PENNSYLVANIA Bear harvest one of state's highest ever

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Preliminary figures indicate the number of bears killed during this year's hunting season will total one of the largest harvests in state history, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said recently.
The 2,505 bears recorded at the commission's 26 check stations during the three-day bear hunting season rank the season the fourth-highest recorded, although the figures are subject to change.
The commission scheduled an extended season this year for Carbon, Monroe and Pike counties to cut down the number of bears in the Poconos area. Hunters took 108 bears in the first two days of the extended bear season, which ends Saturday.
"By the time the extended bear season closes on Saturday, our bear harvest surely will rank as the state's third best, which means Pennsylvania's top three bear kills have occurred in the last three years," Game Commission Executive Director Vern Ross said.
He said the harvest might have been even higher if limited availability of fall foods in some areas had not apparently induced many bears to head into hibernation before the season began. The state record was set in 2000, when hunters harvested 3,075 bears. Last year, hunters took 3,063 bears.