HARRISBURG – WHTM is reporting… For the most part, bear hunters in Pennsylvania had a pretty successful harvesting year in 2023. There were a total of 206,124 bear hunters in Pennsylvania, which marks it as the fourth highest ever, the state’s Game Commission said in a news release.
That is almost double the number of hunters that 2003 saw, which was less than 130,000. Those hunters managed to harvest 2,920 bears, although that is down from last year’s number, the Game Commission says that’s not surprising since 2022 had an extended bear season for five different Wildlife Management Units.
The largest harvested was a 691-pounder taken in the extended rifle season in Porter Township, Pike County, by Mitchell Jonathan, of Quakertown. But five other hunters got bears exceeding 600 pounds, and all of the top 10-heaviest bears weighed at least 576 pounds. Here are regional numbers with last year’s numbers in parentheses:
Centre, 71 (122)
Clinton, 108 (113)
Columbia, 27 (46)
Juniata, 19 (26)
Lycoming, 170 (152)
Mifflin, 28 (34)
Montour, 2 (4)
Northumberland, 10 (10)
Perry, 14 (29)
Schuylkill, 65 (65)
Snyder, 2 (15)
Sullivan, 75 (84)
Union, 17 (32).
