The PA Game Commission came out with its final report on the 2018 black bear harvest and it came up short of the harvest goal it had set at 4,000 bears.

It had hoped that in 2018, Pennsylvania hunters would have eclipsed the 4,000-bear mark for the third time in PA history, but fell short with a total harvest of 3,153 bears, 11th best all-time, but also the lowest bear harvest in the past 11 years.

The primary culprit in the numbers of bear harvested was the weather conditions on many of the historically best hunting days, with incredible rain, wind and generally bad hunting conditions. Opening day harvests are typically responsible for 50 to 60 percent of the bear harvest during the bear season and when the weather interferes with the opener of the season, the total take suffers.

The bear numbers are out there, according to PA Game Commission, with an estimated population of 20,000 bears.

“I thought Pennsylvania was capable of producing a 4,000 -bear harvest the past two years “explained Mark Ternent, Game Commission bear biologist. “With better hunting conditions, I do believe hunters would have taken another 1,000 bears in each of the past two seasons.”

A rainy bear firearms opener hamstrung the 2017 harvest by hundreds of bears. The same thing happened in the 2018 extended bear season opener, which also is the opening day of firearms deer season.

A season by season breakdown shows hunters took 2,017 bears in the general firearms season, 699 in the extended season, 424 in the archery season, and 12 in the early season. Even though the total numbers were down, the size of the bears was quite impressive with 70 bears weighing 500 pounds or more, including 20 weighing 600 pounds or more in the 2018 harvest.

The largest bear harvested in 2018 weighed an estimated 780 pounds! It was harvested in Forest County on the second day of the season by Michael J. Rubeo of Mercer.

Tioga County finished with 166 bears to take the top county bear harvest. It was followed by Lycoming County with 159. In the Northwest Region, the total harvest actually increased in 2018. Venango County led the way with 96 bears, Crawford County 79 bears, Jefferson County 79 bears, Warren County 72 bears, Forest County 70 bears, Clarion County 52 bears, Erie County 29 bears, Butler County 26 bears (up from 13 in 2017), Mercer County 13 bears and Lawrence County with one bear. Other local counties including Armstrong, 33; Allegheny, 2; and Beaver, 1.

The good news about the light harvest in 2017 and 2018 is that it could lead to excellent bear hunting this fall as the statewide bear population is holding strong. Pennsylvania has the reputation of having healthy and well populated bear numbers.

Multiple cubs are born to sow black bears in PA regularly, which is an indicator of both food and habitat being well suited for our bears. The bear population has spread across the entire state and it is not unusual for bear sightings even near cities and towns being reported more regularly. Bears were harvested in 60 out of 67 counties and 22 out of 23 of Pennsylvania's Wildlife Management Units.

Changes being proposed by the PGC include a bear season that starts with archery on Oct. 29 through Nov. 9 statewide. That is followed up with a special muzzleloader season that coincides with the early deer muzzleloader season from Oct. 19 through the 26th statewide, and then the regular rifle season that will run from Nov. 23-27. A special firearms season for senior and junior license holders will be held Oct. 24-26.

You will note that this will coincide with the same three days that senior hunters can carry a regular rifle in the early antlerless season. This will all be determined at the April PGC Commissioners quarterly meeting.

Times could not be any better for hunters who wish to harvest one of the premier big game animals in Pennsylvania. Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans had this to say. “Just 40 years ago, the agency had closed bear season to protect the resource, Pennsylvania has become one of North America's premier black bear destinations.

“You probably would have to go back in time more than 100 years to find bear hunting comparable to what Penn's Woods offers today!”

So, keep your eye on the news to see the results of the April PGC Commissioners meeting and what opportunities will present themselves to Pennsylvania black bear hunters.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle