Hunters should be scouting for food sources and thick cover for signs of black bears in preparation of the upcoming black bear seasons.
There are more than 19,000 black bears in Pennsylvania and hunters have been finding them in most parts of the Commonwealth.
According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, hunters harvested 2,642 bears in 2024 from 56 of the state’s 67 counties. The largest bear was harvested by Scott Price of Lackawanna County who found a 774-pound bear while hunting in Monroe County.
Hunters in the statewide firearms season harvested 823 bears, archery season hunters reported taking 756 bears, the extended season netted 425 bruins, and the muzzleloader and special firearms season contributed 634 combined. Hunters got another four bears in the early archery season in select Wildlife Management Units (WMUs).
The agency reports 201,280 hunters bought bear licenses for the 2024 seasons. It was the sixth-straight year bear license sales topped 200,000.
A black bear walks on a log in Middlecreek Township, Somerset County in this file photo. Bears are looking for heavy food sources in the fall before they hibernate.
Pennsylvania black bear seasons for 2025
The statewide archery black bear season is Oct. 18-25, which is one week shorter than last year’s season.
Archery season overlaps the statewide muzzleloader bear season and statewide special firearms bear season, both of which run from Oct. 23-25. The special firearms season is for junior and senior hunters, mentored permit holders, active-duty military personnel and those with a permit to use a vehicle as a blind.
For archery hunters near two major cities, those wildlife management units (WMUs) have already been open.
The archery bear season in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D — the units closest to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia — runs from Sept. 20-Nov. 28. It goes from Oct. 4-Nov. 21 in WMU 5B, and from Oct. 18-25 in the rest of the state — WMUs 1A, 1B, 2A, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 5A.
The statewide regular firearms bear season runs Nov. 22-25, while the extended bear season goes from Nov. 29-Dec. 6 in WMUs 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4C, 4E and 5A and from Nov. 29-Dec. 13 in WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D.
New for 2025, Sundays from Sept. 14-Dec. 7 that fall within the established opening and closing dates of any bear season are open to bear hunting.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission explains that’s every Sunday from Sept. 21-Nov. 23 in the archery bear season in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D; every Sunday from Oct. 5-Nov. 16 in the archery season in WMU 5B; Oct. 19 in the statewide archery season; Nov. 23 in the statewide regular firearms season; Nov. 30 in the extended season in WMUs 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4C, 4E and 5A; and Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 in the extended season in WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D.
In previous years, only three Sundays were open to hunting each fall including during the rifle bear season.
More: Pa. black bear hunting seasons may get refined
Bear check stations
Hunters who harvest bears must have them checked by the Game Commission within 24 hours.
Check stations are open on select dates within the October bear seasons, the regular firearms bear season and the extended season. A list of check station locations and their dates and hours of operation is available in the 2024-25 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest; see pages 40-42.
Hunters who need to check a bear on any date when check stations aren’t open, should contact the agency’s Dispatch Center at 1-833-PGC-HUNT or 1-833-PGC-WILD.
Licenses and orange requirements
People who want to hunt bears in Pennsylvania need a general hunting license or mentored hunting permit. Bear hunters ages 7 and older also need a bear license. Bear licenses cost $16.97 for residents and $36.97 for nonresidents.
Mentored hunters younger than 7 must receive a valid bear harvest tag from their adult mentor.
Licenses and permits can be purchased online at https://huntfish.pa.gov or from issuing agents located in every county. A map showing issuing agent locations is available on HuntFishPA under the “Hunting” tab.
Because bear licenses sold online need to be mailed to hunters, it may make sense this close to the start of hunting season to purchase your license in person at a sports shop or county treasurer to ensure you have your tag in time to hunt.
Game Commission regulations require bear hunters to wear a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on the head, chest and back combined at all times during the four-day general firearms season, or when participating in the muzzleloader, special firearms or extended bear seasons. The orange must be visible from 360 degrees. No fluorescent orange is required when hunting in the archery bear season.
“The sustainability of bears and bear hunting in Pennsylvania is tied to the early breeding success and large litter sizes of bears in this state,” Game Commission bear biologist Brandon Snavely said in news release. “Plus, even with 13 million people living in the state, we’ve still got lots of great bear habitat. Bears make great use of it, too.
“So, with a healthy bear population, spread out from our wildest places to the suburbs, and a wide array of bear seasons coming up, I would expect another good season this fall.”Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at [email protected] and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website’s homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Three black bear seasons to begin in Pennsylvania next week
