Traditional Bear Season Opens Saturday

Although archery, muzzleloader, and special firearms seasons for bears have been held already and extended seasons of various lengths will be in effect during rifle deer season, Saturday (Nov. 19) is the opening day of traditional bear season, which will last for four days this year, ending on Nov. 22. This includes a Sunday hunt on Nov. 20.

As the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) has de-emphasized hunting traditions that many hunters have cherished, the commission's harvest of bears during the traditional season reflects a de-emphasis of bear-hunting traditions. However, the traditional four-day season is not detrimental to the decreasing population of bears, as the early seasons probably are according to the PGC's own spokesmen, since many mature sows have already established their winter dens by now.

One can see this de-emphasis in the harvest figures from last year. The total of 3,659 harvested bears during the 2021 hunts is the fifth highest total of these magnificent game animals. However, only about 35% of these were tagged during the traditional four-day hunt: 1,315 were taken during the four days. Early season archery accounted for 680, and the early muzzleloader hunt accounted for 536 more. The extended season hunts during rifle deer season totaled 1,128 animals. With all of these bears being tagged outside of the traditional bear season, treks of groups of hunters to hunting camps where they participate in organized bear hunts have been de-emphasized by the PGC in favor of less-traditional hunting times and strategies. (This is reminiscent of the PGC's moving of the traditional Monday opening day of rifle deer season to a Saturday, which has led to a significant decline in the hunting-camp tradition.)

Despite all of the "additional opportunities" (as the PGC likes to call all of the extra hunts), some groups of bear hunters still manage to organize and participate in traditional-season bear hunts while hunting out of long-standing hunting camps.

I belong to such a camp in Clinton County. This year a group of more than 15 hunters is heading off to camp during the four-day season. This group includes hunters in their 60's and young hunters who have not reached their 21st birthday. This group will try to push bears out of thick laurel tangles during organized bear drives. Hunters waiting ahead of the pushers will hope to get good shots at moving bears. When the drives have ended, most of the hunters will find locations in the woods to "pot hunt" while waiting for moving animals. This group has enjoyed considerable success over the years.