It was the opening day of shotgun bear season, and the woods were quiet because it was raining and freezing.
By midafternoon, just three black bears had been brought to the Whittingham Wildlife Management Area’s check station to be weighed, with samples collected and proper possession tags placed to the animals to ensure they had been inspected.
The three bears were transported to the station in the mid- to late morning, before to the official opening time of noon. Despite being presented early, the bears were examined, with biological data recorded and hunters quizzed about where the bears were shot.
The bear shotgun season was reinstated in 2006, after being partially suspended for a few years due to lawsuits and judicial judgments.
The hunt also takes place during the customary six-day “buck” season, when white-tailed deer can be killed with shotguns—the only time weapons are permitted for deer hunting in New Jersey.
During the six-day October archery season in northwestern New Jersey, hunters killed 397 black bears in the same five bear hunting zones as during the shotgun season. Hunters must have a $2 permit to hunt in a zone, and they can have two valid permits at once. If the hunter has already used his or her October permit, he or she may purchase a new one for that zone for the December hunt.
The successful Whittingham hunters all reported that they were in the woods early Monday, bagging the bears and bringing them to the station before heavier rain fell.
New Jersey has placed limits on the number of bears that can be killed during the October and December seasons, restricting the hunt to all or portions of eight northwestern counties. That portion of the state has the highest concentration of bears, and it borders Pennsylvania and New York’s Catskill region, both of which have significant black bear populations.
During the October bow season, Sussex County accounted for over half of the total harvest, with Warren County accounting for another quarter.
Biologists employ formulae to estimate the black bear population in the hunting region (bears have been reported in all 21 New Jersey counties), and a certain number of bears are ear-tagged each year before the hunting season begins.
The number of tagged bears is known, and as those bears appear in the harvest, wildlife experts can calculate the “harvest rate.” If the rate does not exceed 20% by the end of the shotgun season, the hunt can be continued.
And if that rate exceeds 30%, the hunt is suspended for the year. Going into Monday’s first shotgun day, the harvest rate was 22.6%.
The 20% to 30% range is an accepted criterion for determining how successful a hunt is in keeping a stable population.