After bears became something more than lovable pick-i-nick basket thieves, the Garden State decided to create a bear hunting season. After a little bit of what the Brits call argy-bargy from the anti-hunting crowd, New Jersey hunters filled out the appropriate paperwork, paid for a license and set out in search of black bears. According to the NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife (even they don’t use the full name), “the hunting season resulted in a total legal harvest of 592 black bears.” Harvested as in shot dead. Johnny NJDEP’s press release was quick to frame the killing in light of its conservation efforts. And rightly so. Still, it does make for some unintentionally funny (black bear, black humor) reading . . .
Harvested bears included those known to have been causing damage and nuisance. Of the 118 tagged bears harvested, twenty-four (24), or 20%, were known nuisance bears or bears tagged at nuisance sites, including two which had previously denned under residents’ decks. The tag returns of harvested bears suggest that 20% of the harvest was nuisance bears.
Bears were harvested in 5 of the 7 counties open to black bear hunting. Sussex County led the harvest with a total of 338 bears, followed by 112 bears in Warren County, 59 bears in Passaic County, 82 bears in Morris County, and 1 bear in Bergen County. These results were expected by Division biologists, based on land area and bear density.
Hunters recorded bear harvests in 46 of the 105 municipalities open to black bear hunting, with West Milford Township, Passaic County, tallying the highest with 54 bears taken, followed by Vernon Township (50) and Walpack Township (50), both in Sussex County. Of the bears harvested, 243 (41%) were taken on private property, 233 (39%) on state property, 92 (16%) on federal property and 24 (4%) on county or municipal land.
More good news: no hunting accidents during the six-day season. So, to quote the Teletubbies, again, again! The NJDEP have scheduled the 2011 black bear hunting season to coincide with the six-day Firearm Deer Season, December 5-10.
Black bear is great bottled and eaten a year later.
Damn. What are they going to do with all those dead bears? No snark intended, I’m really curious. You can’t eat them (can you?). What do you do with them?
I have eaten it and it is wonderful. The fat is subcutaneous, ie under the skin, not marbled in the meat. so it is actually quite lean. like most lean meats , it is best not to overcook it or it will be dry and tough. My dad got one in Ontario a decade ago. almost everyone who tried it was surprised how good it was.
One word: RUG.
As long as they don’t feed at Landfills, they are good to eat. Landfill fed Bears,
they really like disposable diapers… Ewwwwww.
(You are what you eat!)
Mount the head, rug the skin, eat the meat. Bear sausage is great. Straight ground bear or bear steak can be a little gamey.
Of course hunters eat the bear just as they eat venison. Only people that are unfamiliar with hunting would not know this. It tastes like roast beef when prepared correctly. Of course all of the animal is used in making rugs or full mounts. What is more healthy then a low fat protien meat. Its Perfect. Keep eating your drug filled cows and pigs and you see the results at WalMart.