them.”

Now, if only the weather cooperates.

“Just a little bit of snow, with cool temperatures, that's ideal for bear hunting,” Ternent said.

Bob Frye is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bfrye@tribweb.com or via @bobfryeoutdoors

IT’S TIME TO HUNT YOUR BUCK OF A LIFETIME!!

HARRISBURG, PA - Did you see him sneaking along the fencerow at the edge of the field,

before the corn came down?

Or did you see him only on the screen of your neighbor’s smartphone, in a trail-camera photo another neighbor texted him?

Have you not seen him at all, but know by the fresh shavings on the leaves beneath the big cedar that he’s been spending some time in the woodlot back of camp?

In any case, there’s reason to be excited.

Pennsylvania’s 12-day firearms deer season, which opens Nov. 28, is just more than a week away.

With the countdown to kickoff underway, thousands of the state’s hunters are inching closer to bringing home the buck of a lifetime, said Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director R. Matthew Hough.

“The prospect of bagging a trophy buck in Pennsylvania probably has never been better,” Hough said. “More and more of the buck harvest is being made up of mature bucks. In the 2015-16 seasons, an incredible 59 percent of bucks taken by hunters were ages 2½ or older. And many of these deer are absolute wall-hangers that any hunter would be proud to take.

“But whether you’re fortunate enough to encounter one of these trophies this season, or your buck of a lifetime will have to wait for a future season, the coming firearms deer season is something to which we all can look forward,” Hough said. “It’s a tradition that’s about more than just harvesting deer. It’s about family and friends enjoying the outdoors together. Moreover, it’s what being a Pennsylvanian is all about.”

Statewide season
The statewide general firearms season runs from Nov. 28 to Dec. 10. In most areas, hunters may take only antlered deer during the season’s first five days, with the antlerless and antlered seasons then running concurrently from the first Saturday, Dec. 3, to the season’s close. In WMUs 2B, 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D, however, properly licensed hunters may take either antlered or antlerless deer at any time during the season.

Rules regarding the number of points a legal buck must have on one antler also differ in different parts of the state, and young hunters statewide follow separate guidelines.

For a complete breakdown of antler restrictions, WMU boundaries and other regulations, consult the 2016-17 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest, which is issued to hunters at the time they purchase their licenses. The digest also is available online at the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.pa.gov.

One very important regulation that applies statewide is the requirement for all hunters to wear at all times a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on their head, chest and back combined. An orange hat and vest will satisfy the requirement. And for safety’s sake, it’s a good idea for nonhunters who might be afield during the deer season and other hunting seasons to consider wearing orange as well.

Deer forecast

Food availability always influences deer movements and deer hunting, and this year has been one of the best in memory for red-oak acorn production statewide.

While that’s a good thing for the deer that live in areas where red-oak acorns are especially abundant, it could make for tougher deer hunting there.

When mast crops are abundant, deer don’t have to move much to find food. And studies show deer harvests tend to drop in years of abundant mast.

At the same time, hunters can be reasonably confident that if they’re hunting in an area with available food, deer are in the area, as well.

The presence in that area of other hunters who, through their activity, might move deer, leading to increased movements and sightings, and a better chance for harvest.

Participation in the firearms deer season has been trending downward in recent years as the archery deer season has become more popular with hunters, and more deer are taken in the archery season, before the firearms deer season begins.

Archery license sales have increased annually since 2007. And in the 2015-16 seasons, deer harvested during archery seasons accounted for 31 percent of the overall deer harvest.

Still, the opening day of the firearms deer season is like no other. In 2015, 27 percent of the total deer harvest – and 47 percent of the buck harvest – occurred on the opening day. And this year, an estimated 550,000 hunters statewide are expected to take part in the firearms season’s opening day, which widely is regarded as an unofficial holiday in Pennsylvania.

Deer populations are being tracked as stable or increasing in each of the state’s 23 wildlife management units, said Christopher Rosenberry, who supervises the Game Commission’s Deer and Elk Section.

The chances to take a trophy buck in Pennsylvania might be better than ever.

Rosenberry said 59 percent of the bucks harvested in the 2015-16 seasons were 2½ years old or older – the highest percentage recorded in decades.

Back in 2002, only 20 percent of the bucks harvested were 2½ years old or older.

Aside from the red-oak acorn crop, mast crops such as white- and chestnut-oak acorns, beechnuts, apples, berries and grapes are spotty statewide – good in some areas, poor in others.

In forested areas where mast is spotty overall, deer are likely to concentrate where food is available, and finding food might uncover a potential deer hotspot.

Also, the Game Commission this year has increased the number of Deer Hunter Focus Areas on state game lands statewide.

These areas, which are posted with signs that identify them to hunters, have undergone recent timber harvests or other habitat projects, creating new forest growth that could be causing deer to concentrate there because young forest is an important deer food source.

An interactive map of Deer Hunter Focus Areas and a list of state game lands containing Deer Hunter Focus Areas is available at the Game Commission’s website.

Proper licensing

Hunters during the statewide firearms season can harvest antlered deer if they possess a valid general hunting license, which costs $20.70 for adult residents and $101.70 for adult nonresidents.

Each hunter between the ages of 12 and 16 must possess a junior license, which costs $6.70 for residents and $41.70 for nonresidents.

Hunters younger than 12 must possess a valid mentored youth hunting permit and be accompanied at all times by a properly licensed adult mentor, as well as follow other regulations.

Mentored hunting opportunities also are available for adults, but only antlerless deer may be taken by mentored adult hunters.

Those holding senior lifetime licenses are reminded they must obtain a new antlered deer harvest tag each year, free of charge, to participate in the season.

In order to harvest antlerless deer, a hunter must possess either a valid antlerless deer license or a valid permit. In the case of mentored hunters, the mentor must possess a valid tag that can be transferred to the mentored hunter at the time of harvest.

In addition to regular antlerless licenses, two types of permits can be used to take antlerless deer. The Deer Management Assistance Program, or DMAP permit, can be used only on the specific property for which it is issued, throughout the 12-day firearms season.

The Disease Management Area 2 permit, which was created to mitigate the effects of chronic wasting disease in free-ranging deer, can be used only in Disease Management Area 2 (DMA 2), which encompasses more than 2,800 square miles within Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties.

Meanwhile, regular antlerless deer licenses can be used only within the wildlife management unit for which they’re issued.

DMAP permits for some properties might still be available, but antlerless licenses and DMA 2 permits are sold out.

General hunting licenses can be purchased online, but as the season nears, hunters might find it better to purchase licenses in person. Deer licenses purchased online are mailed, meaning they might not arrive in time if purchased too close to the start of the season.

Tagging and reporting

A valid tag must be affixed to the ear of each deer harvested before that deer is moved. The tag must be filled out with a ball-point pen by the hunter.

Within 10 days of a harvest, a successful hunter is required to make a report to the Game Commission. Harvests can be reported online at the Game Commission’s website www.pgc.pa.gov by clicking on the blue “Report a Harvest” button on the home page. Reporting online not only is the quickest way to report a harvest, it’s the most cost-effective for the Game Commission.

Harvests also can be reported by mailing in the postage-paid cards inserted into the 2016-17 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest, or successful hunters can call 1-855-PAHUNT1 (1-855-724-8681) to report by phone. Those reporting by phone are asked to have their license number and other information about the harvest ready at the time they call.

Mentored youth hunters are required to report deer harvests within five days. And hunters with DMAP or DMA 2 permits must report on their hunting success, regardless of whether they harvested deer.

By reporting their deer harvests, hunters play a key role in providing information used to estimate harvests and the deer population within each WMU. Estimates are key to managing deer populations, and hunters are asked to do their part in this important process.

Chronic wasting disease

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in three areas of Pennsylvania, and special rules apply to hunters within each Disease Management Area (DMA).

There are three DMAs. DMA 1 encompasses parts of York and Adams counties. DMA 2 includes parts of Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties. And DMA 3 includes about 350 square miles in Clearfield and Jefferson counties.

For the specific boundaries of each DMA, check the Game Commission’s website or turn to the 2016-17 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest.

Hunters may not remove from any DMA any deer parts deemed to have a high-risk of transmitting CWD. The head, backbone and spinal cord are among those high-risk parts, and successful hunters who live outside a DMA can remove and deposit high-risk parts in dumpsters that have been set up on state game lands within each DMA. They then can transport the meat and other low-risk parts outside the DMA.

Hunters also can take their harvests to a processor or taxidermist within the DMA, and the processor or taxidermist can properly dispose of the high-risk parts. In some cases, processors and taxidermists just beyond the border of a DMA have been approved as drop-off sites and those facilities appear on the list of cooperating processors and taxidermists available on the Game Commission’s website.

The Game Commission will be sampling for chronic wasting disease statewide, but just because a hunter drops a deer off at a processor or taxidermist, or deposits high-risk parts in a dumpster on game lands, doesn’t mean the deer will be tested for CWD.

If you want your harvested deer to be tested, you must make arrangements with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Laboratory. There is a fee associated with testing. More information about this process can be found online at www.agriculture.pa.gov.

Transporting a deer head outside a DMA so the deer can be disease-tested at a lab is a permitted exception to the rule prohibiting the removal of high-risk parts from a DMA. Deer heads should be double-bagged in plastic garbage bags before they are removed from the DMA.

Chronic wasting disease is transmitted from deer to deer by direct and indirect contact. It is always fatal to deer that become infected, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there’s no strong evidence it can be transmitted to humans.

People are advised, however, not to consume meat from deer that test positive for CWD.

For more information on CWD and rules applying within DMAs, visit the Game Commission’s website.

Buck Harvest Photo Contest

Hunters who take Pennsylvania bucks during the 2106 firearms season are eligible to submit photos of their trophies to the Game Commission’s Buck Harvest Photo Contest.

Photos will be accepted through Dec. 18, and should be emailed to pgc-contest@pa.gov.

Photos of bucks taken during Pennsylvania’s 2016 archery season also are eligible for submission.

Game Commission staff will narrow the submitted photos to a group a contenders to be posted on the agency’s Facebook page, where users will determine the winning photos by “liking” the images. Those submitting the images of the winning archery and firearms bucks will win trail cameras.

All submissions must include the first and last name of the hunter and other people in the photo, hunter’s hometown, and the county where the deer was harvested. Submissions must also indicate whether the deer was harvested with a bow or a rifle.

The Game Commission has the right to use all submitted images.

For more information about the contest, visit the Game Commission’s website.

PA Elk harvest Results Released

HARRISBURG, PA - More than 78 percent of the hunters participating in Pennsylvania’s 2016 elk hunt have taken home a trophy.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission today announced 97 elk were taken by hunters during the regular one-week elk season that ended Nov. 5. And for those licensed to hunt antlered elk, also known as bulls, the success rate was 96 percent.

The 2016 harvest included some large elk. Fourteen bulls each were estimated to weigh 700 pounds or more, with two going more than 800 pounds. The heaviest bull taken in this year’s hunt was estimated at 824 pounds. That bull, which sported a 9-by-8 rack, was taken Oct. 31 by Stephen Winter, of Perkasie.

The other 800-plus-pound bull (813 pounds), which had a 7-by-8 rack, was harvested with a bow on Nov. 4 by Steven Armburger, of Guys Mills.

The largest bull in terms of rack size was a 9-by-8, harvested Nov. 2 by Joshua Fuqua, of Clymer. Its rack initially was measured at 418-6/8 inches, according to Boone & Crockett big-game scoring standards.

The second-highest-scoring bull, taken on Oct. 31, by Donald Newman, of Andreas, had an 8-by-9 rack initially measured at 407-2/8 inches. That bull weighed 776 pounds.

Official measurements of these bulls cannot be taken until the antlers have air dried for at least 60 days after the animal was killed. Pennsylvania elk are well represented in the Boone & Crockett Club’s records, and in the state record book.

Other large bulls taken include a 6-by-7 weighing 797 pounds taken by Michael Baer, of Waynesboro; a 6-by-7 weighing 761 pounds taken by Mark Butcher, of Newport; a 6-by-7 weighing 745 pounds taken by Israel Messinger, of Palmerton; a 6-by-6 weighing 741 pounds taken by Paul Scansaroli, of Downingtown; and a 6-by-6 also weighing 741 pounds taken by Eddy Stamm, of Jersey Shore.

There also were some large antlerless elk taken in the harvest. Eleven of the 73 cows taken by hunters during the one-week season weighed over 500 pounds.

Fifty-six — 10 bulls and 46 cows — of the 97 elk harvested were taken on the opening day of the elk season Oct. 31.

To participate in the elk hunt, hunters must submit an application, then must be selected through a random drawing and purchase a license. The drawing annually attracts more than 30,000 applicants.

Failed legislation likely to mean change

BY BOB FRYE

Now comes the fallout.

State lawmakers essentially have wrapped up their legislative session. The House of Representatives has two work days left, Nov. 14 and 15. The Senate has one, Nov. 16.

Never say never in Pennsylvania politics — lawmakers once made a pretty regular practice of waiting until elections were over to pass controversial bills — but it seems unlikely anything substantive pertaining to sportsmen will move.

That's how most of this two-year session went.

Eighty-six hunting and fishing bills were introduced. Three — one shrinking the minimum acreage needed for a dog training area, one allowing for disabled hunters to use motorized wheelchairs and a third giving wildlife and waterways conservation officers broader disability benefits — became law.

One other, removing the prohibition on hunting with air-powered and semiautomatic rifles, passed the House and Senate and is awaiting Gov. Tom Wolf's signature. Assuming he gives it, both types of firearms likely will be legal in some form or fashion starting next fall.

But for better or worse, that's it.

Bills that would have allowed teens to try mentored hunting, permitted the use of leashed tracking dogs for finding wounded big game, broadened how money collected from selling Lake Erie stamps could be spent and others failed to move.

They officially will die when lawmakers go into recess.

That is the fate of legislation that would have allowed the Pennsylvania Game and Fish and Boat commissions to set their own license fees. Both wanted to raise prices. The cost of hunting licenses hasn't increased since 1999; fishing licenses since 2003.

Senators gave them the go-ahead. Representatives did not.

Sportsmen will feel the consequences.

Matt Hough, executive director of the Game Commission, said his agency is facing a budget deficit of $7.8 million for fiscal year 2017-18, which begins July 1. To address that it will eliminate some jobs through attrition — not replacing people who retire — and furlough others, he said.

Sportsmen can expect more visible cuts, though. Commissioners said the pheasant stocking program could be eliminated, for example.

Hough said specifics will be discussed when the commission board meets on Dec. 5.

“But there are some substantial cuts coming,” Hough said. “We don't have any choice.”

Anglers won't feel the same pain right away, said Fish and Boat executive director John Arway. There has been no talk of closing trout hatcheries, as was considered once before, he said.

But the commission will have to use its reserve fund to pay things like pension costs, he said. That can't go on forever, he added.

“Eventually we're going to run out of money,” Arway said.

Both directors said they will ask lawmakers again in January to raise license prices. Whether lawmakers do it on their own or give that power to the commissions is immaterial, they agreed.

“We just need a license increase. At this point I don't really care how we get it,” Hough said.

In the meantime, both agencies – and sportsmen – will have to get used to doing less with less.

Bob Frye is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at bfrye@tribweb.com or via Twitter @bobfryeoutdoors.

Semi-automatic Bill Advances Beyond Pennsyvania Lawmakers

By John Hayes / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 

Weeks before the opening of Pennsylvania’s statewide firearm deer season, and hours before the close of the state’s 2016 legislative session, a bill that would legalize the use of semi-automatic sporting arms for hunting has moved to the desk of Gov. Tom Wolf.

The General Assembly has debated the issue since at least 2013. It was brought up again in 2015 by State Rep. Matt Gabler, R-Clearfield/Elk, a member of the House Game and Fisheries Committee and Pennsylvania Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, with the support of a half dozen other Caucus members. On Oct. 26 the Senate version rocked the State Capitol building with a vote of 40-7 in favor, and the next day the House lined up 160-25 to approve HB 263.

Unlike rapid-fire machine guns, or automatic weapons, the shooter of a semi-automatic has to pull the trigger once for each individual shot. Unlike bolt-, lever- and pump-action guns, which require the shooter to manually move each cartridge into the chamber, semi’s do it with compressed air or gas. Hunters in 48 states, including Pennsylvania neighbors Ohio, New York, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia, legally use semi-automatic rifles.

The bill would amend the Title 34 Game and Wildlife Code, which specifically prohibits the state Game Commission from allowing air- or gas-powered rifles and handguns for hunting. The agency supports the bill, but if passed the legislation would not immediately and directly permit their use. It would give PGC the authority to regulate their use..

Semi-automatic shotguns are legal sporting arms in Pennsylvania, but they have to be plugged to a three-shell total in the chamber and magazine. Semi rifles and pistols are legal for target shooting and self-defense. 

“The inspiration for House Bill 263 came from an Elk County citizen who showed me how advancements in technology associated with these air-, chemical- and gas cylinder-powered rifles made them viable, humane options for use in hunting applications,” said Rep. Gabler, in a statement. “... Experience in other states has shown air- and gas-powered rifles to be especially popular among young hunters, women and new participants in the sport.”

Semi-automatic firearms have been a hot topic this election year. In February, Gov. Wolf joined the Washington, D.C.-based Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus, a bipartisan information exchange that promotes and advances hunting, fishing, recreational shooting and trapping.