Did Pennsylvania hunters kill too many black bears in record harvest of 2019?

Black bear hunting in Pennsylvania

A record number of black bears were harvested in Pennsylvania in 2019.

The record 4,653 black bears killed by hunters in 2019 – a jump of 1,500 from the 2018 harvest – does not appear to be worrying Pennsylvania Game Commission biologists.

Contributing significantly to that record was a near doubling of the bear hunting seasons from 16 days in 2018 to 30 days last years, leading Game Commissioner Timothy Layton to conjecture, “If these trends continue and we start seeing a decline in population, these seasons aren’t carved in stone.”

Mark Ternent, commission bear biologist, responded, “We’re safe proceeding here.”

“We are comfortable with proposing the same seasons for 2020,” with two small changes, but continuing with 30 days of bear hunting across most of the state, noting that the harvest rate with a population of about 20,000 bears in the state is estimated at 23 percent, and that falls within the historic range of 16-24 percent.

The one part of the harvest that might be somewhat concerning, according to Ternent, was the estimated 19 percent kill of female bears, which the highest ever female harvest, well above the average of 11 percent.

“This is something we are going to keep our eye on,” he said, noting that the commission is cooperating in a South Dakota State University study, using data from about 70 female bears the commission is following with radio-collars on them, to determine if the females are more vulnerable to hunting in the earlier seasons.

The biologists estimate the annual harvest as a percentage of the total bear population based on the number of previously tagged bears included in the harvest.

The 2019 harvest was compiled by 561 bears taken by archers, 1,117 taken in the extended season, 1,340 taken with muzzleloaders and in the special firearms season, and 1,629 in the general firearms season.

The expanded bear-hunting opportunities of 2019 – the most days of hunting season since 1931, which also saw 30 days of bear season – also appears to have led to a record number of hunters participating in the season.

The commission sold 202,043 bear-hunting licenses last year, about 27,000 more than in 2018.

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Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.

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