2011 NJ Bear Hunt

[Pedaling Fool]

This one seems to have found a good hiding spot http://news.yahoo.com/cable-guy-find...133823975.html

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...135614768.html


Cable guy finds sleeping bear in NJ basement

HOPATCONG, N.J. (AP) —

A cable TV repairman got quite a surprise when he walked into the basement of a New Jersey home.
There was a 500-pound bear sound asleep on the floor.

The bear had been spotted wandering in the neighborhood in Hopatcong earlier Wednesday. It's not clear how it got into the home.
The bear ambled out of the house before state Fish and Game officials arrived.

WNBC-TV in New York (http://bit.ly/rVbuTV ) reports the officials fired a tranquilizer dart at the animal, which walked a few blocks to the Missouri Trail before it was knocked out.
Officials plan to relocate the bear.

No one was injured.

[Brady]

Thinning them will help them. It's necessary to keep them healthy.

i know a few parts of the country that could use a little "thinning" of its human residents... just sayin..

oh, was that wrong?

[Old Hiker]

i know a few parts of the country that could use a little "thinning" of its human residents... just sayin..

oh, was that wrong?

Depends. Will you keep what you kill?

[Tinker]

Depends. Will you keep what you kill?

Should be "Will you EAT what you kill?"

[jigsaw]

Should be "Will you EAT what you kill?"

yup just had bear burger in my chili. heading out for some fresh deer meat tommorow.

[jersey joe]

This week was the 4th year in a row for the NJ bear hunt. 202 bears taken through the first 4 days. 240 total expected by the end of the hunt.
So, in 4 years, that's roughly 1,000 bruins.

NJ was always one of the most likely place to see a bear on your thru-hike. Now those odds go down.
Of course the odds of having your food eaten by a bear go down too.

http://www.nj.com/sussex-county/inde...cials_say.html

[jersey joe]

251 total bears killed in the NJ 2013 bear hunt.

[Dogwood]

I'm pro human plague or human sterilization to solve the "bear problem."

[rickb]

I'm pro human plague or human sterilization to solve the "bear problem."

Google up the white star tick.

It makes you allergic to bear meat.

[jersey joe]

409 black bears were killed in NJ in the 2017 bear hunts.

In the past 8 years more than 3,200 bears have been killed.

If you have hiked through NJ and haven't seen any bears in the past few years, fear not, the bear population is about to rise significantly.

NJ's governorship is transitioning from a pro-hunt republican to an anti-hunt democrat.

The DEP estimates the the current 2,500 bear in NJ will double in 4 years without hunting as a management tool.

Yearly bear kill totals in NJ:

• 2003: 328
• 2005: 298
• 2010: 592
• 2011: 469
• 2012: 287
• 2013: 251
• 2014: 272
• 2015: 510
• 2016: 636
• 2017: 409

[Emerson Bigills]

Not a hunter, but it has occurred to me that if not for hunters and their desire to keep the backwoods over the past 100 years, much of the land we like to hike in would have been developed long ago. I hope those managing the herds are making the right calls, but I have come to respect the fact that I share the woods with hunters. They have as much right out there as we do, as long as we all follow the rules.

[Violent Green]

409 black bears were killed in NJ in the 2017 bear hunts.

In the past 8 years more than 3,200 bears have been killed.

If you have hiked through NJ and haven't seen any bears in the past few years, fear not, the bear population is about to rise significantly.

NJ's governorship is transitioning from a pro-hunt republican to an anti-hunt democrat.

The DEP estimates the the current 2,500 bear in NJ will double in 4 years without hunting as a management tool.

Yearly bear kill totals in NJ:

• 2003: 328
• 2005: 298
• 2010: 592
• 2011: 469
• 2012: 287
• 2013: 251
• 2014: 272
• 2015: 510
• 2016: 636
• 2017: 409

I'm not familiar with this hunt really. Is this hunt merely a bear hunt for hunter recreation or is it to purposely thin the population due to a huge amount of bear-human interaction?

[DrL]

It's both, and also a source of revenue.

[Violent Green]

It's both, and also a source of revenue.

Gotcha. There must be a huge amount of bears up there to cull that many and it not destroy the population.

[DrL]

Gotcha. There must be a huge amount of bears up there to cull that many and it not destroy the population.

No idea. I read somewhere that New Jersey has the highest black bear population per capita, but I can't find that now. Here's a relatively well-written article from Rutger on the topic.

https://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/e345/

[jersey joe]

There are a large number of black bear concentrated in the north west corner of NJ (north of route 80 and west of route 287)

Many blame this in the high availability of garbage as a food source and momma bears having 3,4,and even 5 cubs at a time these days instead of 1 or 2 as was traditionally the case.

As the bear spread further south and east into more populated areas, there are more human encounters.

The Department of Environmental Protection has recommended the hunts as one possible management tool.

[jersey joe]

So, expect your odds of encountering a bear in NJ to go up over the next few years while hiking though the 72 miles of AT.

Newly re-elected Democratic Governor pledged to end the annual bear hunt.

The 2021 bear hunt, recommended by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection as a population control mechanism, has been cancelled.

It is estimated that since the last full hunt in 2018 until now, the black bear population has risen from 1,500 to 3,100. That number should continue to climb.

[2Hobbits]

we have the same problem with deer in Virginia. Just too many of them. They need to be culled to keep the rest of the population healthy.

[JNI64]

So, expect your odds of encountering a bear in NJ to go up over the next few years while hiking though the 72 miles of AT.

Newly re-elected Democratic Governor pledged to end the annual bear hunt.

The 2021 bear hunt, recommended by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection as a population control mechanism, has been cancelled.

It is estimated that since the last full hunt in 2018 until now, the black bear population has risen from 1,500 to 3,100. That number should continue to climb.

Now they're going to kill our planet with all that methane

[Five Tango]

Having a bear hunt is the only fair thing to do for the greater good of the bear population.If their numbers are not controlled it means less available food per bear,no?In that event bears will be forced to become neighborhood pests which likely means they will be removed or terminated at some point.

People on the other hand do have at least some motivation to keep their own numbers in check or at least some of us do.It's called economics.

Here in Georgia our Dept of Natural Resources does a pretty good job managing the deer population but I did see two deer carcasses on a short 30 mile drive this morning which was the first I've seen in quite a while.At one time they were non existent,then became a total traffic hazard,but not so bad now.I can't imagine the damage a traffic collision with a 400 pound bear would cause.