Pennsylvania Game News - October 2019 - 59

BEAR HUNTING IN OCTOBER
Only a general hunting license and bear
license are needed to participate in the Oct.
19-26 muzzleloader season for bears.
During the last three days of the season,
Oct. 24-26, junior and senior license holders,
active-duty military and certain disabled
persons' permit holders, may hunt bears
with firearms if they have their bear licenses.
The October seasons were created partly
to avoid further increases in the state's bear
population, which currently numbers about
20,000. It also had been requested for some
time by agency staff and hunters.
"Harvest has not quite met our target
objectives the last few years, due largely to
unfortunate weather events on key hunting
days," explained Game Commission bear
biologist Mark Ternent. "Additional harvest is
justified, so we're giving a statewide muzzleloader season a try."
Pennsylvania has a strong bear-monitoring program, Ternent noted. Biologists will
know in January if the season was successful.
As in most hunting, preseason scouting will play a critical role in October bear
success.
"Late summer and fall bear movements
tend to be correlated with food, which varies
yearly, even within a season," explained
Ternent. "When food supplies are above
average, bears tend to travel less."
Heading into fall, agricultural crops were
providing sizeable yields and forest soft and
hard mast crops were relatively good, but
also spotty, in many areas.

While a rifling rate greater than 1:48
stabilizes roundballs, it won't adequately
stabilize a slug.
Since accurate bullet placement is
essential, pay attention to your barrel's
rifling rate.
Lead slugs such as Maxi-balls and
copper-clad PowerBelts, shoot best out
of inline rifles with rifling rates from
1:30 to 1:20.
Some muzzleloader hunters wonder
if sabot bullets work for older guns, like
OCTOBER 2019

If bears don't have enough food locally
and need to make big moves to reach food,
scouting becomes even more important.
But there is some evidence that these bears
also become more vulnerable, because they
end up in territory with which they're less
familiar, Ternent explained.
"We don't know a lot about what
influences harvest vulnerability in October
because all bear hunting used to occur in
November," Ternent said. "Thus, we plan to
use telemetry collars on female bears over
the next few years to better understand
how the October muzzleloader and recently
expanded archery bear seasons influence
harvest."
This information will help the Game Commission with future bear season changes.
Ternent also cautioned hunters about
getting bears out of the woods as quickly
as possible on warm October days. Their
heavier fur coats and insulating fat layer
make it harder to cool down the carcass.
"Hunters should immediately field-dress
their bear and have help lined up to get it
out," Ternent explained. "Place ice in the
body cavity and get the bear checked by the
Game Commission as soon as possible. Then
get it skinned and into cold storage."
Hunters must have their bears checked
within 24 hours of harvest and can make
arrangements by calling the nearest Game
Commission region office.

- By Joe Kosack
side-hammer percussions and flintlocks?
The answer is yes, maybe and no.
Remember, at distances under 50
yards, any 50-caliber bullet will bring
down a bear, so long as it's well-placed.
It's at longer distances that gravity and
air resistance begin to influence accuracy.
Most flintlocks and many side-hammer percussion rifles have a rifling rate of
1:48 or slower, which is insufficient for
longer-range shots with slugs. And dramatically increasing powder charges to
59
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2019

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