The final statistics are out on last year’s bear hunting season.  The results rank as the third highest in the state’s history, at more than 3,600 bears harvested.  The record was set in the 2011 season, when hunters took more than 4,300 bears.  The 2005 hunting season rank second, with more than 4,100 bears harvested.  Bears were harvested in 56 of the state’s 67 counties during the 2012 season, marking a record for number of counties represented.  The top five counties were Lycoming, Clinton, Tioga, Potter and Centre.  Here are the tallies from counties in our region:

Indiana County:  24 bears harvested

Jefferson County:  51 bears harvested

Clearfield County:  102 bears harvested

Cambria County:  11 bears harvested

Armstrong County:  35 bears harvested

Westmoreland County:  37 bears harvested

More than 40 bears weighing 500 pounds or more were harvested during the 2012 bear season.  The largest bears include one taken by an Indiana man, William Rising.  Rising harvested a 699 bear in November in McKean County.