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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
The Pennsylvania Game Commission operates 25 bear check stations across the state during the 4-day firearms hunting season for bears, which this year opened on Saturday, November 17, and will close Wednesday, November 21. Among the check stations is one in an equipment building at Game Commission headquarters at Harrisburg.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
Bear hunters are required to bring any bears they kill to one of the bear check stations within 24 hours of making the kill. Spectators often gather at check stations to watch as the hunters bring in their bears.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
Waiting lines of successful hunters can form at the bear check stations during peak periods, which are generally early afternoon and in the evening, the periods when most hunters return from the forest with their trophies.
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Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com
Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
Successful hunters are advised to attach their bear tag to the animal's ear immediately after harvest and before moving it, to field-dress their bears before bringing them to a check station and to place a 3- to 4-inch-long stick in the bear's mouth soon after locating the downed animal. The stick holds the bear's mouth open as rigor mortis or freezing temperatures set in, making it easier for commission staff to process the bear at the check station.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
Each bear brought into a check station is weighed and sexed. Dressed weight is the weight after the bear has been field dressed, which is the removal of the animal's organs. Live weight is the weight of the bear before removal of the organs.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
A tooth is removed from each bear at the check station. That will allow the commission to later determine the age of the bear, report that back to the hunter and maintain statistics for use in Pennsylvania's bear management program.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
Melanie Weaver, wildlife biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, removes a tooth from one of the bear's brought into the check station at commission headquarters at Harrisburg.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
Each bear tooth collected at a bear check station is carefully cataloged and packaging for later use in determining the age of the bear and maintaining records for use in Pennsylvania's bear management program.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
An ear tag is attached to each bear after it has been processed at a bear check station. That tag must remain on the bear until its final disposition at a butcher shop, taxidermist or both.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has brought new record-keeping technologies to the bear check stations, including the use of tablets for entering data.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
A supply of ear tags and bear harvest certificates await the next bear brought into the bear check station at Pennsylvania Game Commission headquarters at Harrisburg.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission bear check stations
A bear check stations allows close-up looks at bruins for the spectators, who otherwise most likely would only spot bears at a distance in the wild.
