It just can't happen again! Everyone says so, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission has even taken steps to prevent it.

Of course, I'm talking about the astounding Keystone State bear harvest of 2005. After shattering the state's harvest record last year -- to the tune of an incredible 4,164 bruins during the regular and extended season -- the PGC has taken steps to reduce the area covered by the extended season. One whole wildlife management unit, WMU 4C in the Northeast Region, has been removed from the extended hunt, and portions of other WMUs have also been cut.

On the plus side, for the first time ever, the PGC has authorized a designated two-day archery season in nine wildlife management units. The two-day hunt is scheduled for Nov. 15 and 16, a week before the traditional three-day statewide black bear season, which runs from Nov. 20 to 22.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE!
Certainly, last year's high harvest numbers caught many folks off guard. None of the experts predicted an increase of 25 percent over the previous record of 3,075, set in 2000.

"Nobody really expected a kill of over 4,000 bears. But given the bear population and a combination of favorable factors, it was not that surprising," said Mark Ternent, who has headed the PGC's black bear management program for the last six years.

Ternent credited five factors for the record-breaking harvest: an expanded extended season, a higher overall bear population, a record number of bear hunters, favorable weather and a mast crop that kept bears from denning early.

Last year's traditional three-day hunt broke a previous record by 278 bruins. But it was the extended hunt, which produced 810 bears, that lead to the huge harvest.

And if that wasn't enough, a new state-record bear, with an estimated live weight of 733 pounds, was brought to the scales.

TAKING STEPS
To bring the 2006 harvest back in line with management goals, Ternent originally proposed to close the extended season in WMUs 3B, 4C and 4E and shorten the extended season in WMUs 3C and 3D.

According to Ternent, Pennsylvania's bear population for the last four years has held strong at 15,000 bruins. However, he said those numbers are "leveling off."

"Ultimately, the 2006 season will be a compromise between biologists, regional staff and the commissioners," Ternent said. "I'm willing to go along with what they selected."

The commission approved a concurrent season in WMUs 3C and 3D and in portions of WMUs 3B, 4E and 2G. The extended season in 4C has been closed this year, but the opening of a portion of 2G is new this season.

A concurrent bear-deer season is set for a portion of WMU 3B.

A concurrent bear-deer season will also be held in the portion of WMUs 2G and 3B in Lycoming County that lies north of the West Branch Susquehanna River.

"We are not experiencing nuisance bear complaints throughout all of WMUs 3B and 2G," said Dennis Dusza, the PGC's North-Central Region director. "However, we are receiving numerous complaints within the area surrounding Williamsport, as designated by the board's amendment. We want to provide hunting opportunities and direct hunter pressure to those areas in need of relief."