We also began implementation of our CWD Response Plan. Published Feb 3, 2022 2:00 PM EST. Northeast 1,121 (988): Pike, 167 (105); Bradford, 136 (108); Sullivan, 127 (71); Wayne, 120 (100); Luzerne, 111 (125); Carbon, 103 (97); Monroe, 95 (152); Susquehanna, 77 (54); Wyoming, 66 (42); Lackawanna, 62 (56); Columbia, 36 (53); Northumberland, 16 (22); and Montour, 5 (3). Combined, these areas converted almost 1,500 acres into highly functional and sustainable habitats for small-game species such as cottontail rabbits, woodcock, and ring-necked pheasants as well as a multitude of non-game species. The process defined and set forth in that bill is vital to the continued modernization of our license offerings. Southwest 246 (260): Armstrong, 57 (56); Somerset, 58 (70); Fayette, 49 (43); Westmoreland, 41 (32); Cambria, 19 (24); Indiana, 12 (30); Allegheny, 7 (3); and Greene, 3 (2). Bag and Possession Limit Thats the states fifth-best harvest ever. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. The heaviest bear ever taken in Pennsylvania was an 875-pounder harvested in 2010 in Middle Smithfield Township, Pike County. For ages of bears with legal seals #4411-2105019 HARRISBURG (KDKA) - Bear season in Pennsylvania has begun and those that want to track the harvest can watch it in real-time . Moreover, releases now consist of 75 percent males compared to 50 percent previously, further increasing hunter satisfaction. Alt served over 20 years as the Pennsylvania Game Commission's lead bear biologist, where he helped oversee a recovery of Ursa americanus from about 3,000 bears to 15,000 and the expansion of their range from about a dozen counties to over 60.Following on his success with bears, he was asked by then-Governor Tom Ridge to take on the demanding role of the lead whitetail biologist in a state . This time from Pike County in Northeast Pennsylvania. The board also expanded the length of the bear season, providing for the bear archery season to take place for three full weeks in 2020. The map will constantly update with hunters checking in their bears. That was down slightly from 220,471 in 2020, but still the second-highest number of bear licenses ever sold in any one year. The G-PAST is now being used by other state wildlife agencies to assist their efforts to enhance grouse populations. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website. This innovative program has received national recognition and was recently awarded the Stephen Kellert Award from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, as well as the 2021 Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators Outstanding Environmental Education Program.. Muzzleloader hunters can take a bear from Oct. 15 to 22, while juniors, seniors and some other special categories of hunters including mentored hunters ages 16 and under, active-duty military and certain disabled persons permit holders can harvest a bear with a firearm from Oct. 20 to 22. April 17, 2023 |The Realblog with Stephanie Mallory. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Its time to make this change and provide hunters a more convenient way to buy an antlerless license. The last time the Game and Wildlife Code was updated was in 1987. Hunters took 1,315 bears in that four-day hunt. "Hunters are picking and choosing which. PA Game Commission photo. Hunters who harvest a bear must have it checked by the Game Commission. A bill that has the support of the Game Commission and our license buyers is House Bill 207 by Representative Mullery, which would allow us to leverage the advantages of our new licensing system to provide a much-more-efficient process for hunters to apply for antlerless licenses. In 2020, hunters harvested 3,608 bears the sixth-best harvest ever and it followed last years harvest of over 4,600 bears. Benji Lilly caught the strikingly pale stocked trout Canada has seen a staggering rise in the Everything you need to know before hunting raccoons, Sign up for the Field & Stream newsletter and get the latest intelligence straight to your inbox. If it ever got to that point, which I am not concerned about whatsoever, we know how to change things around and adjust for the appropriate bear seasons., Read Next: Video: Hungry PA Black Bear Drags Off Road-Killed Whitetail Deer. Thirty-one of the agencys 134 game warden districts were vacant and dependent upon wardens in neighboring districts for coverage. Watch the first highlight clip of the sights and sounds from the Pennsylvania Bear Den Live Cam with the sow and multiple cubs. During last years annual report to this committee, I told you about a bold and innovative pilot project undertaken by this new partnership to train dogs to detect chronic wasting disease. Weve got lots of bears, and lots of big ones, and hunters can pick and choose when and how they want to pursue them. Hunters are picking and choosing which seasons they prefer to hunt in, she said. 1B 2F 3A 2H 2G 2E 2C 4D 4A 4B 5A 5B 4C 4E 3B 3C 3D 5C 5D 1A 2A 2B 2D. 6/13/2022. We agree with this assessment, and share the concerns raised in the audit report. Of the cases prosecuted by wardens, the success rate was 96.6 percent, which is testament to their training and professionalism. However, when these decreases become a trend, or a new norm, the agency will have to reduce services to align with financial capacity. Please note age certificates will not be mailed to hunters, all successful hunters already received a certificate recognizing their harvest while at the check stations last fall. Thats not new. Hunters should also go into the woods with a plan for how to get a bear out if they harvest one. The others were 2011 (4,350) and 2005 (4,162). In all these areas, the increase in participation resulted in an increase in the responsibilities and workload on our employees. Five whopper Pennsylvania bull elk are in this year's state record book, including the new state #1 non-typical, 455-inch bull elk taken in 2020 in Elk County by hunter Duane Kramer. Because the current pandemic has placed additional human pressure on global bat populations, the Wildlife Futures and PGC developed and validated COVID-19 testing for bats. Pennsylvania Game Commission Posts Bear Age Data On Website HARRISBURG, PA -- Hunters interested in learning the age of the bear they harvested during the 2009 seasons can log onto the Pennsylvania Game Commission's website ( www.pgc.state.pa.us ). I am very proud of the agencys response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bear hunters must wear a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on the head, chest and back combined at all times during the four-day general firearms season, or when participating in the muzzleloader or special firearms bear seasons. This was recently noted in the 2020 audit report conducted by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee. To access the data and learn the age of their bear, a hunter will need to have their legal seal number from the check station certificate. 2022 Archery Season Archery bear season in all bear zones opens August 20, 2022, and runs through September 11, 2022. In 2021, hunters harvested at least one bear in 59 of the states 67 counties and in 22 of its 23 WMUs. Hunting licenses can be purchased online athttps://huntfish.pa.govor from issuing agents located in every county. The 2020 bear harvest, for comparison's sake, was 3,621. If you happened to drive by any of the more than 300 game lands found in 65 counties across the state, chances are you noticed parking spaces were at a premium. The decline in numbers is nothing to be concerned about, says Pennsylvania Game Commission black bear specialist Emily Carollo, who points out that the states population is healthy at nearly 16,000. Please enable scripts and reload this page. The Pennsylvania Game Commission this week reported results from the 2021-22 deer seasons, which ended in January. Creamy Hungarian Turkey Leg and Mushroom Soup, Preparing for the Beginning of Another Archery Season, North American Super Slam: 29 Big Game Animals You Need, Strut Report: Southern Hunters Successful Despite Cold and Wind, Wyoming and Colorado Wildlife Managers Adjust Hunting License and Season Proposals Due to Harsh Winter, 8 Reasons You Wont Kill a Public-Land Gobbler. When we started hearing rumors of a shutdown, staff began preparing laptops. Properly licensed hunters can take black bears in multiple ways with bows, muzzleloaders and, in cases, even rifles in what can be considered the early bear season. Hunters are also required to carry photo identification while hunting. . Hunters who take a bear during any archery season or the October muzzleloader and special firearms seasons should call the Game Commissions centralized dispatch center at either of two new numbers, 1-833-PGC-HUNT (1-833-742-4868) or 1-833-PGC-WILD (1-833-742-9453), to make arrangements to have the bear checked. HARRISBURG, PA - Pennsylvania bear hunters had quite the year in 2021. But, Carrollo said, hunters who find the food sources bears are keying on at various times throughout the fall, and hunt those spots hard, always have a chance. This year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission projected fewer than 16,000 bears in the state. In the simplest terms, we know the recipe to make more bears here in Pennsylvania. 2023 www.goerie.com. The sow and three cubs departed on March 25 at 7:35pm EST. Rounding out the top 10 were Bradford County (136), Sullivan County (127), Wayne County (120), Centre County (118), and Huntingdon County (115). . The agency is also working on implementing new technology to improve their tracking of the bear population. The statewide buck . Pennsylvania bear hunters harvested 3,659 bears last season, including a more than 700-pound bear that was taken in Franklin County The 2021 season marked the fifth-biggest harvest in state. Between seasons for archery, muzzleloader, special firearms, firearms and extended, 3,613bears had been checked this year by the Pennsylvania Game Commission as of Tuesday afternoon. Sales totaled 202,043 in 2019, 174,869 in 2018 and, going back further, 147,728 in 2009. In reflecting on this autumns season, she feels positive about whats happening with bears. In the past, when there was only a rifle bear season, the check stations received more bear over a shorter window. Unfortunately, this invasive species rapidly crowded out native plants that were beneficial to wildlife and through the treatments we are hopeful to return this water body to a more-productive overall wildlife habitat. Sign up for Outdoor stories:Go Outdoors PA free newsletter. But we dont have the authority to manage our hunting licenses. The cost of a general hunting or furtaking license has not increased since 1999. Watch as the three bear cubs wrestle at about 3 months old. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. A more stable funding structure is one in which the licenses and license fees are set by the Commission, with the ability to offer new types of licenses that we can better market to our hunters and trappers, and if needed, make small, incremental adjustments in license price when necessary. Learn Those with archery gear, muzzleloaders and special firearms and an early archery season bagged 1,204 bears. These projects and other initiatives focused on advanced diagnostic testing represent possible breakthroughs in our efforts to manage CWD. The largest bear in the state was taken in southcentral Pennsylvania. Southeast 156 (169): Schuylkill, 61 (78); Dauphin, 54 (37); Northampton, 13 (23); Berks, 12 (15); Lebanon, 8 (9); Lehigh, 6 (7); and Bucks, 2 (0). ** Includes General & Disabled Applicants, ** Total included Resident Antlertess and Resident Special Regs, *** Total includes NonResident Antlerless and Nonresident Special Regs, Special Requests to Use State Game Lands Information, Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP), * Total included Resident Military, National Guard, Reserves & POW, Special Wild Turkey License (Non-Resident), Middle Creek Archery Deer Hunt Applications, Middle Creek Mentored Adult Squirrel Hunt Applications, Middle Creek Mentored Adult Archery Deer Hunt Applications, Middle Creek Archery/Flintlock Deer Hunt Applications, Pymatuning Goose Blind Hunt Applications***, Pymatuning Youth Turkey Hunt Applications. Within 48 hours of the governors mandatory closure, we were able to equip our essential employees with laptops to keep all critical operations up and running. A total of 215,219 people bought a bear license in 2021; that was not far off 2020s record sales of 220,471. We still anticipate some additional samples through the collection of road-killed deer and clinical suspects. This concludes my prepared testimony. "Pennsylvania continues to offer tremendous bear hunting," said Emily Carrollo, the Game Commission's black bear biologist. This change was implemented in 2020 and was met with great enthusiasm by hunters who have sought the chance to hunt on Sundays for several decades. We also believe it is necessary to conduct a full, comprehensive update to many sections of Title 34.

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