December's Bear Harvest....

[BHC]

Day 1= 15 bears.....Numbers are way down, seems like us hunters over the years have done a great job complying with that the experts said needed to be done, let's not make the same mistake twice an kill off the herd like we did with deer

https://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearseason_info.htm#harvest

[Mixbaghunter]

I just check the website  and was going to post the information. New is not even covering it anymore.

[buckfever1974]

Not being available on WMA/state land is going to have a big impact on the numbers as well.  I would also think that guys who were hunting specific bears on private property had chances at those bears already during the bow bear season.

[Buck154]

Down cause of no state land hunting

[TroutandBucks]

Way down cause of the land we can hunt and we had a big snow storm already. 

[TroutandBucks]

100 would be great for the week 

[OneShot1Kill]

Yup. Saw 4 bears on State land yesterday. The harvest #s will be skewed because of lack of places to hunt creating more political and eco terrorist drama . In the end Ultimately the bears will suffer. Sad back and forth we have going on here.

[Gobblengrunt]

First animal i seen yesterday was a nice bear.  Im hunting a WMA so he was off limits thanks to our pos governor.  I think a lot of hunters that have killed bears in the past are not hunting them anymore due to taxidermy bills and/ or preperation for after the kill (lits of work!)

[BHC]

7 minutes ago, Gobblengrunt said:

First animal i seen yesterday was a nice bear.  Im hunting a WMA so he was off limits thanks to our pos governor.  I think a lot of hunters that have killed bears in the past are not hunting them anymore due to taxidermy bills and/ or preperation for after the kill (lits of work!)

I passed up a bear on opening day in October, for the very same reason you posted above....I killed 5 so far.....I'm tempted but then I think of the $$$$

[Pqreturn62]

Passed on a ~300lber yesterday. Too far back to even think about a drag.

[Mixbaghunter]

Yup the cost is a big factor  as well as not everyone likes to eat bear meat. I also think a lot of out of state guys are not hunting this year do to the gov . Plus a lot of work getting out

[Haskell_Hunter]

Let's see if the media posts the increased bear incidents that will definitely happen in the coming years.

I don't wish ill on people, but when they prevent me from helping, all I can do is watch.  And this is not going to be a good four years for people in Northern NJ.  Not good at all.

[Merkel]

7 hours ago, Pqreturn62 said:

Passed on a ~300lber yesterday. Too far back to even think about a drag.

A few guys I hunt with who have harvested bears in the past say it’s too much work and don’t hunt them anymore.  I think they’re getting soft in their old age.

[Swamprat]

I'm down in South Jersey so no bear hunt for me but quick question. 

When you guys killed a bear , do you have to take the entire carcass(gutted) to a check in station? You can't skin and quarter prior to check in? 

If I ever did come up there for a bear hunt I'm pretty sure I'll be solo maybe one other person with me. Sounds like a lot of work. I don't mind the work but I wanna work smarter not harder. 

Nick

[Jghunter75]

See more bears then deer on the state land I hunt!! Can't shoot them. That's why numbers down!