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Sportsman Outdoors

Pennsylvania bear seasons

Jack Danchak
Posted 10/15/21

Numbers do not lie when it comes to just how great black bear hunting opportunities are in the state of Pennsylvania. Hunters harvested more than 4,000 bears in a single season three times since …

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Sportsman Outdoors

Pennsylvania bear seasons

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Numbers do not lie when it comes to just how great black bear hunting opportunities are in the state of Pennsylvania. Hunters harvested more than 4,000 bears in a single season three times since 2005, two of those since 2011, with the all-time record take of 4,653 that occurred in 2019. Nine of the ten largest takes happened in the last 13 years, with the 2020 harvest of 3,621 bears.

With lots of bears still on the landscape and with this fall’s slate of bear seasons, the potential is there again for another great season. Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhams said, “We have many black bears, including some of the biggest in the country that are spread across the Commonwealth and within reach of hunters everywhere, plus our various bear seasons give hunters the opportunity to pursue them in numerous ways throughout the fall. This is an exciting time to be a bear hunter. It’s no wonder more and more people are taking to the bear woods every autumn.”

A record number of 220,471 hunters, 211,627 of them were Pennsylvania residents that bought bear licenses in 2020 and that was up from 202,043 in 2019 and 174,869 in 2018.

Bear hunters this fall will be able to hunt in several distinctive seasons. There is a statewide three-week archery bear season, a one-week muzzleloader bear season that offers three days of rifle hunting for certain classifications of hunters, including juniors and seniors, and a four-day statewide firearms bear season that includes a Sunday.

The Game Commission’s bear biologist Emily Carrollo stated, “Pennsylvania has been a bear destination for many years and I don’t expect that to change. Despite large harvests in the past, we still have plenty of bears and lots of big ones out there.”

Emily also recommended that hunters looking for bears focus first on finding food sources, ranging from apples to hard-mast crops like the nuts from oak, hickory and beech trees to standing agriculture crops, and look for actual bear signs.

The largest bear that was taken in the state of Pennsylvania was a 719 lb male taken with a crossbow. Hunters also took numerous other bears exceeding 600 pounds. Hunters who are lucky to take a bear are encouraged to use a stick to prop open the bear’s mouth soon after harvest and before the jaw stiffens. That allows the Game Commission’s staff to remove a tooth that will be used to determine the bear’s age.

The general statewide firearms bear season is set for November 20th through the 23rd, including a Sunday on the 21st. Check the Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest Rules & Regulations for other bear seasons dates.

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