The Pennsylvania Game Commission predicts a great upcoming bear hunting season. It’s basing this on last year’s take of 2,642 bears with the traditional season contributing 823 while the archery season added 756, the extended season 425, and the muzzleloader and special firearms season contributing 634. Hunters got another four bears in the early archery season in select WMUs.

As in past years, the overall bear harvest was spread across the state as 56 counties gave up at least one bear as did 21 of 22 WMUs.

“The sustainability of bears and bear hunting in Pennsylvania is tied to the early breeding success and large litter sizes,” said PGC bear biologist Brandon Snavely. He adds that even with 13 million people in the state, we still have great bear habitat.

Pennsylvania’s archery bear season in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D runs from Sept 20-Nov. 28, in 5B from Oct. 18-25 and in 18 of the remaining WMUs.

Upcoming is the statewide regular firearms bear season the runs Nov. 22-25 while the extended bear season goes from Nov. 29-Dec. 6 in WMUs 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4C and 5A and from Nov. 29-Dec. 13 in WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D. Included are Sundays from Sept. 14-Dec. 7 that fall within the established opening and closing dates of any bear season. According to the PGC, that’s every Sunday from Sept. 21-Nov. 23 and in the archery bear season and WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D; every Sunday from Oct. 5-Nov. 16 in the archery bear season in WMU 5B; Oct. 19 in the statewide archery season; Nov. 23 in the statewide regular firearms season; Nov. 30 in the extended season in WMUs 3A, 3C, 3D, 4C and 5A; and Nov. 30-Dec. 7 in the extended season in WMUs 3A, 3B, 3C, 4C, 4E and 5A and Nov. 30-Dec. 7 and in the extended season in WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C, and 5D.

Interestingly, Pennsylvania bear hunters face long odds in taking a bear. Fewer than two percent of bear hunters harvest a bear in any given year. In addition, the average bear harvested in Pennsylvania is about three years old. Males that age typically weigh about 200 pounds, while females generally go 160. But bears, especially males, can get larger.

Last season, Scott Price of Madison Township, Lackawanna County, took a Monroe County bear that weighed 774 pounds. That was the largest in 2024. The next nine heaviest bears included two others exceeding 700 pounds, six exceeding 600 and one that hit 597.

As to what WMUs consistently produce more bears than others they include 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3D, 4C, and 4E. WMUs 2D, 3C, and 4A, made the list three times in that span.

Among the top counties it was Tioga (163 bears), Clinton (157), Lycoming (148), Bradford (133), Potter (109), Luzerne (95), Monroe (93), Pike (85), McKean (78), Sullivan (75) all rounded out the top 10.

Final local county harvests in the Southeast, with the 2023 harvest in parentheses, are as follows: Schuylkill, 167 (159); Dauphin, 45 (42); Northampton, 28 (21); Berks, 18 (16); Lebanon, 9 (10); and Lehigh, 3 (5).

The final bear harvest locally in 5C were 17 (15); and 5D, 0 (0).

The PGC says to increase hunting success hunters should try to hunt areas with good acorn, beechnut and the like crops, as these are bears’ rich fall food preferences.