here in pa we are no number 2 in record book bears with some 800 pounders. so season start sat been hunting them hard for many years have come close but the hunting pressure is bad .even here at my farm 180 akr that i keep open year around dont want to post as am a hunter and des like when people post there ground and hunt state game lands.so sneaking in thickets where no one wants to go is best plain............hope to put a hole in one..has anyone hunted bear here in pa ?....

Years ago I hunted them a few times but never really had an interest.

To be completely honest, my lack of interest stems greatly from the mob mentality that many "groups" of bear hunters have in PA. They will find a track, get a large group of guys on it and chase the living crap out of the bear (or bears if a momma has cubs) and kill every last one, even the 40 pound cubs...then brag about killing a cub! Really??!! Not trying to sound like a tree hugging idiot here, but to me thats not exactly my type of hunting. So instead of doing it and complaining, I refrain from participating.

A couple years ago, just five miles away from me, a mob of bear hunters got into a shouting match with a property owner. The mob was trespassing but was set of killing a bear and did not obey the posted property lines. One bear hunter punched the property owner's son (mid-20's)....the next day the boy died from wounds sustained in the fight. I know both parties, went to school with family of the deceased and used to sell hunting equipment to the guilty party.

Sorry for the rant. I'm not one to promote fighting amongst hunters as we all need to band together but I just had to vent a little.

I have not hunted bear in the Keystone State but I bought a bear call that is made in Pennsylvania. I chatted with the maker and he takes bear in Pennsylvania with his call and some scent. That may be the trick to increasing your odds in PA.

http://wilsongamecalls.com/new_page_7.htm

I will be honest. I have not used this call as of yet. Here in Massachusetts we cannot bait nor use dogs. So you need any kind of edge you can get. I was thinking about using it for 2012 in Massachusetts for bear if I can get that elusive quantity called free time.

you are right on about the drives there just crazy wish they would let baiting it would help alot of real bear hunters ..they drive my prop every year so i stay out of that or stay in the thickits try to out smart all the morons out there .i to hate to see 40 pound cubs in the check station.

In the last two year I have seen two bears with extreme cases of the mange. Most recent one was last week.....it was 75% bald and very skinny. Ugliest thing I have ever seen....and I've met some ugly critters from this message board!!

Hunted in northwest PA but never scored. Friend of mine gets a bunch of hunters and puts a drive on the corn fields in the north central part of the state with modest success....

We arae getting quite a few bear in the southern tier of NY that the DEC claims are wandering north from Pennsylvania- we have lots of open rural property nad are seeing an increasing number of bears I can usually tell when the bears are around because my young labs will wind and bark, the old dogs ignore them, but the horses will stand on the knoll and you can't bait them into the barn for grain when the bears troll thru. I know they were there, because one of my male labs will find a pile and roll in it the following morning. I have smelled that smell quite a few times before I figured out what it was. I guess you are a real mountain man when you know where the bear shits
HH

bigbore..the call mite be great if u could get away from other hunters but be worth looking at ...thanks

I am a PA hunter and would love to hunt bear if you stood a chance of actually hunting them instead of lucking into a mob-run bear that came to ya!
I agree hunters stick together, but how many of us PA hunters hear stories about guys shooting at running bears through thickets...you know how that ends...blood trail but no bear.

If this fella' lives in Pa he apparently doesn't read the game law book.
NO scents permitted for bear hunting in Pa

I was thinking that when I went to the site, not to mention it appears to be pretty unprofessional.

Went bear hunting once in Lycoming co. back in the early 90's. If I recall it was around English Center. Had no luck though. Told my son we should try it together sometime.