PA bear hunting

[birddog 68]

Hello everyone, finally going to give bear hunting a try.
Just wondering how many go bear hunting in Pa and success rate. Does everyone hunt in a group and put on drives or solo sitting in a likely location waiting.
Interested in hearing and hopefully learning something along the way.
Thanks for your replies.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Hello everyone, finally going to give bear hunting a try.
Just wondering how many go bear hunting in Pa and success rate. Does everyone hunt in a group and put on drives or solo sitting in a likely location waiting.
Interested in hearing and hopefully learning something along the way.
Thanks for your replies.

Well I lived and grew up in "BEAR CREEK" PA it is the largest Township next to one in TX.
Look at the NAME!
It is just south of Wilkes-Barre, PA and in the Poconos Mountains.
Not really any BIG Bears, but there was a lot of State Game Lands to hunt.
I used to hunt behind the Cemetry on the junction of Route 115 and the PA Turnpike. We always got a few bears every year there, but that was 40+ years ago. Would just post like for deer hunting. No Bait stations! Used a Marlin 336- 32 Win Special 170 Silver Tips.

 

[yobuck]

If you like statistics, you will find that statistically at least the odds are better for killing a black bear in PA than many other states.
But if you live there, and hunted for them most of your life, you probably wont believe the statistics.
There are far more hunters there who have never seen one during the season, than there are those who have.
Bear season there is always just days before the deer season opening. So many bear hunters are actually scouting for deer.
There are also certain parts of the state that offer much better odds than others.
As for the best method for hunting them, no doubt the large group organized drive method would be the best.
Followed by finding a location with a good vantage point and just wait for one to show up.
And if that method appeals to you, i would be choosing the north central region of the state.
Remember, bear kill statistics can be a bit misleading, because some counties are much larger than others are.
And some have higher numbers of hunters.
Also bears tend to move around in search of food, which can vary from year to year and location to location.
If you can find a Dunkin Donuts store with a dumpster parked out back, thats where id be.
Provided you dont mind crowds. lol

 

[birddog 68]

If you like statistics, you will find that statistically at least the odds are better for killing a black bear in PA than many other states.
But if you live there, and hunted for them most of your life, you probably wont believe the statistics.
There are far more hunters there who have never seen one during the season, than there are those who have.
Bear season there is always just days before the deer season opening. So many bear hunters are actually scouting for deer.
There are also certain parts of the state that offer much better odds than others.
As for the best method for hunting them, no doubt the large group organized drive method would be the best.
Followed by finding a location with a good vantage point and just wait for one to show up.
And if that method appeals to you, i would be choosing the north central region of the state.
Remember, bear kill statistics can be a bit misleading, because some counties are much larger than others are.
And some have higher numbers of hunters.
Also bears tend to move around in search of food, which can vary from year to year and location to location.
If you can find a Dunkin Donuts store with a dumpster parked out back, thats where id be.
Provided you dont mind crowds. lol

I looked at the pgc website and their statistics of harvest and decided to email the regional warden hoping to get a bit more information. Hopefully I'll hear back before the season! lol
I think you were half heartedly joking about the Dunkin' D dumpster but my buddy was trout fishing in Tioga county and they stopped by a local pizza shop and a bear popped out of the dumpster! Amazingly the elderly woman owner chased it away with a broom!

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

If you like statistics, you will find that statistically at least the odds are better for killing a black bear in PA than many other states.
But if you live there, and hunted for them most of your life, you probably wont believe the statistics.
There are far more hunters there who have never seen one during the season, than there are those who have.
Bear season there is always just days before the deer season opening. So many bear hunters are actually scouting for deer.
There are also certain parts of the state that offer much better odds than others.
As for the best method for hunting them, no doubt the large group organized drive method would be the best.
Followed by finding a location with a good vantage point and just wait for one to show up.
And if that method appeals to you, i would be choosing the north central region of the state.
Remember, bear kill statistics can be a bit misleading, because some counties are much larger than others are.
And some have higher numbers of hunters.
Also bears tend to move around in search of food, which can vary from year to year and location to location.
If you can find a Dunkin Donuts store with a dumpster parked out back, thats where id be.
Provided you dont mind crowds. lol

Game wardens had to remove a small bear from the Gettysburg square just the other week. My family makes a joke about this. Because my cousin & his wife spent a few dollars to go to Alaska just to see some bears. Unfortunately they did not see one bear, while there. And here we had one in Gettysburg. And there was another in DC, in a tree. lol Guaranteed they were dumpster divers. I have them out back my home. They like knocking the deer feeders over. My buddy up the road has one on a trail cam carrying a fawn in its mouth.

 

[yobuck]

Well as an example of that, its been many years ago now, maybe 25 or more that a large number of bears were showing up at a landfill in the northern part of Clinton county.
People were going there in cars just to watch the bears.
You can only guess how many hunters had made plans to be there on opening morning.
But to their credit, the game commission had other plans, and that whole area was off limits.
When you kill a bear in PA, you must take it to a check station.
They of coarse weight it and remove a tooth.
But they also take you aside and have you pin point the area you shot it on a map.
Should that area be consistently producing high numbers of bear kills, rest assured it will be surveilled.
Thats one of the major reasons that they discontinued awarding the triple trophy award. That being a turkey, a bear, and a buck deer in the same license year.
It simply invited too much hanky panky.

 

[FrogFire7]

Two years ago I got the itch so I started hunting with a buddy and his dads crew. There were 5 of us the first time. We hunted one morning on the farm and didn't see anything.

Last year I went up on game lands by myself on opening morning, hunted for about 45 minutes and shot a bear.

So, about 50% success rate in my experience

(The bear I shot was a first year cub, which I knew when the two came through together, but my theory worked out. Get around large groups of people who are intentionally pushing bears around).

A GOOD group of guys would be the most effective way to hunt. Finding a good group that you want to hunt with might be a little more difficult.

Edit: I hope my to gue in cheek was evident. I completely lucked into that bear- many people hunt their whole life and don't shoot a bear.

 

[birddog 68]

Get around large groups of people who are intentionally pushing bears around).

I think this will be our game plan.

GOOD group of guys would be the most effective way to hunt. Finding a good group that you want to hunt with might be a little more difficult.

2 of us going. Very difficult to find hunters willing to put on more than one push but many that'll post for all of them.

 

[FrogFire7]

I think this will be our game plan.

2 of us going. Very difficult to find hunters willing to put on more than one push but many that'll post for all of them.

It worked for me. One of the big groups had already shot the mama bear, but could have just as easily been a bigger one that came through.

Kind of funny you say that about the pushers. I use to work with a guy who went to a bear camp every year. They really knew the land and had been doing it for so many years, he said most of those guys wanted to push since nobody really wanted to be the one to shoot a bear

 

[yobuck]

Two years ago I got the itch so I started hunting with a buddy and his dads crew. There were 5 of us the first time. We hunted one morning on the farm and didn't see anything.

Last year I went up on game lands by myself on opening morning, hunted for about 45 minutes and shot a bear.

So, about 50% success rate in my experience

(The bear I shot was a first year cub, which I knew when the two came through together, but my theory worked out. Get around large groups of people who are intentionally pushing bears around).

A GOOD group of guys would be the most effective way to hunt. Finding a good group that you want to hunt with might be a little more difficult.

Edit: I hope my to gue in cheek was evident. I completely lucked into that bear- many people hunt their whole life and don't shoot a bear.

Well i dont believe you emphasized the word (good) without reasons. lol
And having been involved with lots of bear and deer drives, im well aware of the reasons.
Frankly the (reasons) is what made me decide to do a 180 and become a full time long range hunter. And that was in 1968.
None the less, with a large enough (good) crew it can be a productive way to hunt, especially for bears.

 

[FrogFire7]

Well i dont believe you emphasized the word (good) without reasons. lol
And having been involved with lots of bear and deer drives, im well aware of the reasons.
Frankly the (reasons) is what made me decide to do a 180 and become a full time long range hunter. And that was in 1968.
None the less, with a large enough (good) crew it can be a productive way to hunt, especially for bears.

You are correct, sir!

 

[birddog 68]

I just checked my email and the local warden of the county I inquired about bear hunting emailed me back. Only 2 days to get back to me is quite good. I have had a few experience's with the guys in green and only a couple have left me with a positive view of them. I will leave it at that. lol
I only asked for information on a few game lands in the county and he not only narrowed it down to 2 but he actually gave directions to get to certain areas that have desired food and cover! I'm very impressed with this.
Now it's narrowed down and just got to put boots on the ground to scout.

 

[CMP70306]

Thats one of the major reasons that they discontinued awarding the triple trophy award. That being a turkey, a bear, and a buck deer in the same license year.
It simply invited too much hanky panky.

In 2019 I almost got the triple trophy in less than 24 hours but decided to shoot a crow at 300 yards in the field the Friday before the Saturday opener instead of going out and looking for a turkey. Had I known I would get a buck and my first bear by 10am the next morning I'd have spent the rest of the day looking for that turkey. I did see one opening morning but it wasn't in season anymore.

My tip would be shoot a crow and carry the feather with you, on the bottom picture you can see I stuck that crow feather in my suppressor cover along the bottom of the barrel. That Saturday I saw and shot my first ever bear, I kept it there when I went out on Monday and walking in I played leap frog with two more bears in the dark. I took it out of the cover, haven't seen a bear since and it now sits in the empty 6.5 PRC case next to the skull in my trophy room.

 

[yobuck]

I was of the opinion they had discontinued the triple trophy award prior to 2019. You may recall that the Game Commission would issue a diploma type document for those who qualified. But unfortunately not everyone claiming it did.
As for your bear, very nice, im guessing the weight to be in the 225 to 250 range?
Ive only gotten one bear in all my years hunting them.
I had several other opportunities, but muffed both of them.
My bear was taken 18 years ago, it weighed 236 pounds gutted. I had a full mount made of it which turned out very nice. It is on display in our camp along with a Grizzly taken in the Yukon by my father in 1952.