New Jersey Bear Hunt

“sorry Lyndy, but I cantaloupe with you I'm already married.”

“LOL!!!


Not a TicTacToe Polygamist?”

“New Jersey Supreme Court Calls Off Bear Hunt Four Days Before Start of Season

December 03, 2004 — By Jeff Linkous, Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. − The state's highest court called off New Jersey's bear hunt Thursday, four days before the season is scheduled to start.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the state needs to establish a proper management program for bears before it can allow the animals to be hunted.

More than 300 black bears were killed in last year's hunt -- the first bear season in 33 years in New Jersey. Proponents maintain another season is needed because of increasing contact between the animals and humans.

The hunt was authorized in July by the state Fish and Game Council, an independent panel that sets New Jersey's hunting seasons. As of Thursday, nearly 4,000 permits had been issued.

But state environmental chief Bradley Campbell has opposed the current bear season, saying the state should be allowed to manage the bear population with a contraception program and public awareness campaigns for residents who live near heavy bear populations.

Bear hunting supporters called it a "sad day in wildlife management."

"You've taken 50 years of very successful wildlife management and turned it upside down, subjected it to the whims of one political appointee," said Game Council Chairman Scott Ellis. "It's obvious that this commissioner is beholden to the whacko animal rights crowd."

The ruling overturned a lower court decision that required Campbell to process bear hunting applications and proceed with plans for this year's season. Campbell had refused to issue the permits, maintaining he had the authority to overrule the game council.

"This is a victory for good government but it's also a victory for the bears," said Jeff Tittel, head of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. "It's the best Christmas gift they could have this year."

Campbell said the next step is for the Fish and Game Council and the state Division of Fish and Wildlife to develop a management policy. The division is an agency within the Department of Environmental Protection that enforces hunting and fishing regulations.”

“and I think that study should be funded from general taxation, not hunting or fishing licences, and definitely not from federal Pittman/Robertson excise taxes.”

“But state environmental chief Bradley Campbell has opposed the current bear season, saying the state should be allowed to manage the bear population with a contraception program and public awareness campaigns for residents who live near heavy bear populations.


contraception programs have never worked, anywhere, ever to the best of my knowledge.

what a crock of #&%!$”

“Didn't we have this discussion already? Hunting is not an option around here; there's too many people around here and it's just plain too dangerous.

Maybe contraception works; maybe it doesn't. Fact of the matter is that we're going to have to find another way to control the bear populations. On the flipside of that, people are also going to have to learn to share "their backyards" with these creatures; it's their home, too. IMHO, people who are afraid of bears have no business living at the edge of the forest.

...just my $0.02.
last edited: 12/03/04 8:43:23 PM”

“CHESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- State wildlife workers on Sunday were looking for a black bear that chased a hunter on the first day of bow season for deer.

Authorities say an unnamed hunter came across the bruin while climbing into a tree stand at Black River Wildlife Management Area on Saturday.

The hunter ran from the bear, which gave chase through the woods for half a mile. The hunter was finally able to reach a road and flag down a motorist.

The bear did not hurt the hunter, who sustained cuts from briars, branches and brush.

While running, the archer tried to shoot an arrow at the bear, though it is unclear whether the animal was hit.

The bear has been declared dangerous because of its aggressive nature.

Wildlife workers have set snares for the animal. Officials intend to tranquilize and then shoot the bear dead after catching it, said Elaine Makatura, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Makatura said it is dangerous for people to run from a bear encounter. It is better to slowly back away from the animal while making loud noises.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--bearincident0911sep11,0,4953311.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey”

“Bears in PA. seem like they are getting into more confrontations with humans too over the past few years. There were several incidents of bears attacking people in the woods and in urban settings. Probably because urban settings are now what once was the bears turf with all the sprawl going on. Food was involved in some cases. Last spring, a women was attacked at Hickory Run State Park and had her clothes torn off and roughed up by a black bear. The bear was hunted down by the game commission, but I never read that they caught it. Another bear was shot by a policeman when it was raiding garbage last year at a local housing project.”

“The hunter ran from the bear, which gave chase through the woods for half a mile.

that must have been the slowest bear on the planet. Mabye it was Buddha Bear.”

“The six day hunt is on for the Northwestern counties and 5,000 hunters are expected to be out in the woods. The hunt is restricted to 1,600 square miles and the estimated bear population in NJ is 1,600 to 3,200. The State says there are too many backyard incursions by bears and the hunt is necessary. Last July, a sleeping camper at High Point State Park was bitten on the leg by a 142 pound female bear and it was shot by wildlife officials. Don't keep food in your tent.”

“KILL...KILL... KILL THE BEARS!”

“A dozen people gathered at a weigh in station to protest. So far two courts rejected their arguments against the hunt.”

“If they really love the bears they should feed them honey from their hands.”

“Over 150 harvested as of tuesday afternoon.”

“One weighed ~725 lbs.!

I never knew a black bear could grow so large.

I'd hate to see him in my back yard.”

“That's a huge bear. Over 4,100 bears were killed in PA. this bear season which is a new record. Over 100 bears weighed in field dressed over 600 pounds.”

“That is big for black bear. I wonder how much weight they loose over the winter?”

“30 percent of their body weight, i think”

“Police cornered and shot to death a bear they'd been chasing through Essex County since Tuesday.

A police supervisor said officers closed in on it near a home. More than a dozen police officers, at least one carrying a shotgun, ran to the backyard, and then seven shots were heard.

People in and around Newark had seen the bear several times since Tuesday, when it was first seen in suburban Livingston. In that town, it escaped police chasing it through several yards.

This latest bear shooting came just days after a 225 pound bear was killed right in Trenton. The two incidents mark the first time the state has enforced a new, no tolerance policy in densely populated areas.

At least two residents and a crossing guard saw it in Newark's Vailsburg section, about a half-mile east of Seton Hall University. "It was big and black," said Agnes Freeman, a crossing guard who said she spotted the bruin a block away. "It was way too big to be a cat or dog. I'm afraid to stand out here."

Police set up a command post in the neighborhood, and went door-to-door talking with residents. Several parents drove their children to classes at a nearby elementary school as about 30 police officers searched each backyard, some toting shotguns.

Bear "exclusion zones" were instituted last year as part of state efforts to control a growing bear population. The state has also held bear hunts for two of the last three years.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=4159905#”

“So they don't trap and relocate bears in Jersey? Is it a $$$ thing?”

“i hate zero tolerance policies...it takes away discretion”

“unacceptible. they should hunt people that are moving into bear county if they're going to hunt bears that are moving into people country. It's not a two way street.”

“a dozen cops chasing a bear and shooting at it 7 times, i'd say this is more dangerous than the actual bear”

“it makes absolutely no sense. NJ is fast tracking itself to becoming the laughing stock of the country on it's wildlife policies.”

“N.J. Fish and Game Council approves 6-day black bear hunt

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/nj_fish_and_game_council_appro.html”

“it is sad but I guess it has to be done :(”

“Its not at all sad.

There are way too many bears here.

They've been pushed into areas that haven't seen bear for 100 years.”

“The wildlife is happy lately. Michigan has started a wild pig hunt. First I can remember ever. And wolves have been confirmed in the lower peninsula.”

“Ontario banned the spring bear hunt a few years ago and now it's illegal to BBQ outside in many northern towns and cities.”

“Indoor barbecuing can't be too healthy.”

“Down here we would use a .300 WinMag or a 7mm RemMag on a bear hunt.

I am guessing the NJ crowd will use what? A Tec9 or a .38 with a 2" barrel?”

“Hmmm, trying to punk out the bears??lol”

“Secondary Navigation
Video/AudioPhotosWeatherLotteryLocalIn Depth News ArchiveRSS - My Yahoo!SUBMIT A NEWS STORYSearch: All News Yahoo! Canada News Only News Photos Advanced

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

News Home > World News> 4th bear caught after....
4th bear caught after deadly U.S. attack Module body

20 minutes ago


By Matthew Brown, The Associated Press

ADVERTISEMENT

COOKE CITY, Mont. - The last grizzly bear believed involved in a triple mauling at a campground has been captured, with DNA tests due Friday that could confirm the family of four grizzlies killed a man and wounded two others.


A sow and two of her three cubs had been trapped by Thursday while the final year-old cub was found in a trap early Friday. The bears — crying out and scratching at the steel sides of traps — left the Soda Butte campground in a three-truck convoy Friday morning.


The cubs will likely go to a zoo, said Chris Servheen, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery co-ordinator. The sow will have to be killed so that officials can conduct an autopsy to determine whether any physical ailments or conditions caused her to attack the campers, Servheen said.


Authorities say the bear family, under the tutelage of its mother, specifically targeted campers at the campground — a sharp departure from the norm of grizzlies attacking only when threatened or surprised.


Evidence indicates all three cubs likely participated in what Warden Capt. Sam Sheppard called a sustained attack on Kevin Kammer. He was pulled out of his tent and dragged 25 feet (7 1/2 metres) and at least one of the bears fed on his body.


The two other victims, Deb Freele and Ronald Singer were hospitalized in Cody, Wyoming. Singer, 21, was treated and released. Freele, a Canadian from London, Ontario, was scheduled to have surgery Friday for bite wounds and a broken bone in her arm, said West Park Hospital spokesman Joel Hunt.”