MOUNT JEWETT – There were 101 bear checked at the Mount Jewett
firehall on the opening day of the season Monday.

Of the 101 bruins, 79 were from McKean County, seven from Potter
County, nine from Elk County, five from Cameron County and one from
Warren County. Fifty-three of the bear were male, while 48 were
female.

The largest bear dressed out weighed 493 pounds (live weight 584
pounds), according to John Dzemyan, Conservation Officer and Land
Manager for McKean and Elk counties.

In addition, there were three bear weighing over 300 pounds.

“Hunters did well,” Dzemyan said. “The ones that hit the
thickets and brushiest areas were the ones that did the best along
with hunters who found beechnuts or apples.”

Dzemyan also pointed out, “Hunters were successful where farmers
haven’t harvested all their corn.”

Last year, there were approximately 106 bear checked on opening
day at the Mount Jewett station.

The season continues today and Wednesday. The bear check station
will be open noon-8 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday.

“If the weather holds and hunters stick it out, it should be
another good year,” Dzemyan admitted.

Hunters went into the season expecting to find a sizeable black
bear population, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission
officials.

On the heels of Pennsylvania’s record-setting black bear harvest
of 4,164 in 2005, Mark Ternent, Game Commission bear biologist,
said he believes hunters will harvest 2,500 to 3,000 bears during
the upcoming hunting seasons.

The state’s six largest black bear harvests – all exceeding
2,600 bears – have occurred over the past six years. Prior to 1983,
the state’s annual bear harvests never exceeded 1,000.