Giant bruins among those harvested in Pa. last year

Harrisburg —Pennsylvania has its share of giant bears. The Game Commission’s recently released 2024 bear harvest totals prove that yet again.

Consider the Venango County bear Heath Bromley, of Titusville, got with a crossbow in October. It weighed in at 597 pounds – a tremendous bear any hunter would be happy to take.

And yet, it was just the 10th heaviest harvested by a Pennsylvania hunter in the 2024 seasons. The harvest’s nine bigger bears all topped 600 pounds, with three of them exceeding 700 pounds.

Scott Price, of Madison Township, Lackawanna County, got the largest of them all in Monroe County during the statewide regular bear season in November. It weighed 774 pounds.

Impressive as those animals are, the fact hunters run into them isn’t unusual. Pennsylvania hunters harvest big bears every year.

“Pennsylvania is home to lots and lots of great bear-friendly habitat, areas with abundant and varied food sources and thick cover,” said Brandon Snavely, the Game Commission’s black bear biologist. “That allows us not only to support lots of bears, but plenty of very, very big ones, too.”

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In all, hunters harvested 2,642 bears during the 2024 seasons, placing the 2024 harvest in the top 25 on record.

As in past years, the overall bear harvest was spread across the state. Fifty-six of 67 counties gave up at least one bear, as did 21 of 22 wildlife management units. Hunters got bears in all seasons, too.

The traditional statewide firearms bear season contributed the most to the harvest, with 823 animals. The archery season added 756, the extended season 425, the muzzleloader and special firearms season 634 and there were four harvests in the early archery season.

Between Bromley’s bear and Price’s bear, the others in the top 10 by weight are: a 714-pounder taken in rifle season in Perry Township, Clarion County, by Matthew Conto of Slippery Rock; a 700-pounder taken in archery season in Harrison Township, Potter County, by Henry Mast, of Harrison Valley; a 689-pounder taken in rifle season in Chapman Township, Clinton County, by Michael Gerg, of Kersey;  a 681-pounder taken in archery season in Sharon Township, Potter County, by Tyler Birdsall, of Milton; a 681-pounder taken in rifle season in White Haven Borough, Luzerne County, by Stanley Boc, of Huntingdon Valley; a 678-pounder taken in the muzzleloader season in Lightfield Township, Bradford County, by Scott Tiffany, of Athens; a 673-pounder taken in archery season in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, by Jeffrey Prinkey, of Connellsville; and a 615-pounder taken in archery season in Jefferson Township, Dauphin County, by Dennis Morgan, of Halifax.

Among counties, Tioga produced the most, giving up 163 bears last season. It was followed by Clinton with 157, Lycoming with 148, and Bradford with 133.