BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A 605-pound black bear harvested in Upper Mount Bethel Township has ranked one of the largest in the state to be bagged during its most recent season.
Killed Nov. 18, the bear was the “sixth heaviest bear in Pennsylvania for 2023, harvested on private property,” said Kate Hasapes, wildlife management supervisor for the state Game Commission’s southeast region. “He was very fat and appeared healthy.”
Almost 3,000 black bears were harvested during the commonwealth’s 2023 season, an overall decrease from previous years. However, in the Lehigh Valley, numbers are trending up. While officials say bears are plentiful across the commonwealth, hunting them can be tricky, with somewhere between 1.5% and 2.5% of bear license-holders successful in any given year.
State Game Commission officials did not release the name of the hunter who bagged the bear in Northampton County, but said he was from the Trevorton area of Zerbe Township, Northumberland County. The bear was shot with a rifle.
LehighValleyNews has reached out to the hunter through the commission for comment.
While the bear is large, it doesn’t break local records, officials said.
“For the two counties, the heaviest legally harvested male I can find a record for was 685 lbs. in Lehigh County in 1997,” Hasapes said. “Also notable was a 660 lbs. bear hit on the highway in 2007 and a 620-pound bear illegally harvested in 2013 in Northampton County."
During the 2023 season, five bears were bagged in Lehigh County, with 21 harvested from Northampton County, up from two and 12, respectively, the year prior, preliminary state data shows.
Out of those two counties for this hunting season, the closest weights of adult males compared to the "big bear" were estimated at 225, 223, 194, 185 and 170. The heaviest female was estimated at 219 lbs.Kate Hasapes, wildlife management supervisor for the state Game Commission’s southeast region
“Out of those two counties for this hunting season, the closest weights of adult males compared to the ‘big bear’ were estimated at 225, 223, 194, 185 and 170,” Hasapes said. “The heaviest female was estimated at 219 lbs.”
The largest bear bagged during the 2023 season was 691 pounds, harvested in Pike County, according to state data. Tioga County, with 176 bears, was identified as the state’s top harvest county.
‘Powerfully built animals’
There are an estimated 15,000 black bears roaming the woods across the commonwealth, but “it’s true the odds of tagging a bear can seem long,” state Game Commission officials said in an October news release.
“Bears are powerfully built animals,” according to the commission’s website. “Adults are 50 to 85 inches in length, including a 3- to 5-inch tail. They stand about 30 inches at the shoulder and weights range from 140 to 400 pounds, with rare individuals weighing more than 800 pounds.
“Males, sometimes called boars, tend to be considerably larger and heavier than females, or sows.”
While they generally walk in a “shuffling, flat-footed manner,” black bears can reach 30 mph sprinting short distances.
It can take decades for a hunter to successfully bag a black bear.
For example, nine hunters born in the 1930s harvested a black bear in 2022, officials said. One of them was a 96-year-old, who took his first bear after 82 years of hunting unsuccessfully.
“Most hunters, 43%, only ever harvested one bear,” said Emily Carrollo, a black bear biologist with the commission, citing a survey of bear hunters about their experiences and habits. “But 11% harvested five or more bears in their lifetime, and 1.5% harvested more than 10 bears in their lifetime.
“And the average number of bears harvested per hunter in a lifetime was 1.5.”
Pennsylvania’s bear season is broken down into different methods, including archery, muzzleloader and special firearms. The limit is one bear per hunter per year.
For more information, go to the state Game Commission’s Bear Harvest website.
