472 Harvested Bears Not Enough, State Expands Hunt 4 Days

Despite its best six-day totals since 2010, New Jersey is expanding the annual bear hunt by four days after the harvest rate fell just short of the original projection.

Unseasonably warm temperatures and minimal precipitation, along with expanded hunting zones allowed for hunters to cull 472 black bears in northern New Jersey between Dec. 7 and Dec. 12, with the lion’s share coming on day one, when 216 kills were recorded.

The Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, however, allows for a season extension if the harvest rate during the six-day season finishes below 20-percent. In 2015, it finished at 18-percent, with 24 of the state’s 133 tagged bears available for harvest being hunted.

The four-day extension will begin Wednesday, Dec. 16 with hunting open from sunrise to sunset.

Sussex County was home to the most hunted bears, with 293 taken. That was followed by Warren (87), Passaic (29), Morris (52), Bergen (2), Hunterdon (9).

The 2014 total for the bear hunt was 272.