24 bears killed on day four of NJ bear hunt

The annual bear hunt, one of 33 in the country, is an event that draws passionate responses from environmental experts, hunters, activists, and the New Jersey public.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, officials say hunters have brought in 118 bears.

In the future, far more New Jersey black bears will be harvested because an additional six-day October bowhunting season is planned to begin in 2016. It is now at 15 percent. No bears have been reported taken in Bergen, Somerset or Mercer County.

Additionally, Tittel alleges that some hunters lure bears with bait and aim at them from tree stands to increase the odds of a kill, a practice that is legal with some restrictions.

In a press release issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Commissioner Bob Martin stated: “Hunting helps keep the population healthy and sustainable while reducing the potential for conflicts with people”, adding that the program is multifaceted.

“Because we have such a dense population in the northwest part of the state, they are moving out from that and expanding their range”, said Carole Stanko, acting chief of the DEP’s Bureau of Wildlife Management. “We know they are estimating 3,500 bears in New Jersey – it’s the same as in 2010”. But Hajna said the hunt has never reached its goal.

Whenever the current hunt ends, the DEP has already approved plans to expand the hunt in 2016, including new territories and an additional season in October.

Apparently, adopting a bear management strategy was considered important also because these potentially unsafe animals have been venturing closer and closer to human communities, so as to forage for increasingly more elusive sources of sustenance.

Another protester, 70-year old Jerome Mandel who used to work as a science teacher in Newton, explained that conducting the Weeklong Bear Hunt is the equivalent of sanctioning mass murder, while claiming that it’s imperative and indispensable.