The State Game Commission says the bear harvest this past season was off by about 20 percent from last year, but last year’s harvest set a new record, so this year’s number is not bad. In fact, it’s the sixth largest harvest ever.
In Pennsylvania, 3,608 bears were taken in the 2020 season. The average in the last five years is 3,675.
Indiana County’s bear count was down 30 percent, from 42 to 29. Among our neighbors, Armstrong was off by just two bears, from 58 to 56; Cambria declined by five, to 24; Westmoreland County increased its total, from 29 to 32. Jefferson County’s bear harvest was up 11 to 76, and as usual, bear-rich Clearfield County led the way, with 157 bears taken, an increase of 54 from last season’s 103.
Clearfield County’s total was the fourth highest in the state, after Potter County’s 188, Lycoming County’s 185, and Tioga County’s 184.
The largest bear taken was a 719-pound male taken with a crossbow in Fulton County. The state record is an 875-pound bear taken in 2010 in Pike County.
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