St. Marys hunter facing charges for baiting, illegally harvesting bear

A St. Marys hunter is facing charges after allegedly baiting in and illegally harvesting a black bear in October.

Joseph R. Blessel, 46, of 723 Vine Rd., St. Marys is facing charges in relation to the incident, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed at the office of Magisterial District Judge Mark Jacob in St. Marys.

On Oct. 15 at approximately 11:10 a.m., a game warden with the Pennsylvania Game Commission was dispatched to 105 Hemlock Ln., Kersey, to field check a black bear that had reportedly been harvested by a juvenile.

Upon arriving on scene at 1:44 p.m., the game warden “found the bear to have signs of full rigor mortis, and the bear was cool in temperature within the mouth and abdominal cavity.” It was explained in the affidavit that bears hold internal temperature for a significant period of time due to their dense coat and thick layers of fat tissue. Due to this, the temperature of the bear observed on scene was not consistent with the time that Blessel had purchased the license, nor was it consistent with the time of harvest indicated on the harvest tag.

According to the affidavit, the juvenile male’s bear license was purchased on Oct. 15 at 7:31 a.m. at Walmart in Fox Township. The harvest time written on the tag was 10:45 a.m. on that date.

The bear did not present physical signs at the scene consistent with harvesting at 10:45 a.m. on Oct. 15, as indicated on the harvest tag.

At approximately 1:48 p.m., the game warden seized the bear as evidence and a seizure receipt was given to Blessel.

At approximately 1:54 p.m., Blessel admitted to shooting the bear himself and that the juvenile male did not harvest the animal.

According to the affidavit, Blessel then admitted to shooting the bear prior to purchasing the juvenile male’s license. Blessel then tagged the bear he harvested with the juvenile male’s bear harvest tag. Blessel also stated that the bear was killed between 7-7:15 a.m. on Oct. 15.

At approximately 2:11 p.m., game wardens arrived at Blessel’s residence and Blessel took them to the location where he shot the bear, which was “approximately three miles out from St. Marys off SR 120.”

The affidavit stated that the tree stand Blessel was hunting from when the bear was killed was located between SR 120 and Elk Creek, being in the City of St. Marys. The tree stand was a ladder stand, and Blessel alleged that he did not know who owned it. The stand did not have an identification tag.

Blessel indicated the bear was shot with his crossbow approximately 20 yards to the right of the tree stand. The bear then ran about 60 yards further to the right and died in that same location.

The bear was field dressed and the entrails were removed at that location. Blessel alleged that he disposed of the entrails in Elk Creek. As a result, the entrails could not be recovered. Dried blood was found at the scene where Blessel stated he shot the bear, and a blood trail was found leading up to where the bear had died.

Blessel also admitted to baiting the hunting location with apples and corn the Wednesday prior to when the bear was killed.

After returning to his residence, Blessel voluntarily provided the game wardens with a written statement.

It was explained in the affidavit that every bear harvested in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is required to be checked within 24 hours of the killing at a designated check station. The check station in this case was a field check. The field check process also includes verifying the harvest tag, ensuring that the hunter who harvested the animal used their proper harvest tag.

It was also noted that when one of the game wardens went to remove a tooth from the bear for age estimation after leaving Blessel’s residence a chewed remnant of corn was found on the bear’s tongue.

Blessel is facing two ungraded misdemeanor charges of take/kill big game – beyond daily/ season limits; along with summary charges of taking/possession of game or wildlife, hunt without securing license, false or fraudulent statement on reports, use of artificial/natural bait, lend license/kill tag, and possess rpt card lic tag another.

A preliminary hearing for Blessel is scheduled to be held at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 20 before Judge Jacob.