Going to give PA Bear hunting a try!

B

B. Miller

New member
Well guys, it's time. I want to expand my hunting season from Whitetail and add Black Bear...it will be a nice relief during a tough semester in school.

Anything I should get in addition to the normal stuff people use in deer season? Any general advice would also be appreciated.

I know this isn't ideal, and I don't want to start an ethics war, but i'm going to try and use my 7mm08. I bought new solid copper bullets (I think they were called superperformance, with a GMX bullet), that offer better penetration. Ideally I would buy a new rifle, but alas, i'm a college student. Well, that and I just bought a revolver :footinmouth:

If you're really against me using that there is a x-bolt stalker in 300 win on sale at a place near me that is only $530. I would reallllyyyyy hate to buy it cause that means getting another scope, too.

Appreciate any input! Stay safe out there and have fun.
 
The 7mm-o8 will be fine.Deer hunting gear is what 95%of Pa. hunters use.Your biggest obstacle now is finding a bear.Where do you plan to hunt?
 
That's what I hear. I don't think I know anyone that has harvested a bear to be honest.

To answer your question, I don't really know lol. My friends dad met a guy with a lot of property somewhere called Dilltown (I think that's what it was). If that doesn't pan out, I don't really know. I go to school in Altoona, so I need to try and keep it close. You have any ideas?

I have a camp near Ford City, PA (Armstrong county) with about 60 acres that I could use if absolutely necessary. There aren't too many bears in that area.
 
Gamelands 51 in Uniontown, got to the road before Sailor road, it says drive at your own risk, it is where all the nuisance bears are dropped. You can thank me later.lol.
 
I hunted north of Renovo, Clinton County for several years when I lived in Bucks County. I camped at Hyner Run bear through first week of deer. Took a nice 250lb bruin in 2007 off 7 Mile and saw a 600 + sow same year during deer.
PA takes about 3800-4000+ black bear a year for three days of hunt with no dogs, no bait. Pray for snow, get on the tracks, plan on full day of tracking. If you can join a group of drivers % of kill goes up.
7mm-08 is fine with most bears killed in PA as long as you make it clean. I believe I saw that big 600+ at the Check station in Renovo FD the next year at Trout Run the next ridge over from where I saw her.
If the weather turns cold damp & nasty stay out. GPS is good. I tracked a bear in Sproul State Forest until dark and thought I was about a mile from power lines and two to truck. Power lines swung around to left and I didn't get back to truck until 9:30pm. Not a good feeling.
Good luck.
 
Originally Posted By: conservative1911 I hunted north of Renovo, Clinton County for several years when I lived in Bucks County. I camped at Hyner Run bear through first week of deer. Took a nice 250lb bruin in 2007 off 7 Mile and saw a 600 + sow same year during deer.
PA takes about 3800-4000+ black bear a year for three days of hunt with no dogs, no bait. Pray for snow, get on the tracks, plan on full day of tracking. If you can join a group of drivers % of kill goes up.
7mm-08 is fine with most bears killed in PA as long as you make it clean. I believe I saw that big 600+ at the Check station in Renovo FD the next year at Trout Run the next ridge over from where I saw her.
If the weather turns cold damp & nasty stay out. GPS is good. I tracked a bear in Sproul State Forest until dark and thought I was about a mile from power lines and two to truck. Power lines swung around to left and I didn't get back to truck until 9:30pm. Not a good feeling.
Good luck.

I'll check that area out..thanks! Man snow sure would be nice. I won't hold my breath though lol. If it happens, i'll consider it a blessing.
 
From Altoona you are close to some good bear country.You may not have to go far.Check the PGC site.They should have a county by county report of bears harvested.I am looking in my hunters guide.No number of bears per county here,but 2818 bears were taken last year.I read somewhere that bears usually travel routes used by other bears,even if the country is unfamiliar to them.They also prefer to travel closer to the top of a hill than the bottom.The hills around Altoona are pretty good sized.If there is a sporting goods store in Altoona,go in and ask some questions.And stay in or on the edge of thick cover.If your scope is variable power,set at the lowest setting.If you get up to Clearfield,go into the Grice Gunshop.You will meet bear hunters there no doubt.Clearfield county is a good bear county if I remember right.
 
Originally Posted By: jbmaster From Altoona you are close to some good bear country.You may not have to go far.Check the PGC site.They should have a county by county report of bears harvested.I am looking in my hunters guide.No number of bears per county here,but 2818 bears were taken last year.I read somewhere that bears usually travel routes used by other bears,even if the country is unfamiliar to them.They also prefer to travel closer to the top of a hill than the bottom.The hills around Altoona are pretty good sized.If there is a sporting goods store in Altoona,go in and ask some questions.And stay in or on the edge of thick cover.If your scope is variable power,set at the lowest setting.If you get up to Clearfield,go into the Grice Gunshop.You will meet bear hunters there no doubt.Clearfield county is a good bear county if I remember right.

Actually, grice gun shop is where I bought my new handgun (see firearms thread). It's a cool place. I plan on going up there soon so ill ask around. I'm visiting benezette to check out the elk, too.
 
Originally Posted By: SwiftI've never hunted PA bear, just not my cup of tea.

Good Luck though!!

We'll see how I like it
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Where ya from in Pa? we sure do have a lot of folks from the keystone state
 
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