Hunters will need separate bear licenses for upcoming season

HARRISBURG — With bear seasons just around the corner, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is reminding all hunters that they must have a bear license to participate in these seasons. He noted that Combination licenses do not include bear hunting privileges. “In 1999, the General Assembly created the resident senior combination license and resident and nonresident junior combination license,” Bureau of Wildlife Protection Director Richard Palmer said. “However, combination licenses do not include bear license privileges, migratory game bird license privileges or antlerless deer licenses privileges - all of which must be purchased separately. Also, some hunters who purchase a regular general hunting license may not realize that they also need to purchase a bear license in order to participate in bear seasons.” Bear licenses may be purchased at any issuing agent, including on the agency’s Web site - www.pgc.state.pa.us - via “The Outdoor Shop,” prior to the opening day of the regular deer firearms season, Nov. 26. If purchased through “The Outdoor Shop,” license buyers will be provided a web order number that they will be instructed to write on their general hunting license in the appropriate box and sign; there will be no need to wait for anything to be sent in the mail. Pennsylvania’s principal bear season is a three-day sprint - Nov. 19-21, the three days preceding Thanksgiving - that draws about 100,000 hunters annually. Locally, an extended bear season will run Nov. 28 to Dec. 1. In 1981, the General Assembly passed legislation creating the state’s first bear hunting license. License prices were $5 for residents, and $15 for nonresidents. The first allocation was 125,000, which resulted in a bear harvest of 819.