WILKES-BARRE MAN CHARGED WITH ILLEGALLY KILLING LARGEST BEAR OF 2009 SEASON OVER BAIT

HARRISBURG – When is the largest bear killed in Pennsylvania’s bear season not the largest bear harvested? When it is the largest bear killed over bait, which equals poaching. That’s what happened when Charles W. Olsen Jr., of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, decided that it’d be easier to kill a bear over a pile of pastries, rather than the method used by ethical hunters.

Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer (WCO) Cory Bentzoni became suspicious when he saw a truck loaded with pastries from a local store driving along Route 309 in Dallas, Luzerne County.

\”As we were about one week away from the opening of the statewide bear season, I thought that something illegal might be underway,\” WCO Bentzoni said. \”Being that we were so close to bear season, seeing that person drive by with an unusual amount of pastries was like watching an individual go down a row of parked vehicles testing each handle to see if it were open. Something just didn’t seem right.\”