CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ)– A man that mortally wounded a black bear by shooting it after he found it on his property in Centre County has been charged.
According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), 87-year-old Sheldon Sharpless, of Sandy Ridge, shot the bear with a pistol when he saw it was damaging his bird feeders.
It is illegal to harm big game even if personal property is being destroyed as well as using anything other than a centerfire or muzzle-loading firearm or bow and arrow to kill it. The black bear season was also closed meaning it is illegal to harm the animal at all.
Sharpless allegedly used a .22 caliber pistol to shoot the bear while he was by the back door, according to the criminal complaint filed by the PGC.
Investigators found the bear in the backyard of Sharpless’ Rush Township home in March, after they were called for a report of a big game violation.
The bear was alive, but according to the complaint, it could not move so the decision was made by a State Game Warden to put it down.
When asked what happened, Sharpless told investigators that he saw the bear after going to check out noise and saw it damaging bird feeders and eating the feed inside.
Sharpless then went to get the pistol, loaded it, and fired one shot at the bear, which ended up hitting it in the back of the neck right above the spine. The complaint states that the spot of the wound is “consistent with the bear being alive but unable to move.”
Any person who unlawfully kills or possesses wildlife may be assessed for replacement costs in Pennsylvania. The minimum cost for a black bear is $1,500.
Sharpless faces a misdemeanor charge of unlawful killing/taking of big game when the season is closed and a summary charge of Hunting big game with unlawful device.
Sharpless is out currently on ROR bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 12.