BEAR KILL DOWN
Port Allegany man bags huge bruin after four-year quest

Bear hunters had a so-so season, with wet snow holding down the opening-day kill.

Final results weren't available by press time, but the big bear everyone was talking about came from Potter County. Rodney Howard of Port Allegany shot the massive male bruin, which had an estimated live weight of 712 pounds, at about 2:30 Monday afternoon in Roulette Township.

Monday's snow didn't bother Howard at all. In fact, like many bear hunters, he welcomed it.

Howard, 52, credited the snow, combined with a team effort involving mostly family members, with his success in taking a trophy bear he had been watching for years.

Continued scouting gave Howard a good idea where the bear might be roaming on Monday, but it was the wet snow that permitted he and his nephew, Ross Howard, to locate the giant, fresh tracks and finally spot the bruin. Two shots from his 7mm Remington magnum at a distance of only about 30 yards was all it took.

Game Commission employees processed 1,005 bears at the agency's check stations on the opening day. That compares to 1,461 in 2006; 2,026 in 2005 and 1,573 in 2004.

The top bear harvest county in the state after the first day of season was Clinton with 78 (123 in 2006), followed by Tioga, 63 (83); Cameron, 57 (38); Somerset, 56 (67) and Lycoming, 54 (107) and Potter, 54 (95).

There were 38 taken on Monday in Elk County (51 in last year's opener) and 38 in McKean (85).