Black Bear Age Harvest Data
Congratulations on harvesting a Pennsylvania black bear, one of the state's most impressive big game animals. Please note age certificates will not be mailed to hunters, all successful hunters already received a certificate recognizing their harvest while at the check stations last fall.
Below are tables that list the ages of bears harvested during the 2023 season that had a tooth pulled at the check station. If your bear is not found in these tables it is because 1) No tooth was pulled, or 2) The laboratory that ages the teeth deemed the tooth pulled not usable and no age was determined. All ages are given in both years and months. If you harvested a bear that was deemed a cub at the check station, no tooth was pulled and your bear was 10 months old at time of harvest.
The first set of tables list the ages by legal seal number only. The legal seal number can be found on the bottom right hand side of your bear certificate that was given to you when you checked your bear. The legal seal number is also found on the plastic tag the Pennsylvania Game Commission official at the check station put through the ear of your bear.
If you do not recall your legal seal number, the second set of tables list the ages by region based on the county of harvest and data are then sorted by date, weight, sex, and legal seal.
For ages of bears harvested in the NW region (Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties)
For ages of bears harvested in the SW region (Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland counties)
For ages of bears harvested in the NC region (Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, and Union counties)
For ages of bears harvested in the SC region (Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, and Snyder counties)
For ages of bears harvested in the NE region (Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties)
For ages of bears harvested in the SE region (Berks, Bucks, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, and York counties)
Again, congratulations on taking an outstanding trophy from Penn's Woods and for being an important part of our hunting heritage.