Black bear season in Pennsylvania opens for muzzleloaders and special firearms on Thursday with the regular firearms season beginning statewide on Nov. 23. Last year’s harvest was 2,920 across the state.
Pa. Game Commission
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Delaware Highlands Conservancy Eagle Watch volunteers help visitors have a great eagle-watching experience at Observation Areas located throughout the region.
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No other Pennsylvania hunting season offers such a potentially big payoff as this one.
Last year, hunters harvested 2,920 black bears across Pennsylvania, getting at least one in 58 of the state’s 67 counties and 20 of its 22 Wildlife Management Units (WMUs).
They took seven in the early season, 695 in archery season, 541 in the muzzle-loader and special firearms seasons, 1,086 in the regular firearms season, and 591 in the extended seasons.
Some were massive, too.
The average female bear checked in by hunters weighed 152 pounds; the average male went 198. But bigger bears — much bigger — showed up in the harvest.
Last year’s largest was a 691-pounder taken in Pike County by Mitchell Jonathan, of Quakertown. But five other hunters got bears exceeding 600 pounds, and each of the top 10 heaviest bears weighed at least 576 pounds.
That’s hardly surprising. Pennsylvania generally produces bears weighing more than 600 pounds every year, and often at least one or two topping 700.
Pennsylvania’s even seen seven bears exceeding 800 pounds harvested since 1992 — the largest of them an 875-pounder taken in 2010 in Pike County.
“Those are some of the biggest bears you’ll find anywhere in North America,” said Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith. “But that’s just part of what makes Pennsylvania bear hunting so exciting. “We’ve got lots of bears in lots of places, and a slate of seasons offering all sorts of opportunity throughout the fall, too.”
That doesn’t mean Pennsylvania’s bears are in trouble, though. Melanie Weaver, the Game Commission’s Game Mammals Section Supervisor, estimated the population right now at somewhere around 18,000. That’s up over recent years and close again to a record high.
Still, the odds of any one particular hunter getting a black bear are admittedly long. More than 200,000 people chase Pennsylvania bears each year — no other species except deer puts more hunters in the woods — but fewer than 3% fill their tag.
Hunters who want to join that select group are wise to focus on two things — food and cover. Weaver said that in autumn, bears consume as many calories as possible before denning for the winter, preferably close to thick, gnarly hiding places.
“The best thing that you can do is put yourself in an area that a bear is likely to visit when you are planning your hunt,” Weaver said. “Since gaining weight is important in the fall, look for food sources. But think, too, about places where they might rest, like swamps, mountain laurel, hemlock stands, regenerating clearcuts, riparian thickets and areas with downed trees.”
Hunters should also go into the woods with a plan for how to get a bear out if they harvest one. Even smaller bears can be difficult for one person to handle.
But that’s a good problem to have.
“Regardless of size, any bear harvested in Pennsylvania is something to be excited about,” Smith said.
License and orange requirements
Hunters who want to pursue bears in Pennsylvania need a general hunting license or mentored hunting permit, as well as a bear license.
Hunting licenses can be purchased online at huntfish.pa.gov or from issuing agents located in every county.
Bear hunters must wear a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on the head, chest and back combined at all times during the four-day general firearms season, or when participating in the muzzle-loader or special firearms bear seasons.
The orange must be visible from 360 degrees.
Game Commission seeks help from rabbit hunters
Calling all cottontail rabbit and snowshoe hare hunters — the Game Commission needs your help, not on one front, but two.
The agency has questions about Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 (RHDV2), and about snowshoe hare distribution and coloration. By providing answers this fall and winter, hunters can help shape rabbit and hare management in the future.
It’s easy to get involved, too.
Report mortality events
RHDV2 is a highly contagious virus posing a serious threat to the state’s rabbits and hares because it can cause mass die-offs — 75-100% of local populations — when and where it becomes established. There is no specific treatment for RHDV2 and it can remain on the landscape for months.
Early detection of RHDV2’s possible presence, and the immediate removal of suspect carcasses, is the best way stop its spread.
The Game Commission is asking hunters – and anyone else, really – who finds two or more dead hares or rabbits at the same location with an unknown cause of death to report that by calling 1-833-PGC-WILD or by using the Game Commission’s online Wildlife Health Survey reporting tool at pgcapps.pa.gov/WHS.
Domestic hare and rabbit owners with questions about this disease should contact their veterinarians, who can in turn report suspect animals to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Health at — 717-772-2852, option 1. Calls can be made anytime 24/7.
RHDV2 poses no human health risk. Multiple sick or dead hares in one place also can be an indication of tularemia or plague, though, and those diseases can cause serious illness in humans. So the public should not handle or consume wildlife that appears sick or has died from an unknown cause. Keep pets away from such specimens, too.
The virus has only been detected in Pennsylvania once before, in a domestic facility in Uniontown, Fayette County. It has never been found in wild populations.
Become a snowshoe hare cooperator
The Game Commission is trying to better determine just where snowshoe hares exist on the Pennsylvania landscape and if they’re still turning all white in winter, as they’ve traditionally done to better blend in with snow and thereby escape predators.
The vehicle for getting answers is the agency’s snowshoe hare cooperator program. Entering its third year, it works like this: hunters sign up to participate by emailing their CID number or name, mailing address and phone number to hares@pa.gov. They’re provided a pocket card, among other things, on which they’re asked to record the dates they hunt hares, the county or Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) they hunt in, the number of hours hunted, and the number of hares flushed and number harvested.
Additionally, they’re asked whether those hares were all white and, if not, what they looked like. That’s because Pennsylvania is one of the few states where brown hares have been reported in winter and the only state where unique winter pelt patterns, such as brown eye rings and brown ears, have been detected.
The cooperator program has already revealed some interesting data, such as hunters are flushing and harvesting hares in more places than had been detected using other methods. But the more hunters who participate in the program, the better, more complete, the information collected will be.
DCNR accepting nominations for 2025 River of the Year through Nov. 11
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn this week announced that Pennsylvanians are being asked to nominate their favorite waterway for the 2025 River of the Year (ROY).
“Each year, the River of the Year competition highlights one of Pennsylvania’s special waterways, and I’m excited to announce that we are again partnering with the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers to accept nominations for the 2025 competition,” said Secretary Dunn. “Our beautiful rivers and streams support Pennsylvania’s $17 billion-dollar outdoor recreation industry, provide habitat for wildlife, and anchor communities. I look forward to this year’s competition and can’t wait to see what the public selects as the 2025 Pennsylvania River of the Year.”
The nomination period is open through Monday, Nov. 11, at 5 p.m. Selected nominations will be voted on by the public beginning in late November.
For more information about the River of the Year program, visit the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers’ (POWR) website. To nominate a river or waterway, visit the Grants and Awards webpage and scroll down to “Apply.”
All Pennsylvania waterways are eligible for nomination, except for the past five years ROY winners below:
2024 – Allegheny River
2023 – Susquehanna North Branch
2022 – French Creek
2021 – Shenango River
2020 – Lackawanna River
POWR administers the River of the Year program with funding from DCNR. Pennsylvania’s River of the Year is an honor designed to elevate public awareness of specific rivers and recognize important conservation needs and achievements. River of the Year designations have been presented annually since 1983.
Eagle watch volunteer training with Delaware Highlands Conservancy
Join the Delaware Highlands Conservancy for winter Eagle Watch volunteer training on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center in Milanville, PA.
Following the in-person training session, volunteers will receive manuals and other materials for the winter season. Following the gathering, volunteers are invited to go on a self-guided tour to the Eagle Observation Areas located throughout the region.
The Conservancy’s winter Eagle Watch program runs through January and February, weekends only. Volunteers cover morning or afternoon shifts at the Eagle Observation Areas located throughout the Upper Delaware River region.
Main monitoring areas are Mongaup Reservoir and the Delaware River at Minisink Falls and the Zane Grey boat launch at Lackawaxen.
On site, volunteers collect data on wintering eagles and resident pairs. They educate the public in “Eagle Etiquette” and on how to have the best eagle-watching experience. Volunteers are also needed to help staff booths, do workshops, and participate in other eagle-related events.
Those interested in attending are asked to register online at DelawareHighlands.org/events or call 570-226-3164, ext. 2.