2017 Bear K NOWING BEAR SEASON is underway isn't as easy to notice as when whitetail hunters turn Penn's Woods into a pumpkin patch on the Monday after Thanksgiving. But make no mistake, bear hunting is big in the Commonwealth. Extended and new bear seasons have drawn thousands more hunters to the sport. Those additional opportunities also annually lure thousands of out-of-staters to Penn's Woods to hunt bears. And why not? Pennsylvania is No. 2 among all states and Canadian provinces in number of black bear entries in Boone & Crockett Club records. Commonwealth bears also account for 10 percent of all Boone & Crockett black bear entries, an achievement surpassed by only Wisconsin. If you want a shot at a record bear, Pennsylvania is surely better than almost any place in North America. Recent Pennsylvania bear harvests document the Commonwealth's superiority as a bear-hunting destination. Record numbers of bear hunters faced bear populations estimated to number about 20,000 over the past two bear seasons. They stacked up harvests that placed third- and fifth-best in the state's history. Hunters took 3,529 bears in 2016 seasons, following a 2015 harvest of 3,748. Both years produced 60 or more bears that 32