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NJ Governor Phil Murphy to reinstate the bear hunt

GCTerpfan said:
That sounds like it would work. In the beginning our season was scheduled for several days but, would sometimes end before the second day. People were scrambling to shoot anything before they were cut off.
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Honestly, I think our bear hunt got to the point where it was pretty routine and most hunters were normalized to it. If a bear walked out in front of you, you'd shoot it. I think the majority of people who really wanted to shoot a bear had got one, realized how much work it was and were happy just shooting one if it walked by during deer season. After the first year it opened I didn't see any mad dashes of guys in the woods. That is why I think it would work if they just issued X amount of tags and said here, shoot one when it walks by. It's really hard to hunt bears specifically without bait. I had an area I knew there was a ton and they were moving through and shot mine that way, but I can't imagine specifically targeting them with a bow if you couldn't bait them in. Even with a gun it's a crapshoot if they'll walk by.
 
redsquirrel said:
Honestly, I think our bear hunt got to the point where it was pretty routine and most hunters were normalized to it. If a bear walked out in front of you, you'd shoot it. I think the majority of people who really wanted to shoot a bear had got one, realized how much work it was and were happy just shooting one if it walked by during deer season. After the first year it opened I didn't see any mad dashes of guys in the woods. That is why I think it would work if they just issued X amount of tags and said here, shoot one when it walks by. It's really hard to hunt bears specifically without bait. I had an area I knew there was a ton and they were moving through and shot mine that way, but I can't imagine specifically targeting them with a bow if you couldn't bait them in. Even with a gun it's a crapshoot if they'll walk by.
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Hunting them on public ground without bait is why Clay Newcomb calls it the sheep hunt of the south down here. Very difficult hunt. We have an archery season and a gun season, both with season quotas. You can bait on private and it is your choice whether you hunt from the ground or a tree, lol.
 
redsquirrel said:
I agree with you. I'm willing to do the work. After I do it, it might take me another 10 years before I want to do it again lol. My bear was about 175 and I'm glad my buddy was with me to get it out. Those things are rolly polly once they are on the ground. Going forward I would likely have to pack them out.

I really hope that they take a look at some of the rules of the bear hunt and adjust them to make sense (haha). First and foremost why can you sit over a bait pile on the ground but not in the tree? If we could bait bears and bow hunt them out of a tree I would probably shoot a bear for management every year. We had 2 big ones in our front yard this year. We're not far from them but this was the first time in 10 years we've had them in our area so they're definitely looking for new haunts.
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It takes a politition to dream up a rule like that.
 
It's a start, but it's got a long ways to go:
Regulation Changes:
  • Hunters may NOT attempt to take or kill a black bear weighing less than 75 pounds (live weight), or less than 50 pounds dressed.
  • Hunters may NOT attempt to take or kill an adult black bear that is in the presence of cub(s) (bears weighing less than 75 pounds).
  • Hunters may NOT attempt to take or kill a black bear or have a loaded weapon within 300 ft. of a baited area when hunting bears.
 
I put in vacation days, buy tags and now this. I don't know why I'm even surprised at this point...
 
Game and fish should go catch 40-50 and turn 'em loose in the city parks around the state. See if all those folks that say they want more bears really want them. I have no empathy for willful ignorance.
 
BTaylor said:
Game and fish should go catch 40-50 and turn 'em loose in the city parks around the state. See if all those folks that say they want more bears really want them. I have no empathy for willful ignorance.
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They really don't have to do that, they are already in a lot of them lol.

It is a honest shame that it is such a political topic. The vast majority of people in the state are in favor of the bear hunt, even more so for those in traditional bear country (even though bears are rapidly moving into the entire state). It is a rather vocal minority that causes this.

BTW @enkriss did you see the dead bear over the weekend on rt 15 north? Not far from the 80 intersection.
 
redsquirrel said:
They really don't have to do that, they are already in a lot of them lol.

It is a honest shame that it is such a political topic. The vast majority of people in the state are in favor of the bear hunt, even more so for those in traditional bear country (even though bears are rapidly moving into the entire state). It is a rather vocal minority that causes this.

BTW @enkriss did you see the dead bear over the weekend on rt 15 north? Not far from the 80 intersection.
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I have seen a few on that stretch past the diner there the past several months.
 
How many bears get shot by people who didn't realize the season closed again??? lol...
 
We are starting to see them more and more in Hunterdon Cty.
 
JC3 said:
SSS shoot, shovel, shut up.
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Sometimes the "LAW" gets it wrong.A friend in Montana say that's how some locals have to handle the wolves in the area. I don't encourage or condone it but tell that to someone who has to live with them day in and day out without any kind of preditor management.
 
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