The State Game Commission has published its final bear harvest report for 2019, and it was a record year, thanks to an expanded hunting season and better weather.
State hunters took a record 4,635 black bears, topping the previous record of 4,350 taken in 2011. According to the Game Commission, that’s exactly what they were aiming for when they made the decision to institute the largest-ever set of bear season changes in a single license year.
There were 202,043 bear hunting licenses issued in 2019, and hunters took bears in 58 counties.
Indiana County hunters took 42 bears, an increase of eight over 2018’s total. Armstrong County had an increase of 25 bears, to 58; Cambria was up eight, to 29; Westmoreland also had 29 bears taken, an increase of three; Clearfield County increased its bear harvest by 16, to 103.
Jefferson County’s harvest was down by 14, to 65 after hunters took 79 in 2018.
The highest bear harvest totals were in Lycoming County, with 284 bears taken, and Clinton and Tioga counties each had 267. The largest bear was an 813-pound male taken in Monroe County.
The Game Commission was so happy with the bear harvest, it has already added a week to the 2020 bear archery season. The statewide bear population is somewhere around 20,000, and the Game Commission hopes to keep it in that range.
