94 Bears killed on opening day in NJ

[imkms]

Seems like a high number to me, I wonder what percentage this is to the total # of bears in NJ.

94 Black Bears Killed On First Day Of New Jersey's Hunt

Numbers provided by the Division of Fish & Wildlife did not break down the zones where the bears were harvested on Monday.

philadelphia.cbslocal.com

 

[this_is_nascar]

Good question. I wouldn't have thought there were even that many.

 

[lj762]

And this is the first (or second? not sure) year that bear hunting is not allowed on any state forest, park, recreation area, or wildlife management area. So the numbers are only from hunting on private property, and I suppose also county or local parks.

(I'm not clear on the dates because the 2018-2019 Hunting & Trapping digest talks about hunting on state lands, with the season starting 10/8/2018. But the 2019-2020 Digest says hunting was banned as of 8/30/2018.)

 

[lj762]

OK I think I just remembered. When the 2018-2019 Digest was published, the October 2018 bear hunt, including state lands, was planned. Then in August 2018, Gov Murphy banned bear hunting on state lands. So the October 2018 hunt, like the 2019 hunt, exclude state lands. Correct?

Here are some numbers: 225 bears 'harvested' in 2018, 409 bears in 2017. In each of 2018 and 2019, a total of 11,000 bear hunting permits were made available. As for the total number of bears out there, I don't think anyone knows. Perhaps they sent out people to count, but they got eaten by bears.

 

[this_is_nascar]

..and it continues.

After 3 days, NJ bear hunters have already eclipsed the harvest from last year's opening week

After three days, 171 bears have been killed, surpassing last year's six-day total of 140.

www.app.com

 

[Teegate]

Looks like they don't need state land. However, it leaves quite a few individuals out of the action unless they know someone.

 

[lj762]

It says in that article that Fish & Wildlife estimates the state-wide bear population at 1,527. Based on the number of tagged bears killed in the hunt.

As for being 'out of the action unless they know someone', I assume there are private-owned 'game preserves' where a person can pay to hunt. I see some advertising in the Digest, although none seem to mention bears.