Bear numbers????
Pennsylvania
There's been a lot of chit chat lately on low bear numbers (population). Not sure what the real number are, but if the numbers are low what would the management plan be?? Many are say that to many sows are being taken in the early seasons and if so I can understand that. I know that Gary Alt stated about rifle season for bear that many of sows with cubs have gone to hibernation by that time. So he saw no real impact on the bear population. If more sow are being taken I guess that would bring the numbers down, as like buck, boar bear with breed with as many sow as he can.
Now I'm bringing this up because I'd hate to see early season (archery bear) get cut/shortened and we should be prepared for this. That sale of muzzleloader tags/license's stamps have soared since the season has been in place. What will the Game commission do? Cut seasons (?) or make the use of inlines harder to use by putting restrictions on them like other state have. Restrictions being optics. I never shot an inline, but my understand is it's like shooting a single shot 30/30, is this true?
So what should we do? Sit back and wait and see (?) Or have a plan together just in case.
What's everyones thoughts on this?
PS,,,If I seem one sided on this, well this is Bowsite and I am a bowhunter.
I love that week of archery/inline bear hunting, and I don't think the GC will cancel it and lose all that extra revenue. Maybe cut it down to 2 or 3 days instead of a full week?
I don't have a horse in this race, there are no bears where I bow hunt. I don't think that a down season would justify a change, a few years in a row maybe.
talked to a guy last year that shot a bear with his inline at 175 yards, so guess they are pretty effective
I just requested some stats on this subject from the pgc since the start of archery bear and MZ bear started. I am researching. Let's not take anecdotal stories as evidence.
Who is doing the chit chatting about low bear numbers? Bear biologists? 2 weeks after the end of the season would be an awkward time for them to start realizing the population is down. Is it hunters that didn't see or kill a bear? Not sure I'd buy that. I've seen the same numbers I usually see, anywhere from 6-12 per year. In 2023, I saw 9. 4 of which were cubs. So in my area of the Poconos, population seems normal.
I'm with Art- let's see what the stats show first........................................and then find out what the PGC bear biologist has to say about it.
I just checked the PGC site and cannot find a press release on the bear harvest this year. THey always used to put out press releases with preliminary harvest figures for the first 3 days of the firearm season. Did they stop doing that?
They won't do nothing , more money in there pockets...
How about the deer numbers in some areas ? I see more scrappy looking bucks then I do does in some areas. And other hunters are reporting the same thing in the same general areas ...
We are talking about bears here Shawn. Before you could shoot them with bows, wasn't 3000 kinda OK? I'm pretty sure at the peak we hit over 4000. I would have expected more than 3000 this year, however. Guess I'll see what they tell me. I know if you have ever killed a bear in PA you are in rare air.
The chit chat was among sportsmen. But a fact is Gary Alt said he was not worried about the bear population as most sows and cubs would be in hibernation by the time the season rolled around. He was talking about rifle bear season in mid November. We didn't have these early seasons. If we could get reports on bear sex and age you would see way more sows and cubs are getting killed with these early seasons. How will this factor out in, in a few years? Some say the game commission wouldn't do anything as it brings in a lot of dollars. This maybe true. They created a lot of licenses in the last 8 or 10 years. But with no general license increase I guess they had to. To bad the Game Commission isn't running the Game Commission as many know, it's the politicians. Remember the, you do as I say a few months back or I'll take away your money.
I bet that guys actively hunting bear has gone up in the last 5 years and it's the only game in Pennsylvania that has shown a increase. What do you think man hours hunting bear were this years as compared to 5 years ago ?
I wonder why in the bear take report above. Bear take in the archery, muzzleloader and special seasons are not broke down separately
I'd like to see the breakdown to. And, anytime I get a buck early, all I do is hunt bears. I only seem to get a bear when I'm not looking for one tho.
I haven’t seen this years numbers broken down by weapon, yet.
The PGC sent me a link of reams of info. I will find time over the next couple weeks to look at it. Type in game mammals, go to bears and pick years you want.
https://www.pgc.pa.gov/InformationResources/MediaReportsSurveys/AnnualWildlifeManagementReports/Pages/default.aspx
There is an article in the latest issue of PA OUTDOOR NEWS. The bear biologist is interviewed and states that a low harvest does not necessarily mean a low population. She says: “The real story behind this year’s bear harvest won’t be known until January when initial population estimates and harvest statistics are given to the Board of Commissioners.”
She also states: “Whether or not the lower overall harvest leads to changes in next year’s bear season, is too early to tell.”
Low bear numbers??
I remember when population was below 10000 and thats a while Back! The habitat loss since then has increased and the population has increased. Kind of confused why just looking at a very small snapshot of area you hunt why one thinks the population is down when food sources change and bear constantly move along with the vast areas they have to roam.
Pa don't have an endless supply of bear. I bet we are killing 50% more females than 5 years ago. Females mostly are having 2 or3 cubs. Are cutting into our supply chain? Lower kill even though we have almost, if not more doubled the man hours hunting them over years passed.. If the goal is to cut human bear interaction, think things are going to go as planned. Here's another thing to think about. Why do many of states not allow hunters to kill females with cubs? Ny don't,, why,. It's the supply chain.
Do I think changes will come next year, no. But if you start seeing bear kill numbers down at 1500, yes.
New agenda is out and bear muzzleloader opportunities are proposed to be decreased to 3 days.
Somebody in Harrisburg must have been reading bowsite , eh Ed. LOL? at least that's a start.
Yes it's a start Art.
This may protect some females and cubs, by putting them in hibernation before the rifle season begins.
We will see????
When you combine archery, muzzleloader, and the special season (all which occur around the same time) it is easy to see why the regular season now sucks. The majority of the bears are already killed before the regular season starts.
