Pennsylvania’s hunters took a record 4,577 bears this season, according to the Game Commission’s preliminary gear harvest report. The new record tops the 2011 record of 4,350, and it’s only the third time in state history that the number of bears taken topped 4,000.
Indiana County hunters took 42 bears this season. That’s eight more than last year, and 19 more than in 2017. Among our neighbors, Clearfield County hunters led the way with 103 bears taken. There were 65 taken in Jefferson County; 56 in Armstrong County, 29 in Cambria County, and 28 in Westmoreland County.
The Game Commission credited new special firearms and muzzleloader seasons, an expanded archery season, and record bear license sales, topping 200,000. There were 32 hunting days this year, up from fourteen in some areas and sixteen in others last year, and there were three Saturdays for bear hunters as well.
The final numbers for the 2019 bear harvest will be released early next year.
