HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations recorded a preliminary harvest of 2,553 bears during the recently completed three-day season, and an additional 73 bears during the state's first, two-day archery bear harvest.

The three-day season, held Nov. 20 through 22, preliminarily ranks as the eighth-highest statewide harvest. When adding the archery take, the total preliminary harvest of 2,626 moves up to seventh place.

However, Mark Ternent, Game Commission bear biologist, noted that with the extended bear season in certain Wildlife Management Units running from Nov. 27 through Dec. 2, the total preliminary harvest is likely to approach 3,000, which would put this year's combined bear harvest in line with the previous five years' harvests.

Last year, hunters set a record harvest of 3,331 bears during the three-day season and, by the end of the extended season, had pushed the record to 4,164.

Bear kills by county for the three-day season, followed by the three-day 2005 preliminary harvests in parentheses, are:

Northwest Region: Venango, 42 (38); Clarion, 36 (30); Jefferson, 28 (62); Butler, 10 (10); Crawford, 5 (10); Erie, 2 (0); and Mercer, 2 (4)

Southwest Region: Indiana, 46 (65); Armstrong, 31 (33); Westmoreland, 22 (44)