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The black bear haul in Bedford County has topped most other counties this hunting season.
The 154 black bear harvested in Bedford County ranks Bedford eighth of all 67 Pennsylvania counties on the Game Commission's list of top bear harvest numbers in 2019.
Most of the other top counties are concentrated in the northcentral part of the state.
Bear hunting entails pushing through thick mountain laurel and brush, sometimes while yelling, to draw out a bear.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission sells approximately 170,000 bear tags each year, but roughly 3,000 – 4,000 of those tags--little more than 2 percent-- end up attached to their hunter's take, the Game Commission's website states.
One of the largest individual bears was hunted in another Central Pennsylvania county. A 658-lb bear, the sixth-largest harvested, was hunted in Huntindgon County during the extended season.
The total statewide bear harvest was 4,607, a record season facilitated by increased length. The state's previous record bear harvest was 4,350 in 2011.
And this season's kill numbers in Bedford far exceed recent years.
In 2018, 80 bear were harvested in Bedford and in 2107 there were 57.
Modifications for the 2019 season included expanding the mid-October muzzleloader and special firearms deer seasons to include bears statewide; increasing the length of the statewide archery bear season to two weeks, following the muzzleloader and special firearms bear seasons; and expanding four-day extended bear seasons to seven days in most wildlife management units where they are held.
Bear season began with archery in September and the final firearms deadline expired Dec. 14.
Official harvest numbers will be released by the Pennsylvania Game Commission in about six to eight weeks.
At one time, bear populations were precariously low in Pennsylvania, according to the Game Commission.
However, their abundance and distribution has increased substantially during recent decades, and bears now occur at record numbers throughout most of the state. In 2015, the Game Commission estimated the total bear population at 20,000.
Black bears appear heavy, but are surprisingly agile; they can run up to 35 miles per hour, climb trees and swim well. They may live up to 25 years in the wild.
Mirror Staff Writer Russ O'Reilly is at 946-7435.