Bear Harvest on Track for New Record
Thursday, October 08, 2009 | 07:34am
MORRISTOWN --- Less than two weeks into the 2009 bear hunting season, hunters have already reported the harvest of 187 bears in East Tennessee, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).
With that number harvested this early in the season, it appears that the harvest is on track for a new record. Last year for the same time period, 98 bears were reported harvested.
Harvests reported by county so far this year are: Blount-28, Carter-22, Cocke-11, Greene-7, Johnson-13, Monroe-29, Polk-14, Sevier-37, Sullivan-12, Unicoi-9, and Washington-5.
Included in those figures are harvests of 111 bears harvested during early gun seasons in Blount, Cocke, Sevier, Monroe, and Polk counties.
Bear harvests in 2008 set an all-time record in Tennessee with 446. The major portion of Tennessee’s bear hunting season takes place in early December. Sportsmen can refer to page 30 of the 2009 Tennessee Hunting and Trapping Guide or the TWRA Web site at www.tnwildlife.org for open counties and specific hunt dates.
---TWRA---