I understand that my quote was up here where it is allowed. Pa is a lot like Vt with some nice tracts of timber and lots of ag land both of which are rich in feed. Pa has a lot more nuts and a milder climate so feed is better down there. Hounds or not I would say a bear in both states has a reasonable chance of being seen while hunting is in season. The only place where there are really large tracts of dense forest where they can avoid detection is northern Maine and I think they allow baiting there since it would be almost impossible to hunt them there without it. Up there a bear can live a long time but they don't have the feed or climate to grow that large as fast.