Pennsylvania Game News - November 2019 - 10

range expansion is no longer occurring
throughout most of Pennsylvania.
"Huntable bear populations now occur
just about everywhere in the state," Ternent noted.
Still, it's important for bear hunters to
get a feel for how much land a bear uses.
Females maintain annual home-ranges of
6 to 8 square miles, while males use 10 to
20 square miles. And although seasonal
home-ranges can be smaller, it's still a lot
of space to cover. That's why hunting near
fresh bear sign is so important to hunters.
Every bear hunter's goal is to find a
bear and get close enough to take it. Fresh
sign can get you in the ballpark, providing
that insider edge that might be the difference between an exciting day afield and
a slow one.
So look for good habitat with abundant
fall foods. Then, look closer for bear sign.
And remember, bears are willing to push
beyond the limits of their established
home ranges if fall mast is in short supply.

BIG BEARS
In the 2018 seasons, an amazing 70
bears weighing 500 or more pounds were
harvested. Of those 70 heavyweights,
20 weighed 600 or more pounds. These
heavy bears set a record for the percentage
of 500-pound or larger bears in the annual
harvest - 2.2 percent - and tied a record
for the percentage of 600-pound or larger
bears in the annual harvest - 0.6 percent.
Both previous records were set in the
2011 season when a record 4,350 bears
were harvested.
"The number of bears in these upper
weight classes has been relatively constant
over the past decade, which suggests the
bear population's age structure and health
are stable," Ternent noted.
For the second consecutive year, 27
bears, including five taken with archery
10

tackle, were added to Pennsylvania's Big
Game Records book in 2019, according
to Bob D'Angelo, who coordinates the
state's program.
All but 10 of those bears also qualified
for entry into Boone & Crockett Club
records.
A bear qualifies for the state book if the
combined length and width of its skull is
at least 19 inches if taken with a firearm
or 17 inches if taken with archery tackle.
Boone & Crockett Club has a 20-inch
minimum entry requirement.
The largest new-bear entry in Pennsylvania's records book was taken in Clinton
County by Scott Yorty, of Bloomsburg,
during the 2018 statewide firearms
season. Its skull measured 22-7/16 inches
to tie in the No. 20 spot in the firearms
category.
Five archery bears were added to the
2019 records, following four new entries
last year. There now are 41 entries in the
bear archery category. The largest archery
bear added in 2019 was a Tioga County
bear with a skull scoring 20-4/16 inches
taken by Doug Garber, of Elizabethtown.
Pennsylvania's No. 1 bear - also a
world record - remains the 2011 Monroe
County bear taken by Robert Christian,
of East Stroudsburg. Its skull measured
at 23-9/16 inches.
D'Angelo described the number of
large black bears coming out of Pennsylvania's bear seasons as remarkable.
"Over the past four years, 112 black
bears were added to the state's already
extensive bear records," D'Angelo said.
"It's an extraordinary run. In my 12 years
as a Boone & Crockett Club scorer, more
than half of the big game I've measured
and entered has been Pennsylvania bears.
Their continuing occurrence in the Keystone State's annual bear harvest clearly
illustrates the unparalleled trophy bear-
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2019

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