Hunters Bag 69 Bears During Md. Hunt Season
CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) -- Black bear hunting season has ended in Maryland with hunters taking home 69 bears.
The four-day hunt began Monday and ended Thursday. The season was the first with a predetermined end date since a 50-year moratorium on Maryland bear hunting ended in 2004. The length of previous hunts was determined by a quota, with hunters having to check each night on whether the season would continue for another day.
Last year, hunters took home 94 of the animals.
Television station WBOC-TV reports 71-year-old Bonnie Kelley was the first hunter to bag a bear this season. She shot the bear Monday on private land in Garrett County. The heaviest bear shot this season weighed 418 pounds, though the average weight was 143 pounds.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)