THE inevitable happened last Week: Some so-called animal rights groups filed suit to stop the bear-hunting season in New Jersey.
The two New Jersey-based anti-hunting groups sued in the Appellate Division of Superior Court to stop the bear-hunting season scheduled to begin on Monday.
The case will be heard today.
The groups contend that the black bear management plan composed by the New Jersey Fish and Game Council and approved by DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell is flawed and invalid. The groups claim that the NJFGC overestimated the number of black bears in the state, their impact on people and property, and failed to explore alternatives to manage bear-human contact.
Their neighbors across the border in Pennsylvania just set a record for the number of bears killed by sportsmen and women. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), hunters in that state shot a state record 3,331 black bears in the Nov. 21-23 season. An extended season in parts of Pennsylvania ends tomorrow.
In 2004, agency employees processed 2,423 black bears on the first three days, and the final harvest was 2,972 bears, including those bears taken in the extended season that ran concurrently with the first week of the deer firearms season.
The largest bear taken in the three-day hunt was a 733-pound male. To date, hunters have taken 14 bears in the Keystone State that had estimated weights of 600 pounds or more.
“We anticipated a large harvest, and all of the conditions were favorable for hunters,” said Mark Ternent, PGC bear biologist. “We knew that if the weather did not impact hunter participation, we had the potential to see a record harvest, because fall food conditions were good throughout the state and bear populations continue to be high.”
New York also may produce a record number of black bears this hunting season. In New Jersey, there have been black bear sightings in areas where they never before have been seen.
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New Jersey’s six-day firearm deer season runs statewide Monday through Dec. 10.
Quality deer management programs are in effect in Deer Management Zones 3, 6, 9, 13, 27, 29, 35 and 63. Any antlered deer harvested in these zones must have at least one antler with at least three antler points.
Don’t forget to fill out the tear-off antlered buck stub. If you take a buck, you must date, initial and attach a buck stub along with a transportation tag to the deer before taking it to the deer check station.