Posted on 02/01/2022 6:21:26 AM PST by FLNittany
The largest bear reported was a 722-pound male taken with a shotgun in the extended season, on Dec. 4, in Letterkenny Township in Franklin County, by Wade Glessner, of Shippensburg.
The heaviest bear ever taken in Pennsylvania was an 875-pounder harvested in 2010 in Middle Smithfield Township, Pike County.
Bears were taken in 59 of 67 counties and 22 of Pennsylvania’s 23 Wildlife Management Units in the 2021 seasons.
Lycoming County gave up 212 bears to rank first among counties for bear harvest. Potter County ranked second with 180, Pike County third with 167, Tioga County fourth with 166 and Clinton County fifth with 156. Rounding out the top 10 were Bradford County (136), Sullivan County (127), Wayne County (120), Centre County (118), and Huntingdon County (115).
The regular bear season accounted for the largest part of the harvest, with hunters taking 1,315 bears in that four-day hunt.
The extended bear season, which last year for the first time allowed hunters to harvest bears throughout the opening weekend of deer season in some Wildlife Management Units, contributed 1,128 animals to the harvest.
The archery bear season added another 680 bears.
The muzzleloader/special firearms bear season harvest was 536.
"That Pennsylvania continues to produce so many bears across so many seasons, year after year, speaks to the health of the state's bear population," said Emily Carrollo, the Game Commission's black bear biologist. "Pennsylvania has a long history of supporting a lot of black bears, many of truly impressive size, across most of the state ... Best of all, the future continues to look bright for this resource, too."
There were 215,219 people who bought bear licenses in 2021. That was down slightly from 220,471 in 2020, but still the second-highest number of bear licenses ever sold in any one year.
"Pennsylvania has been a popular bear hunting destination for years, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon," Carrollo said.
LOL !!!
I’ve never had Bear either but My Brother has and says it’s very greasy.
nice bear, never liked the taste of it...
LOL!
Yogi and Boo-Boo Thank You for not wanting to eat Them 🐻
I heard they were high in cholesterol.
So I’m not missing anything, taste wise ?
not if you unless like a gamey tasting meat
the deer i eat are all corn and grape fed and the best tasting deer i’ve ever eaten
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