dragthor

BEAR HUNTERS CONTINUE TO ENJOY SUCCESS AFIELD
Two days of comfortable weather and a substantial statewide population of black bears have led to a sizeable bear harvest, the Pennsylvania Game Commission reported this morning.

Agency employees processed 2,262 black bears - 689 on the second day - at check stations on Monday and Tuesday. Hunters are required to have their harvested bears checked within 24 hours after tagging it. The statewide three-day bear season ends at sundown today. However, in a large portion of eastern Pennsylvania, hunters again will have an additional week - Nov. 29-Dec. 4 - of bear hunting that will run concurrently with the first week of the rifle deer season.

ulysses

I saw one at the check station in Gaines lastnight that weighed 56# with the guts in...the guy that shot it didn't even bother to gut it said he just carried it to his truck.
Man that is sad!

GREEK HUNTER

I THINK HE SHOT A DOG

cardeer

Dont make much sense to me

BarnesX.308

That is a small bear but I must come to this guy's defense. The chances of getting a PA bear are about the same as getting struck by lightning. It's not like you're sitting in an elevated shooting house on a QDM ranch watching over a field of bears. When you see a bear in the woods in PA during bear season your mind says "this is my once in a life time chance, I better make a shot while I can". I doubt many PA bear hunters would look it over, "field judge" it and decide to let it grow another year. I don't think I know any PA bear hunters who have passed on bears waiting for the bear of their dreams. All bears fall into that category. And besides, bears are very hard to judge. When you see a black bear at a distance (perhaps in thick cover) it looks bigger than it really is. I'm sure the guy wishes the bear he shot was bigger but he's also pretty excited that he got a bear at all.

PaJack

I think the PGC wants to get rid of all the bears in PA...[:@]

BarnesX.308

Too much browsing?

bronko22000

I wonder what the final harvest number will be? I've been hunting b. bear in PA now for almost 40 years. I've taken 2 (should have been 3). Our family has a camp in Clinton county and this is one of the worst years I can remember. In the 3 days of hunting from dawn to dusk, I heard only about 1/2 dozen shots being fired. That's not too good from the area we hunt.
We have also noticed a marked reduction in the amout of deer being seen too. I think the problem is way to much mature timber, especially in our area. The area our camp is in is in the Sproul State Forest. I wonder why the forest service doesn't do some timbering out. These huge tracts of mature oaks, hickorys, and maples are just dying of old age and rotting away. Money from timber and increased browse for game - sounds like a win - win situation to me.

PABuck_HNTR

They're afraid of the environmentalist wackos and too many regulations on the cutting of trees in National and State Forests.