Bear Seasons Start Saturday

Saturday (Oct. 15) is the opening day of the statewide archery bear season that runs till Nov. 5. The statewide muzzleloader bear season also begins on Saturday and ends on Oct. 22. A special three-day firearm season for junior and senior license holders, active-duty military personnel, and certain disabled persons’ permit holders will be included from Oct. 20 through 22. Late November and early December will usher in the regular firearms season and extended seasons.

These lengthy seasons provide, as Game Commission spokesmen like to say, lots of “opportunities” for hunters to tag bears. Over the years, the harvest of Pennsylvania black bears has witnessed much hunter success, perhaps too much success.

In 2019 Pennsylvania’s black bear population was estimated to be about 20,000 animals. 2019 was the year some non-traditional seasons were implemented. A three-year study, slated to end this fall, has shown a noticeable decline in the bear population. It is now estimated to be about 16,000 animals.

Emily Carrollo, the PGC’s bear biologist, was quoted in “Pennsylvania Outdoor News” as saying that this decline was not unexpected. This, she says, is probably due to the increased harvest of sows, rising from 13% to 22% of the total harvest after the implementation of the new special firearms seasons. But, you have to know what “sow” must mean. It must mean mature females because, according to Carrollo, the gender ratio of the harvest “has pretty much been 50% females and 50% males.”

Carrollo continues by saying, “When [the PGC] introduced the earlier seasons, we were aware that they could result in a higher female harvest rate because the earliest denning behavior begins around mid-November and is mostly pregnant sows. Thus, seasons in October would occur well before females begin denning.”

This helps explain the lower sow harvest rates when bear hunting did not begin until mid- to late-November. It also means that today’s harvest includes many pregnant sows, which may be carrying one or more potential cubs.

Carrollo says she is not concerned about bears disappearing from Pennsylvania. But, “that doesn’t mean that the commission doesn’t have a plan in place to adjust the new seasons if we feel they are resulting in an overharvest.”

It is obvious that the bear population has been significantly and negatively impacted by the “increased opportunities” of the early seasons. If the PGC wants to maintain a healthy bear population but is unwilling to eliminate these seasons, it could, as suggested by an internet poster, at least outlaw the taking of sows that are accompanied by cubs.