Bear Season Starts Saturday

HARRISBURG, PA – Those looking for to track of Pennsylvania’s 2020 bear harvest can find harvest totals, breakdowns of harvests by county and season, and a list of the 10 heaviest bears harvested so far by visiting the Game Commission’s website.

Just go to www.pgc.pa.gov, click on the Black Bear Harvest link under “Quick Clicks,” then click on the map under “Bear Check Station Data.” The map is updated continually as hunters check their bears and the records are entered into the database. Hunters already have taken nearly 2,000 bears this season.

The four-day statewide bear season runs Saturday, Nov. 21 through Tuesday, Nov. 24. The season includes a day of Sunday hunting – Sunday, Nov. 22. Except for foxes, coyotes and crows, which long have been hunted on Sundays within open seasons in Pennsylvania, only bears may be hunted on Sunday, Nov. 22, and hunters must possess a bear license in addition to a general license to hunt bears.

Those who harvest bears during the four-day statewide season are required within 24 hours to take their bears to a Game Commission check station. Due to COVID-19 protocols, public access to check stations will be limited this year, and only successful hunters and members of their hunting party will be allowed in the checking area.

Bear harvest results also will not be reported at check stations, but the real-time harvest map makes it easy for anyone to stay up to date.

The Game Commission announced earlier this month that in the Northcentral Region, the Lycoming County check station initially planned to be held at Antes Fort Fire Hall along state Route 44 near Jersey Shore will be moved a quarter-mile away to the Game Commission’s Northcentral Region Office, 1566 South Route 44 Highway, Jersey Shore, PA, 17740.