Pennsylvania Game News - October 2022 - 40

works even when you can't get service, "
Carrollo added.
Once a hunter actually has a bear on
the ground, the next step is to tag it, then
immediately field dress it. Removing an
animal's entrails begins the cooling-down
process, Demarest said.
Next, hunters should remove the bear's
hide as soon as possible. That can even
be done in the field.
By law, hunters must report harvesting
a bear within 24 hours. Because
no check stations operate during the
archery, muzzleloader and special firearms
seasons, hunters must call the
Game Commission's dispatch center at
1-833-PGC-HUNT or 1-833-PGC-WILD
and arrange to meet with a game warden
or biologist.
It pays to make that call right away,
as Game Commission staff are busier
in fall than at any other time of year,
said Jason Decoskey, Director of the
agency's Bureau of Wildlife Protection.
The sooner a hunter calls, the sooner a
meeting can take place.
But hunters need not present their
entire bear. Showing up with the properly
tagged head and hide is enough. So quartering
bears in the field is an option, one
that can lessen how much weight hunters
must carry out.
" Meat could be boned out from the
bear in the field and taken out in bags
or other meat storage containers, " Rutkowski
said.
Hunters who do bring a warm-weather
bear out whole might consider packing it
inside and out with ice until they can get
the hide off, Demarest said. It's not a bad
idea to roll that animal over periodically
in the meantime, Hutchinson said. That
helps prevent hair being rubbed off in a
truck bed or on the floor, leaving the hide
with bald spots.
Even those are temporary measures,
though, Hutchinson added. All bears still
40
need to be skinned quickly, however that
gets done.
He prefers getting whole bears so that
he can cape them himself before returning
the meat to hunters for processing.
Other taxidermists, he said, might not
have the room or facilities to do that and
will send hunters to a processor first.
Demarest does both, skinning bears
for hunters and accepting ones previously
skinned.
Hunters who will be away at camp and
unable to get home right away might want
to reach out to many sources for help.
" If you get bear in Marienville or
Potter County, and you can't get back
home for a few days, ask a taxidermist
there if they will skin it for you, " Hutchinson
said. " If they can't, see if you can get
a butcher shop to skin it and store your
bear for a few days.
" Pre-scout for a taxidermist, pre-scout
for a processor, just like you would prescout
for bears. Have these things lined
up. "
It's easy to see why some hunters
don't, Demarest said. Not really expecting
to ever get a bear, they aren't really
ready for the reality.
" If you're far out in the woods and you
shoot a 500-pound bear, what can you do
fast? " Demarest asked.
Some are reluctant to do anything to
their bear - field dress it, skin it or anything
else - because they want to get a
mount done and fear messing something
up, Hutchinson said. But that very inaction
often leads to devastating decay.
Some problems, like slipping hair, can
be fixed using scraps of hide from other
animals, though that will cost a hunter
extra, he said. But there's no addressing
other issues.
" So go with the anticipation that you're
going to harvest a bear, " Hutchinson said.
" If you do that, you'll be better prepared
and things will be a lot easier. "
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - October 2022
