STATE GAME LANDS No. 82
In southern Somerset County around Glencoe, this game lands features a mix of woods and fields. It's popular with small game hunters because it has plenty of standing corn each fall and is stocked heavily with pheasants.

Black bears fatten up on corn, too, as well as on the abundant mast crops in this game lands' extensive wooded sections.

A number of bears in the 250- to 350-pound class are harvested here each fall.

State Game Lands No. 82 covers more than 6,000 acres.

SGL No. 50
This game lands is a hidden gem.

"A lot of people don't associate that game lands with good hunting because it's so close to Somerset (the county seat) and a state correctional institute," said biologist Ternent. "But we trap a lot of bears there for research purposes. I've never been skunked yet."

State Game Lands 50 features thick woods -- the kind you have to hunt by driving -- mixed with food plots, wetlands, and rock crevices.

Surrounded by private agricultural land, it offers bears plenty of food and cover.

Ternent said the chances of running into a very large bear are probably better in the Southwest Region -- and in Somerset County in particular -- than anywhere else in the state.

Brian Witherite said that some large bears -- males weighing as much as 465 pounds -- have been captured elsewhere, tagged, and released onto SGL 50. And many of them are still out there.

SGL No. 42
On the ridge of the Laurel Highlands that forms the Somerset-Westmoreland county border, State Game Lands No. 42 is adjacent to Forbes State Forest in mountain country and big woods. It's steep and rocky, but when there's a good mast crop, it offers good hunting.

"The first day of bear season, the area will literally be loaded with cars," WCO Anderson said. "There will be people everywhere. For a bear to get up and walk around without being seen is pretty difficult,"

STATE GAME LANDS
No. 231 & No. 271
These are two of the smaller game lands in the county, but both hold their share of bears.

SGL No. 271 lies adjacent to Forbes State Forest, west of Mt. Davis, the highest point in Pennsylvania. But the terrain is not as steep or rugged as you might imagine. This game lands sits on a plateau, so walking is not overly difficult.

SGL 231 covers about 500 acres south of Meyersdale. It isn't big enough to hold a lot of bears on its own at any one time, but the animals constantly move through as they travel in search of food.

PRIVATE LAND OPTIONS
No discussion of bear hunting in Somerset County would be complete without advising hunters to consider knocking on a few doors in the so-called "lowlands."

Between game lands, state forests and state parks, bear hunters can find plenty of places to pursue their sport without ever having to ask permission. It's equally true, however, that bears pay no attention to boundaries! Hunters willing to visit some of the farms around Boswell and Jerome, Somerset and Windber, Meyersdale and Salisbury, or Rockwood and Berlin, can sometimes find good hunting without a lot of competition.

"There are a lot of areas off the mountains that are open to hunting," WCO Anderson said. "Even owners of posted lands may give bear hunters permission to hunt. There are bears there that have learned to live in smaller woodlots around people."