The DFG's Region 1 office in Redding said Siskiyou, Trinity, Shasta and Humboldt counties, respectively, were the top four bruin hunting sites in 1999, followed by Mendocino and Tehama counties.

Statewide, hunters bagged 1,775 California black bears in 1999, some 99 above the final reported kill of 1998. DFG sold the full quota of 18,000 bear tags last year.

The north state rifle bear hunting season opened in most areas with the opening of the deer rifle season. Scheduled to close December 26, the season ended on November 29 when the reported kill reached the statewide quota mark of 1,500. Late arriving tags pushed the final total to 1,775.

The Redding office said hunters bagged 254 bears in Siskiyou County, 240 in Trinity, 204 in Shasta, 161 in Humboldt, 84 in Mendocino and 79 in Tehama. Other totals showed there were 52 bears taken in Del Norte County, 29 in Lassen, 45 in Butte and six in Modoc.

Data from the 1999 season reveals that hunters using dogs bagged 897 of the 1,775 bears killed in California; that 615 hunters killed a bear while deer hunting; that 108 hunters bagged a bruin using archery equipment; and, that guided hunts accounted for 99 of the bear kills.