HARRISBURG - The
Pennsylvania Game
Commission’s proposal to
permit hunters to harvest
bears of all ages this year
won’t harm the wildlife
resource and is simply a
recognition by the agency
that the effort to “save” cub
bears isn’t working, game
managers said this week.
Last year 120 hunters who
took cub bears in Penn
sylvania paid fines for their
“mistakes.” The cubs were
shot in spite of the legal
/prohibition against it, and
' this segment of the bear
population was largely
wasted, since hunters were
unable to utilize the young
bruins.
Taking of cubs is non
controversial from a
biological standpoint, since
young bears are being shot
whether they are legal or
illegal to harvest, the
Commission said.
Legalization of the har
vesting of bears of any age
will simply eliminate the
penalty traditionally im
posed and some of the
stigma attached to those who
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One of the best ways to give you
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personal service. We offer local
service through local offices, and
we’ll come right to your farm if
that’s more convenient for you
You probably know your local
Hamilton Bank manager He’s
your neighbor, your friend, and
he knows the problems you face
every day, especially money
problems. He knows banking too,
and he has our Agri-Finance
Department to back him up
John D Osborne, Manager, Leola Office, with Mane and Lester W Martin, East Earl R D #2, discussing their 60,000 bird layer operation
Hunting bear cubs to be made legal
are fined for not being able
to accurately determine the
age of a game animal in the
wild.
There are at least five
'important reasons for
legalizing the harvest of
bears of all ages, the
Commission said.
First, the 55-year
prohibition against har
vesting of cubs has created
an enforcement problem,
since it is virtually im
possible for hunters to
distinguish between small
legal (over one year old) and
large solitary cubs (under
one year of age).
Actual live weights of
eight male cubs taken in the
1979 Pennsylvania bear
season averaged 106 pounds,
while dressed weights of
about 10 percent of the legal
female bears harvested
were less than 100 pounds. A
12-year-old female which
was recorded in tbe 1975
harvest weighed 63 pounds.
When young-of-the-year
were first protected in 1925,
they averaged about 35 or 40
pounds in weight. However,
maturation of mast-
producing hardwood forests
plus closer contacts with
human beings and their
occasional or persistent
handouts of food or garbage
are believed to be respon
sible for heavier bears
today.
Some have advocated that
a minimum weight be
established for “legal”
bears, but the Game Com
mission says such an ap
proach won’t work. Back in
Hie 1920 s and 1930 s there was
a minimum weight for legal
fawn deer, and hunters
weren’t able to determine
then when the animal was
“big” enough to shoot.
There is no reason to
believe a hunter could
distinguish between weight
classes of bears any easier
than the hunter could
distinguish between age
classes of bears. Hunters
have not confined their
shooting to large bears in the
past, as is shown by the cub
harvest figures, and there is
no reason to expect a change
in the future, the Com
mission says.
In states where there is a
He’ll work with you, on a full range
of financing, credit, trust and
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program that will fit your
individual needs comfortably.
We believe that agriculture,
especially the family farm, is the
cornerstone of a healthy, growing
America We want to help you
keep it that way. We want to give
you more for your money, and
more for you . and we do.
It’s common , an
in the total harvest is about
' tbe same as it is in Penn
sylvania. In those states,
harvesting of bears less than
a year old is legal.
Last year, 14.3 percent of
the bears taken in Georgia
were cubs. Cubs are
ESTT?
HAMILTON
BANK
m < n*
Formerly National Central Bank
minimum weight limit for
legal bears, dogs are usually
used to tree the bears, and
hunters have a chance to
evaluate the bear’s size from
a relatively close distance
over a period of time before
making a decision on
whether or not to shoot.
Second, the mortality of
cub bears during the bear
hunting season seems to be
affected little by a legal
prohibition against their
harvest.
In Maine, New Hamp
shire, Vermont and New
York, the percentage of cubs
protected in Georgia, as they
have been in Pennsylvania.
The percentage of cubs in
last year’s bear harvest in
the Keystone State was 13.8.
In an unusual example of
what happens after a change
is made, there was actually
a drop in the percentage of
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 31,1980—A33
cubs in the total harvest
after the taking of cubs was
legalized in New < York’s
Catskill and Allegheny bear
range in 1977.
Third, a bear management
program such as is being
developed in Pennsylvania
has a serious shortcoming in
that the number of cubs
which are being removed is
not known. The number of
cubs that are left in the
woods cannot be determined
by game managers with any
certainty.
Nor does anyone know how
many cubs are taken after
their mothers have been
harvested. In 1979 the Game
Commission had radios
attached to two adult
females which were ac
companied by eight cubs.
The females were both
harvested. All eight cubs
were also shot. Only three of
the cubs were turned in to
game protectors by the
shooters.
Fourth, the cubs which are
taken, whether turned in or
not, represent the waste of a
valuable resource. Those left
in the woods are a total
waste. In addition, the
unreported cub losses make
it difficult to measure the
impact of hunting on the
CRS to conduct
HARRISBURG - The
Pennsylvania Crop
Reporting Service will be
contacting farmers in late
May or early June as part of
a nationwide survey to
collect information on 1900
crop acreages and livestock
numbers.
P.C.R.S. said that far
mers’ cooperation in sup- '
plying facts for the survey
will help produce accurate
estimates necessary for
proper marketing decisions.
All information will be kept
confidential and used only in
developing official state and
national estimates.
Camping and day care
directories available
LANCASTER The 1980
edition of the Summer
Camping and Recreational
Programs for Youth is now
available at the Lancaster
County Information Center
(UNC).
In addition to regular
camping activities, the
current directory includes
extensive listings of day and
resident camps serving
children with special needs.
These needs include
physical handicaps, men
tally retarded, adjustment
problems and visual and
hearing handicaps. These
special camps serve both
Lancaster and Lebanon
Counties.
bear population.
Finally, there is moral and
ethical damage to both well
meaning hunters and the
Game Commission when
sportsmen are prosecuted at
a check station where a
wildlife officer inspects the
teeth to determine the age of
the bear an aging
technique that is not
available to the hunter prior
to shooting.
In the past, officers on the
same day have examined
lactating females (at least
three and one-half years old)
that were legal, and weighed
less than 70 pounds, and then
had to arrest an individual
who had taken a cub which
weighed over 125 pounds.
The Game Commission
said it will continue to
discourage the shooting of
small bears, even if cub
harvests are legalized, and
the agency is hopeful that
peer pressure on hunters will
discourage the harvesting of
young and/or small bruins.
But the agency realizes
that the shooting of cubs will
continue, and by legalizing
cub harvesting, the in
dividual hunter will have
to the moral decision
on whether or not to shoot a
small bear.
survey
Wally Evans, chief
statistician for the P.C.R.S.
said that reports on Spring
planted acres will be
available to farmers on June
27, followed on July 11 with
estimates of yield and
production. Hog and pig
numbers will be reported on
June 20 and cattle inventory
July 2*.
More information is
available by writing the
Pennsylvania Crop
Reporting Service at 2301
North Cameron Street, room
G-19, Harrisburg, PA
17110, or by calling (717) 787-
3904.
Executive Director of LINC,
the 1980 Edition of the Day
Care and Pre-School
Programs Directory is also
available.
This directory includes
over 80 full and part day
programs for preschoolers
and children of working
parents.
Copies of the directories
may be purchased at the
LINC office, 630 Janet
Avenue for $1.50 each.