View Full Version : ANy bears in PA???
Green Bean
10-26-2005, 20:27
Just seein if anyone has had any spottings of bear in Pennsylvania this year.
~Live well ~ laugh often ~ love much~ {Grean Bean}
There's black bears, sugar bears, honey bears, and the most insidious.... Smokey Bears.
BlackCloud
10-27-2005, 09:17
There's black bears, sugar bears, honey bears, and the most insidious.... Smokey Bears.
Have only hiked 1/2 of PA, but have never seen a bear, bear den, bear cub, bear ****, nothing!
but having gone to college in PA, I can attest to the gross # of Bears on the roads giving us red-blooded Americans tickets.:datz
There was the bear attack in the late spring/early summer......not on the AT.......but near by......
BlackCloud
10-27-2005, 13:05
There was the bear attack in the late spring/early summer......not on the AT.......but near by......How could I forget that viscious [sic] display of barbarity by the untamed beast on those innocent hikers, all caught on film for our viewing horror!:eek:
no, that was in NJ....the bear incident in PA wasnt on film
They take about 80 a year in Schukyll County in areas very close to the trail. So yes, I think there are bears in PA. I've never seen one though. FWIW I am not in favor of hunting anything you're not eating and in my experience, black bear ain't exactly good eating.
fiddlehead
10-27-2005, 15:11
Talking about Sch county, my buddy just had one come and kill all of his chickens last week in his backyard. (about 8 miles from the trail though)
Sure, there are lots of bears in PA. Why not?
tlbj6142
10-27-2005, 15:30
I have seen more bears in PA than other state besides TN. But I was in western PA, not along the AT.
mbroadhe
10-30-2005, 14:24
Ran into one near Wind Gap two years ago. They're out there.
Private Pyle
10-30-2005, 20:14
I've not seen any bears, or deer now that I think about it. I came across some dung on the trail just South of Winsor Furnace Shelter about a month ago and also near the Old Cross Mountain Raod (Old Stage Coach Road Trail on the AT map) in PA Section# 5 last week.
knightjh
10-31-2005, 19:34
I did a weekend of "car camping" at Cowen's Gap in PA this weekend the the Park Ranger did inform me that they have had a Bear problem in that park (due to someone leaving food around) I didn't see or hear any thing in my time there
just info that thought I pass along to you.
http://www.pagameandfish.com/hunting/big-game-hunting/PA_1005_02/
2Questions
10-31-2005, 20:26
Big black strolled through the Hertlein Campsite east of Rt 501 shelter a couple of weeks ago. Didn't use the rope swing however!
Freighttrain
10-31-2005, 20:56
hiked from Duncannon to Boiling Springs 2 weeks ago.. saw lots of (but small) piles of scat.. also noticed some scat at the trailhead for Allentown Shelter
Lumberjack
11-01-2005, 09:20
We have a lot of bears in PA but hunting keeps them wary of human contact... Usually all I ever see is their behind as they scurry away.
I was hiking on the AT around Rausch Gap. I was hunrgy so I reached for a hand full of candy corn, I turned round this blind corner and there sitting on the trail just 10 feet in front of me was a large black bear. It's coat was black as night and shined in the morning light.... then there was me standing there with my mouth open and my hand full of candy corn.... He grunted and then ran off.... So, yes there are bears but they are not an issue on the AT in that area... just bear bag and you will be fine.
SKCM
We have a lot of bears in PA but hunting keeps them wary of human contact... Usually all I ever see is their behind as they scurry away.
Bears live in all 14 states traversed by the trail. In state's where bears are hunted, they rarely are a problem. Where they aren't hunted they are a problem -- or will be.
If I remember rightly, Maine has more bears than any other state in the east, certainly in the northeast. But they are heavily hunted here, so bears rarely become a nuicance, at least since most open dumps have been closed.
Pennsylvania especially has a large bear population. Much of the research on eastern black bears has been done in that state.
Weary
Freighttrain
11-06-2005, 19:15
this is all i could find... dunno how precise it is... as back around this time i was a avid bear hunter and i read in a fish n game Mag that pa at the time had the highest number of blackbear in the lower 48...
it cant be right as Joisey is only listed as having about 300 bear
Table 2. Population estimates and trends of American black bears in the United States (adapted from Pelton et al. 1994).
StateEstimated population sizePopulation trendStatusAlabama<50StableGameAlaska100,000*StableGameArizona2,500St ableGameArkansas2,200Slightly increasingGameCalifornia20,000Slightly increasingGameColorado8,000-12,000UnknownGameConnecticut15-30IncreasingUnclassifiedFlorida1,000-2,000StableThreatenedGeorgia1,700Slightly increasingGameIdaho20,000-25,000*Slightly decreasingGameKentucky<200IncreasingProtectedLouisiana200-400Slightly increasingThreatenedMaine19,500-20,500StableGameMaryland175-200Slightly increasingGameMassachusetts700-750Slightly increasingGameMichigan7,000-10,000Slightly increasingGameMinnesota15,000IncreasingGameMississ ippi<50Slightly increasingEndangeredMissouri50-130IncreasingRareMontana15,000-20,000StableGameNevada300IncreasingGameNew Hampshire3,500IncreasingGameNew Jersey275-325IncreasingGameNew Mexico3,000DecreasingGameNew York4,000-5,000Slightly increasingGameNorth Carolina6,100IncreasingGameOklahoma120IncreasingGa meOregon25,000IncreasingGamePennsylvania7,500Stabl eGameSouth Carolina200Slightly increasingGameSouth DakotaUnknownUnknownThreatenedTennessee750-1,500IncreasingGameTexas50 *IncreasingThreatenedUtah800-1,000Slightly increasingGameVermont2,300StableGameVirginia3,000-3,500Slightly increasingGameWashington27,000-30,000IncreasingGameWest Virginia3,500IncreasingGameWisconsin6,200Slightly increasingGameWyomingUnknownStableGameTotal306,935-331,805 *1991 estimates from McCracken et al (1995).
....
it cant be right as Joisey is only listed as having about 300 bear
Table 2. Population estimates and trends of American black bears in the United States (adapted from Pelton et al. 1994).
StateEstimated population sizePopulation trendStatusAlabama<50StableGameAlaska100,000*StableGameArizona2,500St ableGameArkansas2,200Slightly increasingGameCalifornia20,000Slightly increasingGameColorado8,000-12,000UnknownGameConnecticut15-30IncreasingUnclassifiedFlorida1,000-2,000StableThreatenedGeorgia1,700Slightly increasingGameIdaho20,000-25,000*Slightly decreasingGameKentucky<200IncreasingProtectedLouisiana200-400Slightly increasingThreatenedMaine19,500-20,500StableGameMaryland175-200Slightly increasingGameMassachusetts700-750Slightly increasingGameMichigan7,000-10,000Slightly increasingGameMinnesota15,000IncreasingGameMississ ippi<50Slightly increasingEndangeredMissouri50-130IncreasingRareMontana15,000-20,000StableGameNevada300IncreasingGameNew Hampshire3,500IncreasingGameNew Jersey275-325IncreasingGameNew Mexico3,000DecreasingGameNew York4,000-5,000Slightly increasingGameNorth Carolina6,100IncreasingGameOklahoma120IncreasingGa meOregon25,000IncreasingGamePennsylvania7,500Stabl eGameSouth Carolina200Slightly increasingGameSouth DakotaUnknownUnknownThreatenedTennessee750-1,500IncreasingGameTexas50 *IncreasingThreatenedUtah800-1,000Slightly increasingGameVermont2,300StableGameVirginia3,000-3,500Slightly increasingGameWashington27,000-30,000IncreasingGameWest Virginia3,500IncreasingGameWisconsin6,200Slightly increasingGameWyomingUnknownStableGameTotal306,935-331,805 *1991 estimates from McCracken et al (1995).
Here's what the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife thinks:
"With an estimated 23,000 bears in Maine, we receive a little over 300 nuisance bear complaints each year.
"New Jersey has an estimated 3,200 bears and receives over 1,500 complaints each year. Now due to the overflowing increase of nuisance complaints, New Jersey is having their first bear hunting season this fall (December 2003) since 1969."
TAMBOURINE
11-06-2005, 20:09
I know i saw alot of bear in the SNP over the summer.and the campers must be leaving food out beacuse they were bad around the campsites come night fall.I also saw alot on the trail with cubs never had a bad encounter though just amazment and ooooh sh** hope they dont see me lol
sparky2000
11-14-2005, 17:42
Sorry I'm late to the scat litter but, the Pa State Police reported that the so called Bear attack (off of the Pa Tnpk) was a phoney. The one's claiming it were trying to cover up some crime...