Hunters in St. Lawrence County took 99 black bears during the 2014 hunting seasons, up significantly from the 77 taken in 2013.

Hunters across New York’s Northern Zone took 518 bears in 2014, about on par with recent years, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced.

New York bear hunters harvested 1,628 black bears statewide during the 2014 hunting seasons.

Hunters took 11 bears each from the St. Lawrence County towns of in Parishville and Pitcairn; Clare and Hermon saw 10 bears each taken there.

Bear harvest in the Northern Zone tends to alternate between strong harvests during the early season one year followed by strong harvests during the regular season the next, based primarily on cycles of food availability, DEC said.

This year, hunters were most successful during the early season, taking 291 bears, about 19 percent above average. In contrast, harvest during the regular season dropped to 159 bears, about 16 percent below average.

In 2014, bear hunting was expanded into Wildlife Management Unit 6A, which includes the area in St. Lawrence County north of U.S. Rt. 11 up to the St. Lawrence River, and other WMUs in Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego and Oneida counties. Hunters took 14 bears from these new areas.

Statewide, hunters took about 1 bear per 29 square miles of land, on average.

The heaviest dressed weight bear reported to DEC in 2014 was 646 pounds for an animal taken in Hamilton County.

Eight hunters took two bears in 2014, taking advantage of the final year when early bear seasons overlapped two license years.