Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA --(Ammoland.com)- The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today proposed allowing hunters in Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) 1A, 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D to harvest black bears during all deer seasons from September through early-December, as well as during statewide bear seasons.

If approved in April, bear hunters will be able to participate in an archery bear season in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D from Sept. 15-28; in WMUs 1A, 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D from Sept. 29 until Nov. 10; a muzzleloader bear season in WMUs 1A, 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D from Oct. 13-20; a firearms bear season in WMUs 1A, 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D, from Nov. 26-Dec. 8. Only 1 bear may be taken during the license year.

The Board also proposed retaining the statewide archery bear season, four-day general firearms bear season and extended seasons in all or portions of certain WMUs.

“Pennsylvania’s black bear population is larger and more widely distributed than ever, and bear-human incidents are becoming commonplace, especially in more developed areas,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. “Continued expansion of residential development into areas occupied by black bears has resulted in more frequent sightings and encounters between people and bears.

“In WMUs 1A, 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D, all with relatively high human population densities, there currently are low bear densities. The Game Commission wants to continue to have a minimum number of bears, and the agency wants hunters to have an opportunity to play an important role in bear population management in these urban/suburban areas.”

The slate of 2012 bear seasons, which must be given final approval in April before taking effect, includes: a statewide five-day archery bear season (Nov. 12-16); a four-day statewide bear season that will open on Saturday, Nov. 17, and then continue on Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 19-21; and a concurrent bear/deer season in WMUs 3D, 4C, 4D and 4E on Nov. 26-Dec. 1.

Also, a concurrent bear/deer season has been proposed to be held Nov. 28-Dec. 1 in the following:

• - in WMUs 3A and 3C;
• - in portions of WMU 3B, that are East of Rt. 14 from Troy to Canton, East of Rt. 154 from Canton to Rt. 220 at Laporte and East of Rt. 42 from Laporte to Rt. 118 and that portion of 4E, East of Rt. 42; and
• - in portions of WMUs 2G in Lycoming and Clinton counties and WMU 3B in Lycoming County that lie North of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River from the Rt. 405 Bridge, West to Rt. 15 at Williamsport, Rt. 15 to Rt. 220, and North of Rt. 220 to the Mill Hall exit, North of SR 2015 to Rt. 150; East of Rt. 150 to Lusk Run Rd. and South of Lusk Run Rd. to Rt. 120, Rt. 120 to Veterans Street Bridge to SR 1001; East of SR 1001 to Croak Hollow Rd., South of Croak Hollow Rd. to Rt. 664 (at Swissdale), South of Rt. 664 to Little Plum Rd. (the intersection of SR 1003), South of SR 1003 to SR 1006, South of SR 1006 to Sulphur Run Rd., South of Sulphur Run Rd. to Rt. 44, East of Rt. 44 to Rt. 973, South of Rt. 973 to Rt. 87, West of Rt. 87 to Rt. 864, South of Rt. 864 to Rt. 220 and West of Rt. 220 to Rt. 405 and West of Rt. 405 to the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

Utah Division of Natural Resources

Salt Lake City, Utah --(Ammoland.com)- Starting this spring, bear hunters will have opportunities they’ve never had before in Utah.

The new opportunities have been made possible through a new bear management plan the Utah Wildlife Board approved in 2011.

John Shivik, mammals coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says the plan is giving more people a chance to hunt bears in Utah. “At the same time,” Shivik says, “the plan provides some important safeguards to keep the state’s bear populations healthy and safe.”

Board approves hunting rules
At their Jan. 12 meeting, members of the Wildlife Board approved black bear hunting and pursuit rules for Utah’s 2012 seasons.

All of the rules the board approved will be available in the 2012 Utah Black Bear Guidebook.

The guidebook should be available at wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks by Jan. 31.

The following are some highlights:

• In the past, most of the bears that were hunted in Utah were tracked with hounds and ran up trees. A few hunters have also used bait to lure bears in so the hunters could make a clean and effective shot with a bow and arrow.
• But starting this spring, more spot-and-stalk-only hunts will be offered in Utah.
• Hunters may not use hounds or bait during spot-and-stalk hunts. Instead, they must spot the bear and stalk it.
  In the past, all of Utah’s bear hunting areas were limited-entry areas. Only those who draw a permit for a limited-entry area can hunt on it.
• Starting this spring, though, the state will offer some harvest-objective hunts.
• The number of hunters who can hunt on a harvest-objective area isn’t limited, so switching a limited-entry area to a harvest-objective area gives more people a chance to hunt the area.
• To protect bears on harvest-objective areas, the number of bears that can be taken on each area is limited. Once that limit—also known as the area’s quota—is reached, the hunt on the area ends for the season.
• Harvest-objective hunts will be offered on three areas: The Wasatch Mountains, Currant Creek, Avintaquin unit in north central Utah, the Beaver unit in southwestern Utah and the Nine Mile unit in southeastern Utah.
  The spring hunts on some of Utah’s bear hunting units will run a little longer this year. The longer spring seasons will allow biologists to put more pressure on bears in areas where livestock are often killed and campgrounds raided by bears.

More hunters can hunt black bears in Utah this year. Photo by Lynn Chamberlain

Protecting the bears
In addition to providing some new hunting opportunities, the new plan provides bears with some important safeguards:

In the past, Shivik says three hunting-related factors have been used to determine the health of Utah’s bear population—the percentage of bears taken that are female, the average age of the bears taken and the number of adult bears that survive each hunting season.

You won’t find those three factors in the new plan. Instead, biologists are focusing on two key factors: the number of female bears and the number of adult male bears that hunters take.

(An adult male bear is a bear that’s five years of age or older.)

Shivik says the number of females and the number of adult males hunters take gives important information about how a bear population is doing:

The number of females hunters take is important because females give birth to cubs and then care for the cubs after they’re born.

“But the best early indicator we have about the health of a bear population is the number of adult males hunters take in relation to the number of females,” Shivik says.

Shivik says adult males wander more than other bears. The wandering the adult males do helps bear populations expand.

Because they wander more, adult males are also the bears hunters usually encounter first.

If biologists see that the number of adult males hunters are taking is going down—and the number of females is going up—they know the bear population in the area is declining.

“Once hunters start finding more females,” Shivik says, “we know the population is declining in number.”

In addition to the number of female bears and adult male bears hunters take, biologists are also using two important bear studies to monitor the health of Utah’s bear population:

One study involves snagging hair from bears at sites across Utah. After the hair is snagged, DNA tests are used to determine how often the bears that left the snagged hair visited the sites. This study is helping biologists measure how fast or slow the state’s bear populations are growing.

In the second study, biologists visit bear dens in the winter to see how many cubs are in the dens. The biologists also assess the health of the cubs and their mothers. This study is giving biologists important information about the number of new bears that are being brought into Utah’s population each year.

New Jersey Outdoor Alliance

TRENTON, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- After reading about New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel’s belief that a bear hunt is unwarranted and unfounded because it will not help to manage bears in New Jersey (op-ed, “Unbearable hunt,” Dec. 8), as well as similar comments from others in the animal rights community, it occurred to me that one has to overlook some very compelling evidence to the contrary in order to cultivate such faith.

To reach the animal activists’ conclusion, one must disagree with the findings of both a Superior Court and Appellate Court judge, each having ruled that the state of New Jersey had put together a viable, comprehensive bear management plan. The two courts agreed that the hunt should proceed.

People would also need to turn a deaf ear to avoid hearing the pervading wisdom of biologists, wildlife managers and state agencies across America that argue persuasively in favor of hunting as one of several necessary bear management tools.

To agree with the conclusion of animal activists, one must close one’s eyes to the negative psychological effects associated with human-bear conflicts in residential, commercial and camping venues. It also requires an exceptional degree of callousness to ignore claims of economic loss caused by bears to agriculture-related businesses. This insensitivity would also extend to financial harm that would befall employers and employees of hotels, camps and other businesses as a result of lost tourism should a bear-human conflict result in injury or worse.

To agree with the animal activists requires one to show complete disregard for human safety. We would have to be ignorant about the ways black bears respond to periods of declining food sources and lack understanding about the perils associated with bear habituation — the reasons for increased bear-human conflicts. They may, in fact, also be the cause of recent livestock and pet deaths by black bears as well as reported physical encounters between bears and humans.

Animal activists want to promote the rights of bears, but to do so at the expense of the public health is emotional thinking. Difficulty distinguishing between emotions and thoughts may be the reason for animal activists’ sensational claims that the bear hunt is a grand conspiracy of New Jersey’s governor to curry favor with hunters, roll back environmental progress and turn the Garden State over to developers and polluters. Regardless of their origins, they are radical accusations.

Emotional thinking may also be the spark that ignited a handful of activists to hold a bear hunt protest in Trenton last week. They lectured using spurious claims based on manipulated data and research. They even earned the Truth-O-Meter “Pants on Fire” rating from truth watchdog PolitiFact for their claim that 99 percent of New Jerseyans are against the bear hunt.

Finally, for the animal activist to believe that, during a time of dwindling habitat and prolific bear population expansion, bear-human conflict can be managed solely by garbage containment and public education is to defy common sense and rely on wishful thinking. While limiting food sources and educating the public about black bears is useful, it does nothing to address the primary reasons for increased bear-human conflicts: growth of the bear population, loss of habitat and habituation.

Hunting is the tool that addresses these causes.

The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance believes that a black bear hunt is a responsible, pragmatic, environmentally sound, science-based method for bringing the black bear population in line with the cultural carrying capacity of available habitat, which is the goal of environmental stewards. It also provides food for the hunter and his or her family while aversively conditioning bears, which provides a measure of lasting public safety.

Anthony P. Mauro is chairman and co-founder of the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance, New Jersey Outdoor Alliance Conservation Foundation and New Jersey Outdoor Alliance Environmental Projects, dedicated to conservation and environmental stewardship.

JOIN NJOA: http://www.njoutdooralliance.org/support/njoa.html

About:
NJOA – The mission of New Jersey Outdoor Alliance is to serve as a grassroots coalition of outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen dedicated to environmental stewardship. We will champion the intrinsic value of natural resource conservation – including fishing, hunting and trapping, among opinion leaders and policy makers. We will support legislation, and those sponsoring legislation, that provides lasting ecological and social enrichment through sustainable use of the earths resources. Visit: www.njoutdooralliance.org

Photo by Chris Wyman Photography Highland Lakes, NJ Fish & Wildlife worker Linda Morschauser is dwarfed by the heaviest and perhaps largest black bear ever recorded in New Jersey. At the Franklin check-in station on Friday, the final official live weight estimate for the bruin was 829.5 pounds. The bear was taken in the woods about 1/2-mile from Jefferson High School. / Chris Wyman

AmmoLand Gun News

JEFFERSON, NJ --(Ammoland.com)-A Morris County deer hunter who shot one of the biggest black bears taken in North America was disappointed.

“I would have traded getting two bucks instead of the bear,” said Bruce Headley, 62, of Weldon Road, Milton. Headley’s 829-pound live weight black bear was one of fewer than a dozen over 800 pounds in 35 states and most of Canada.

Bruce and his family prefer venison, but he missed a shot at a buck on opening day of bear and deer season, Dec. 5, at the 150-acre property that has been in his family for nine generations. It abuts the 3,200-acre Mahlon Dickerson Reservation, Morris County’s biggest park.

Headley had seen the big bruin in his backyard in late September “under a yellow delicious apple tree shoving apples into its mouth,” about half a mile from Jefferson High School. He wasn’t hunting for it, but was one of 7,294 other hunters who bought $2 bear hunting permits.

The next time he saw the giant bear was at 11:15 a.m. Dec. 9 while at his deer stand in the woods where he’d been since before daybreak, about three-eighths of a mile behind his house.

Neighbor John Pessagno, hunting about 350 yards away, called him on his cellphone after 11 a.m. to tell him five does had passed and were heading toward him. Headley saw only one doe come and bed down nearby.

“I was looking to see if a buck might be coming when I saw the bear coming up an old tote road,” Headley said. “I waited till he came to a clearing about 45 yards away, and when he did, I shot at him; I knew I hit it at least three times.”

After the bruin went 50 yards and dropped in a rocky, small ravine, Headley called neighbor Gordon Galfo, who drove over with his four-wheeler, then got Adam, Headley’s 21-year-old son, and Passagno, to help.

They chainsawed a path to the bear, used a “come-along” — a hand-operated crank with a cable — and pulled the bear up on a heavy-duty plastic rescue sled. They next picked it up with a front-end loader and put it onto Galfo’s pickup truck for the drive to the Franklin bear checking station.

It took them about three hours to get the bear out, including getting the equipment and help and clearing the path.

“It took longer to get organized than to get it out,” said Headley, who has hunted since he bought his first license at age 14.

He donated the big bear to the Division of Fish and Wildlife, which hopes to have it mounted and displayed at the Pequest Natural Resource Education Center, so others can see the biggest bear ever taken in New Jersey.

“If the hunter wants to donate the bear and the conservation groups are willing to cover the cost of having it mounted, I think the Pequest Natural Resource Education Center would be a great location,” said Division of Fish and Wildlife Director David Chanda.

“It would be a nice compliment to our conservation education programs,” he added. “After all, the black bear represents a truly remarkable success story.

“Especially when you consider that they were all but wiped out by the industrial revolution in the early 1900s, and now as a result of tremendous habitat and management programs developed by professional wildlife biologists, black bears have been sighted in all 21 counties and will forever remain a part of New Jersey’s landscape.”

Bear Biologist Kelcey Burguess of the Division brought it to Wildlife Preservations in Woodland Park, formerly West Paterson, the studio of famed taxidermist George Dante, whose work is on display worldwide.

Dante’s clients include permanent and traveling exhibits of the Museum of Natural History, the Bronx Zoo, and dozens of museums and zoos. The New Jersey Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs has offered to pay for Dante’s work on the bear.

The day before Headley brought his bear the Franklin checking station off Route 23 — driving past anti-hunting demonstrators who shouted and made [rude] gestures at successful hunters — John Noon of Sussex had brought in 776-pound bear he shot in Stokes State Forest. That bear was a record until Headley’s bear was weighed.

Hunters killed 469 bears in this year’s hunt that coincided with the six-day December firearms deer hunt, fewer than the 592 killed during the 2010 bear hunt, because fog, heavy rain and warm weather reduced the harvest this season. About 800 cubs are usually born every January.

Hunters had to bring their bears to one of five check-in stations where biologists extracted a bear’s tooth to age the animal, took a DNA sample, weighed and measured the bears and determined the location of where the bear was shot.

The division is preparing on a comprehensive report on this year’s season, which again included bears known to have caused damage and other problems. New Jersey’s bears annually cause tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage by breaking into homes, killing pets and livestock, damaging crops and preventing many homeowners from feeding birds or leaving barbecue grilles or garbage outdoors.

For this year’s successful bear season, 7,502 hunters bought 9,082 permits and had a 6-percent success rate, harvesting 140 male bears; 329 females. Of these, 19 percent had been handled during year by biologists: 311 in Sussex; Warren, 98; Passaic, 25; Morris, 33; Bergen, 1, and Hunterdon, 1.

The largest bear shot during the 2010 hunt had an estimated live weight of more than 750 pounds (651 pounds when field dressed) and was taken in Montville Township, near the Boonton border.
Heavyweight Contenders

Garden State adult male American black bears (Ursus americanus) weigh on average 400 pounds. Males are called boars; females, called sows, average 175. Headley’s bear was a boar. Cubs are born in January and most weigh an average of 80 pounds by their first December. Sows aggressively chase their cubs when the reach ages of 16-18 months, so they can breed again.

Pennsylvania’s state record bear, estimated at 879 lbs., was shot in 2010 in Pike County, but weighed 700 lbs. on June 7, 2009, when it was caught, tagged, weighed and released by N.J. bear research biologists off Old Mine Road, in Hardwick Township, Warren County. Six bears heavier than 800 pounds have been shot by hunters in Pennsylvania since 1992.

The U.S. record wild black bear, shot in North Carolina in November 1998, had fattened by eating discards near a pig farm. It weighed 880 lbs. A 805-pound black bear was killed by a hunter in Manitoba, the province where one that was 856.5 lbs was killed when struck by a vehicle on a road near Winnipeg in 2001.

New York’s record black bear, shot in Franklin County in the Adirondacks in 1975, weighed 750 lbs.

Bears can grow as big as 900 in captivity if they’re overfed, which is what happened to the wild one that roamed last year in Pike County, Pa., and had been fed by workers at the Fernwood Resort. The Monroe County hunter who shot it with a crossbow said he didn’t know that.

2011 Black Bear Season Harvest Data

(Below is is preliminary harvest information and subject to revision.)

Black Bear Harvest by Bear Hunting Area

Bear Harvest by Check-in Station

Jim Stabile

About Jim Stabile:
Jim has been writing about the outdoors since 1961 and is a current contributor to Gannett Sunday Papers. Jim was an editor at Outdoor Life Magazine in NYC and the editor of Michigan Out of Doors Magazine. He is currently an Officer in the New York Metropolitan Outdoor Press Association and still an active hunter, enjoying success in his 61st year of deer hunting.

Anti-Hunting BEAR Group Receives Pants on Fire Liar Award

AmmoLand Gun News

New Jersey --(Ammoland.com)- Today, December 8th 2011, the New Jersey Star Ledger News Paper featured a story calling out a small group of radical New Jersey Animal Rights activist for a blatantly lying to show support for their cause.

The BEAR Group, who’s website continued to claim that they have the support of 99% of New Jersey residents, received the papers “Pants On Fire” award for lying.

From the article:

“Our ruling

A black bear advocacy group claimed on its website that 99 percent of New Jersey voters oppose hunting.

That number is way off. The organization acknowledges it’s wrong, but late in the afternoon on Dec. 7, more than a day after PolitiFact New Jersey initially contacted the group, the statement was still on the website — even after Jones said a webmaster would be notified to change it.

The statement drops to the ridiculous level for that reason, earning a Pants on Fire!”

Read the story here: http://tiny.cc/by8i1

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA --(Ammoland.com)- Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today announced preliminary bear harvest results from the state’s three recently concluded seasons show that hunters harvested 3,968 bears, which would rank the total harvest as the second highest in Pennsylvania history.

The preliminary breakdown of harvest by season is: 257 bears taken during the statewide, five-day archery bear season; 3,154 bears taken during the four-day bear season, which included a Saturday-opener; and 557 bears taken during the extended bear season held in various Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) during all or portions of the first week of the deer season.

Official total bear harvest figures won’t be available until early 2012, after a detailed review of each harvest report is completed. Preliminary bear harvest totals do change occasionally by a few bears.

In the 2005 bear season, hunters harvested a record 4,164 bears. The harvest record was set in a three-day statewide season and a six-day extended bear season in five WMUs.

Other recent bear harvests include: 3,090 in 2010; 3,512 in 2009; 3,458 in 2008; 2,362 in 2007; 3,124 in 2006; 2,976 in 2004; 3,000 in 2003; 2,686 in 2002; 3,063 in 2001; 3,075 in 2000; 1,740 in 1999; and 2,598 in 1998.

The preliminary bear harvests by Wildlife Management Unit (with 2010 figures in parentheses) were: WMU 1A, 13 (11); WMU 1B, 60 (42); WMU 2A, 2 (1); WMU 2B, 1 (0): WMU 2C, 223 (307); WMU 2D, 150 (145); WMU 2E, 69 (93); WMU 2F, 344 (199); WMU 2G, 1,070 (892); WMU 3A, 464 (198); WMU 3B, 453 (232); WMU 3C, 170 (108); WMU 3D, 331 (256); WMU 4A, 75 (135); WMU 4B, 70 (53); WMU 4C, 139 (90); WMU 4D, 259 (244); WMU 4E, 72 (31); WMU 5A, 1 (0); WMU 5B, 1 (0); and WMU 5C, 1 (2). The only WMU not to record a harvest was WMU 5D, comprised of Philadelphia, and portions of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.

Bears were harvested in 54 of the state’s 67 counties. The top five bear harvest counties this year, once again, all come from the Northcentral Region. The top county was Tioga, with 343 (183 in 2010); followed by Potter, 327 (148); Lycoming, 291 (228); McKean, 246 (92); and Clinton 198 (248).

Preliminary county harvests by region (with 2010 figures in parentheses) are:

• Northwest: Warren, 119 (54); Forest, 90 (47); Venango, 54 (56); Clarion, 45 (47); Jefferson, 45 (33); Crawford, 16 (10); Butler, 9 (12); Erie, 7 (3); and Mercer, 6 (2).
• Southwest: Somerset, 75 (83); Fayette, 67 (101); Armstrong, 66 (56); Indiana, 33 (42); Cambria, 30 (18); Westmoreland, 24 (62); and Allegheny, 1 (0).
• Northcentral: Tioga, 343 (183); Potter 327 (148); Lycoming, 291 (228); McKean, 246 (92); Clinton, 198 (248); Elk, 150 (89); Clearfield, 143 (182); Centre, 110 (118); Cameron, 95 (138); and Union, 40 (46).
• Southcentral: Huntingdon, 65 (95); Bedford, 54 (84); Mifflin, 47 (41); Juniata, 32 (19); Blair, 29 (31); Snyder, 26 (19); Fulton, 15 (11); Franklin, 13 (8); Perry, 13 (17); Cumberland, 4 (1).
• Northeast: Sullivan, 177 (57); Wayne, 139 (82); Bradford, 122 (38); Pike, 116 (122); Luzerne, 95 (58); Monroe, 87 (57); Wyoming, 55 (22); Susquehanna, 51 (41); Carbon, 43 (35); Columbia, 24 (20); Lackawanna, 22 (16); and Northumberland, 7 (3).
• Southeast: Dauphin, 46 (20); Schuylkill, 34 (27); Lebanon, 13 (7); Northampton, 4 (7); Lehigh 3 (0); and Berks, 2 (2).

According to preliminary reports, 81 bears weighing 500 pounds or more were legally harvested during the three seasons. The top 10 bears processed at check stations all had estimated live weights that exceeded 678 pounds.

Joseph C. Colyer, of Pocono Lake, harvested the largest bear, a male that weighed 767 pounds (estimated live weight). The bear was taken in Tobyhanna, Monroe County, at 6:50 a.m. on Nov. 16, with a crossbow during the archery bear season.

Other large bears (all estimated live weights) included: a 746-pound male, taken by Jonathan E. Byler, of Ulysses, in Ulysses, Potter County, on Nov. 19; a 734-pound male, taken by Steven Camasta, of Lakeview, in Salem Township, Wayne County, on Nov. 19; a 733-pound male, taken by John J. Hennick, of Cambria, in Bell Township, Clearfield County, on Nov. 19; a 733-pound male, taken by Robert Christian, of East Stroudsburg, in Stroud, Monroe County, on Nov. 30; a 729-pound male, taken by William Simpson, of East Brady Township, in Highland Township, Elk County on Nov. 21; a 714-pound male, taken by Timothy Kiser, of Karns City, in Bradys Bend Township, Armstrong County on Nov. 19; a 706-pound male, taken by Paul Hoyt, of Levittown, in Lehigh Township, Wayne County on Nov. 19; a 682-pound male, taken by Robert M. Serfass, of Saylorsburg, in Lehman, Pike County, on Nov. 23; and a 678-pound male, taken by Matthew Romano, of Conshohocken, in Fox Township, Sullivan County, on Nov. 19.

New & Expanded Hunting at Rockport Game Farm In Warren County NJ

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife informs hunters that the refuge status for the Rockport WMA will be lifted to allow deer and bear hunting beginning December 5, 2011.

As always, the Game Farm proper (area around the pens and buildings) remains closed to all hunting.

The pheasant refuge status for the 380 acre area posted as restricted remains and is closed to pheasant hunting. It is hoped that additional pheasants can be recovered in the coming months as breeding stock for next year’s production.

A map of the portion of the WMA that remains closed to pheasant hunting can be viewed at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2011/rockport-refuge-map.pdf .

The area includes the parcels on either side of Rockport Road contiguous with the Game Farm buildings and pens upslope to and including the power line right of way.

Bear Hunt Needed In New Jersey

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- A state court has upheld the validity of the state’s Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP).

The ruling today by the Appellate Division of state Superior Court clears the way for the week-long bear hunt starting on Monday, Dec. 5.

The three-judge panel rejected arguments made by the New Jersey Animal Protection League and the Bear Education and Resource Group contending the DEP and State Fish and Game Council acted arbitrarily and/or in bad faith in creating the CBBMP, which includes an annual bear hunt as part of the integrated plan to deal with the state’s black bear population.

The bear hunt will run through Saturday, Dec. 10, to be held concurrently with the Six-day Firearm Deer Season. Bear hunting zones include large sections of Morris, Sussex, Warren, and northern Passaic counties, plus smaller areas of Hunterdon, Somerset and Bergen counties. There is a limit of one bear per licensed and registered hunter.

To view the DEP news release about the ruling visit www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2011/11_0135.htm ; for information about the 2011 black bear hunting season visit www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearseason_info.htm on the Division of Fish and Wildlife website.

New Jersey Outdoor Alliance

TRENTON, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin today said he was pleased by a state court ruling that upheld the validity of the state’s Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP).

The ruling today by the Appellate Division of state Superior Court clears the way for a week-long bear hunt that will take place in northwestern New Jersey starting on Monday, Dec. 5.

“This ruling affirms the science- and fact- based policy that we have adopted as part of a comprehensive approach to managing black bears in New Jersey,” said Commissioner Bob Martin. “The plan is a legitimate response to deal with a large black bear population and a resultant increase in public complaints about bear and human encounters. This is a public safety issue that requires responsible action by the state.”

The three-judge panel rejected arguments made by the New Jersey Animal Protection League and the Bear Education and Resource Group contending the DEP and State Fish and Game Council acted arbitrarily and/or in bad faith in creating the CBBMP, which includes an annual bear hunt as part of the integrated plan to deal with the state’s black bear population.

The bear hunt will run through Saturday, Dec. 10, to be held concurrently with the state’s six-day firearm deer hunting season. Bear hunting zones include large sections of Morris, Sussex, Warren, and northern Passaic counties, plus smaller areas of Hunterdon, Somerset and Bergen counties. There is a limit of one bear per licensed and registered hunter.

Population estimates show there are some 3,400 black bears in a 1,000 square-mile hunting area north of Route 78 and west of Route 287, with the population highest in the northwest corner of the state, which has one of the highest black bear densities in the nation. There also are a smaller but uncounted number of bears in the rest of New Jersey’s 21 counties, with reports of bear sightings occurring in the past few years in more eastern and central portions of the state.

The DEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife is seeking to stabilize and reduce the state’s black bear population, to eventually be maintained at a density that minimizes human/bear conflicts, provides for a sustainable population within suitable bear habitat, and minimizes movement of bears to unsuitable habitat in suburban and urban areas.

“We have a duty to responsibly manage wildlife populations in our state,” said Commissioner Martin. “There are a large number of black bears in New Jersey, especially in the north, which have resulted in too many bear and human encounters, more property damage, and subsequent public complaints.”

“Hunting is just one facet of our comprehensive black bear policy, and one used successfully by other states,” added Commissioner Martin. “It is important to understand that we are diligently working on many other measures designed to maintain a healthy black bear population while reducing public safety concerns.”

The CBBMP, approved in 2010, offers a common sense mix of bear management tools, including education, research, bear habitat analysis and protection, non-lethal bear management techniques and enhanced efforts to keep human food sources, especially household trash, away from bears to limit bear-human encounters. Those efforts in 2011 included the following:

• Information: Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Information and Education distributed 11,000 Know the Bear Facts brochures, 8,000 Know the Bear Facts Kids Activity Guides, 1,240 DVD copies of the “Living with NJ Black Bears” documentary film, and 64 “Understanding Black Bears” K-8 teacher classroom curriculum kits.
• Education: Fish and Wildlife continues an aggressive bear education outreach program, targeting police agencies, towns, schools, libraries, nature centers, and campgrounds. So far in 2011, DEP wildlife biologists have offered 87 black bear education programs and exhibits that were attended by 10,385 residents and officials in 16 counties.
• Trash Management: Printed materials, school curriculums, community education programs, the DEP web site, and DEP field agents are being employed to try and ensure that human food sources, especially garbage, do not unintentionally become a food source for bears. Efforts also are being made to encourage retailers to sell bear-resistant trash containers and to educate trash haulers on this issue.
• Research: Fish and Wildlife biologists captured, tagged and scientifically examined 234 bears in 2011; installed GPS radio-telemetry collars on bears captured in urban areas to monitor habitat use, movements and travel corridors; gathered extensive data on 592 bears harvested in the 2010 bear hunt; and partnered with East Stroudsburg University to study ticks carried by bears and possible transmission to humans.
• Local Partnerships: 32 police officers enrolled in DEP’s black bear response training program in 2011, bringing the total of trained officers statewide to 1,039.

“We are fully committed to this comprehensive black bear management effort, which not only protects the public but also safeguards our black bear population,” said Dave Chanda, Director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife. “That includes a continuing need to educate people who live in bear country or enjoy recreational opportunities in bear habitat areas on methods they can employ to limit the potential for negative interactions with black bears.”

More than 6,400 bear permits have been issued so far in 2011. DEP biologists predict a harvest similar to 2010, when more than 7,000 permits were issued and 592 bears were harvested.

About 20 percent of harvested bears in 2010 were considered nuisance bears, causing property damage and/or involved in bear-human incidents. The result was a 4 percent decrease in total bear complaint calls to DEP, with damage and nuisance calls down 13 percent, and Category One calls (dangerous bear incidents) down 16 percent.

• For information on the 2011 black bear hunt, visit: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearseason_info.htm
• To review the State’s Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/pdf/bear/policy_lit/cbbmp7-10.pdf
• For information on the 2010 bear harvest results, visit: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/news/2011/bearseason10_results.htm
• For more information on New Jersey’s black bears, including tips on avoiding conflicts with bears, visit www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearfacts.htm

JOIN NJOA: http://www.njoutdooralliance.org/support/njoa.html

About:
NJOA – The mission of New Jersey Outdoor Alliance is to serve as a grassroots coalition of outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen dedicated to environmental stewardship. We will champion the intrinsic value of natural resource conservation – including fishing, hunting and trapping, among opinion leaders and policy makers. We will support legislation, and those sponsoring legislation, that provides lasting ecological and social enrichment through sustainable use of the earths resources. Visit: www.njoutdooralliance.org

Wisconsin 2012 Black Bear Permit Application Deadline Dec. 10 2011

Wisconsin DNR

MADISON, WI --(Ammoland.com)- Black bear hunters have until close of business on Dec. 10 to apply for available permits for the 2012 black bear hunting season.

Applications for the black bear permit drawing cost $3 and may be purchased through the Online Licensing Center on the DNR website, at all authorized license agents, at DNR Service Centers (Hours for service centers vary; check the DNR website for service center days and hours of operation; DNR Service Centers are not open on Saturdays), or by calling toll-free 1-877-LICENSE (1-877-945-4236).

The 2012 black bear season begins Sept. 5, the first Wednesday after Labor Day, and runs through Oct. 9. The opening week of Wisconsin’s bear hunting season alternates – allowing those who hunt over bait to go first one year and those who hunt with the aid of dogs to go first the next year.

In 2012, hunters who hunt over bait will go first in all management zones; the season for those hunting with the aid of dogs or using other methods will open Sept. 12 in zones that allow hunting with the aid of dogs (A,B, and D). In Zone C, where hunting with dogs is prohibited, hunters may hunt bear over bait or by other means not using dogs from September 5th through Oct. 9.

There were 27,793 hunters who submitted applications for the 9,005 Class A bear harvest permits available for the 2011 bear season. A total of 103,853 hunters applied for either a harvest permit or a preference point in 2011.

Applicants currently need to have collected between four and nine preference points in order to successfully draw a bear harvest permit. Hunters can check their preference point status in one of three ways: by visiting the Online Licensing Center, by calling Customer Service & Licensing toll-free at 1-888-WDNRINFo (1-888-936-7463), or by contacting a local DNR Service Center.

The bear drawing is held each year in early February. Drawing winners will be notified via U.S. Mail shortly after the drawing. Drawing winners may purchase their 2012 Class A bear license beginning March 7, the start of the 2012 license year.

Total permit availability for the 2012 black bear season has not yet been determined. Proposed quota and permit levels will be taken up by the State Natural Resources Board at its January 2012 meeting.

More information on black bear hunting is available on the DNR website.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Linda Olver, Assistant Big Game Specialist – (608) 261-7588

Utah Division of Natural Resources

Utah --(Ammoland.com)- If you like to hunt bears, you might have opportunities in 2012 that you’ve never had before in Utah.

A new bear management plan is making the new opportunities possible. The Utah Wildlife Board approved the plan earlier this year.

John Shivik, game mammals coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says the plan has opened the door to some new hunting options.

“At the same time,” Shivik says, “the plan provides some important safeguards to keep the state’s bear populations healthy and safe.”

All of the changes the DWR is recommending for Utah’s 2012 bear hunts are available online. The following are some highlights:

Currently, most of the bears that are hunted in Utah are tracked by hounds and ran up trees. A few hunters hunt over bait using a bow and arrow. But starting in 2012, biologists are recommending that spot-and-stalk-only hunts be held in some areas in Utah.

Hunters may not use hounds or bait during spot-and-stalk hunts. Currently, all of Utah’s bear hunting areas are limited-entry areas. Only those who draw a permit for a limited-entry area can hunt on it.

Starting in 2012, biologists would like to offer some harvest-objective hunts too.

The number of hunters who can hunt on a harvest-objective area isn’t limited, so switching an area to harvest objective gives more people a chance to hunt the area. Letting more hunters hunt an area increases the chance that more bears will be taken.

Black bear hunters might have some new opportunities in Utah in 2012. Photo by Lynn Chamberlain

As soon as a predetermined number of bears are taken (called the area’s quota), the hunt on the area will end for the season.

The spring hunts on some of Utah’s bear hunting units might run a little longer in 2012. Having longer spring seasons allows biologists to put more pressure on bears in areas where bears often kill livestock and raid campgrounds.

Protecting the bears
In addition to opening the door to some new hunting opportunities, the new plan provides bears with some important safeguards:

In the past, Shivik says biologists have used three factors to determine the health of Utah’s bear population—the percentage of bears taken by hunters that are female, the average age of the bears taken and the number of adult bears that survive in Utah from year to year.

You won’t find those three factors in the new plan. Instead, biologists will focus on two key factors: the amount of female bears and the amount of adult males taken by hunters.

(An adult male bear is a bear that’s five years of age or older.)

Shivik says the number of females and the number of adult males that hunters take gives important information about how a bear population is doing: The number of females hunters take is important because females give birth to cubs and then care for the cubs after they’re born.

“But the number of adult males hunters take is the best early indicator we have about the health of a bear population,” Shivik says.

Shivik says adult males wander more than the other age groups. Because they wander more, adult males are the bears hunters usually encounter and take.

If biologists see that the number of adult males hunters are taking is going down—and the number of females is going up—they know the bear population in the area is in decline.

“Once hunters start finding females, instead of the males they normally encounter first,” Shivik says, “we know the population is declining in number.”

In addition to the number of female bears and adult male bears hunters take, biologists are also using two important bear studies to determine the health of Utah’s bear population:

One study involves snagging hair from bears at sites across Utah. After the hair is snagged, DNA tests are used to determine how often the bears that left the snagged hair are visiting the sites. This study is helping biologists measure how fast or slow the state’s bear populations are growing.

In the second study, biologists visit bear dens in the winter to see how many cubs are in the dens and to assess the health of the cubs and their mothers.

This study is giving biologists important information about the number of bears that are being brought into Utah’s population each year.

Learn more, share your ideas
After you’ve reviewed the DWR’s ideas, you can let your Regional Advisory Council members know your thoughts by attending your upcoming RAC meeting or by sending an email to them.

RAC chairmen will share the input they receive with members of the Utah Wildlife Board. The board will meet in Salt Lake City on Jan. 12 to approve rules for Utah’s 2012 bear hunting and pursuit seasons.

Dates, times and locations for the RAC meetings are as follows:

• Southern Region

Dec. 6, 7 p.m.
Beaver High School
195 E Center Street, Beaver

• Southeastern Region

Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m.
John Wesley Powell Museum
1765 E Main Street, Green River

• Northeastern Region

Dec. 8, 6:30 p.m.
Bingham Entrepreneurship and Energy Research Center
320 N Aggie Blvd (2000 W), Vernal

• Central Region

Dec. 13, 6:30 p.m.
Central Region Conference Center
1115 N Main Street, Springville

• Northern Region

Dec. 14, 6 p.m.
Weber State University, Shepherd Union Building, Rooms 404A and 404B
3848 Harrison Blvd, Ogden

Email
You can also provide your comments to your RAC via email. Email addresses for your RAC members are available online.

The group each RAC member represents (sportsman, non-consumptive, etc.) is listed under each person’s email address. You should direct your email to the people on the RAC who represent your interest.

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is reminding hunters that over-the-counter sale of leftover and unclaimed black bear hunting permits will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, November 21.

Hunters can possess two permits each for a different zone – but the bag limit is still one bear.

The numbers of permits which will be available when the OTC sale begins are as follows:

• Bear Hunting Area 1: 328
• Bear Hunting Area 2: 1,729
• Bear Hunting Area 3: 1,817
• Bear Hunting Area 4: 1,286

The permit availability chart will be updated continually in real time after Monday’s sale opening. The chart can be viewed at www.nj.wildlifelicense.com/ALS/unit_report.php .

A current, valid NJ Firearm or All-around Hunting License is required to purchase a permit. Sales will continue until the season ends or the permit quota is reached. There is a non-refundable processing fee of $2.00 per permit.

Permits can be purchased online at www.nj.wildlifelicense.com or at license agents. If a hunter wishes to purchase two permits they must be purchased in two separate transactions – we apologize for this inconvenience. Those purchasing permits online need to allow sufficient time for the mailed permits to arrive (up to 7-10 business days) or pay for expedited shipping.

NOTE: It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that their purchase is for the correct area(s). All permit sales are final, with no exceptions.

More information on the black bear hunting season, including the Black Bear Hunting Areas Map and Descriptions, is available on the division’s website at www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearseason_info.htm . Hunters should also refer to pages 13, 29, 60 and elsewhere in the 2011 Hunting and Trapping Digest ( www.njfishandwildlife.com/dighnt11.htm ) for additional information and regulations.

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- The 2010 Black Bear Hunting Season, held December 6-11, 2010 resulted in a total legal harvest of 592 black bears.

The season was held concurrently with the 6-Day Firearm Deer Season and was open in the area north of Rt. I-78 and west of Rt. I-287.

Hunters were required to check all harvested bears at check stations staffed by Division of Fish and Wildlife personnel. Data, including sex, weight and size were collected, and a tooth was extracted for aging by Matson’s Lab, a wildlife laboratory offering cementum (tooth) aging.

The document linked below provides information on harvested bears. The bears are listed according to the number on the Possession Seal attached to each bear’s ear at the check station. The seal numbers are listed numerically, preceded by the letter “B” in the seal number which signifies the color of the seal (blue) for the 2010 season.

Several of the listed animals currently do not have ages associated with them. These teeth may have failed to provide sufficient age information or are still at our lab being analyzed.

The table will be updated as we receive any new age data from Matson’s Lab. Some animals also do not have their weight listed for one of a variety of reasons; “n/a” indicates the data is not available.

2010 Black Bear Harvest Data (pdf, 27kb)

For more information on the black bear hunting season in New Jersey, visit the Black Bear Season Information page; for additional information on black bears in the state, visit the Know the Bear Facts page.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Oakland, Md. --(Ammoland.com)- The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) closed the 2011 black bear hunting season at 9 p.m. today with hunters reporting 65 bears to mandatory check stations in Western Maryland. DNR opened the season Monday, October 24 in Garrett and Allegany counties.

“Maryland’s black bear hunters enjoyed another safe and successful hunting season,” said Harry Spiker, Game Mammal Section Leader for DNR’s Wildlife & Heritage Service. “The cool, mild weather during the first two days kept hunters in the woods and helped DNR meet its management goal in four days.”

The average live weight of the bears taken this year was 154 pounds. Colton Lucas, 12, of Kitzmiller, Md., took the largest bear of the season, a 376 pound male.

The hunt by the numbers:

• 65 bears taken
• 59 from Garrett County, 6 from Allegany County
• 154 lbs. average weight
• 69% of the bears were taken on private land
• 533 hunters participated in the hunt and 3,915 hunters applied for a permit
• 55% of the successful hunters were residents of Garrett and Allegany counties

For more information about Maryland’s black bears visit dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages nearly one-half million acres of public lands and 17,000 miles of waterways, along with Maryland’s forests, fisheries and wildlife for maximum environmental, economic and quality of life benefits. A national leader in land conservation, DNR-managed parks and natural, historic and cultural resources attract 11 million visitors annually. DNR is the lead agency in Maryland’s effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the state’s number one environmental priority. Learn more at www.dnr.maryland.gov

U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance

Columbus, OH --(Ammoland.com)- Black bears inhabit the U.S. from the lowland swamps of coastal North Carolina to the tall mountains of northern California.

While many Americans never spot a secretive black bear, more hunters and homeowners are seeing more bears in some areas of America.

Some of these persons say they are seeing too many bears.

Black bear populations are increasing in many regions of the U.S. The proof is growing. South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources recently issued guidelines for dealing with problem bears. Hunters there killed nearly 100 bears during the 2009 hunting season, and cars killed more than 20 in the same period. The state is considering expanding hunting areas and seasons to counter problem bears and rising citizen complaints.

Down in Florida, bear numbers are on the upswing and the state is working on a bear management plan. Bears are also being noted in Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and other areas where the bruins have been missing —or questionable— for decades. Louisiana brought in black bears from Minnesota and released them during the 1960s. Texas has seen bear numbers climb and now has a black bear management plan that runs through 2015.

Black bears have also been attacking humans from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park to Washington State. Some of those attacks have been deadly. Black bears are simply more numerous and widespread than other bear species, so the chances of being attacked by a black bear are higher. Black bears are also more frequently encountered around homes because they come close in search of food, such as the seeds or suet in bird feeders. Yet, grizzly attacks seem to always receive the national media attention.

If hunters seek bears and bear hunting tags, they should visit states and regions where bears are most bountiful. Much of the preferred bear habitat and hunting areas in the U.S. are along the spines of the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. The coastal northwest regions and Alaska also have many black bears—and one Alaskan carrier that can help you put a black bear in your sights is Ninilchik charters at www.ninilchik.com. In many states, bear hunting licenses are sold over the counter. Montana is one state where you will have to take —and pass— a test to distinguish between black bears and grizzlies before you can hunt.

The work of anti-hunting groups who opposed the use of bait and/or hounds to hunt bears in past years can also be blamed —or thanked— for increased bear populations that threaten humans.

About:
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. Visit www.ussportsmen.org.

National Rifle Association

FAIRFAX, Va. --(Ammoland.com)- Among the more desperate actions taken by anti-hunting groups lately is the petition, filed by Big Wildlife and NoBearHuntNV, to grant black bears in Nevada federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Nevada opened its first bear season in August of this year. No more than 20 bears (a maximum of six females) may be taken during the season, which ends in December, unless the six-female quota is reached earlier. At that point, the hunt will end regardless of the total number of bears taken. (Three females and five males have been taken thus far.)

The wildlife commission’s vote to hold the hunt was 7-1, and the only dissenter felt the quota was too low.

Between 300 and 400 bears inhabit the state, mostly in the Carson Range near Lake Tahoe, and some in the Pine Nut, Wassuk and Sweetwater mountains. The bear population is growing at about 16 percent annually.

Nearly 1,300 people applied for the 45 tags the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) made available, which generated $4,500 for the state’s wildlife conservation work. Revenue for conservation that comes from hunters is invariably a fact anti-hunters don’t mention.

NoBearHuntNV first tried a lawsuit to stop the hunt, holding the commission gave insufficient notice of a public hearing and that property values near the hunt area could be adversely affected, among other alleged failings. A state judge rejected the suit.

On September 24th, the wildlife commission voted unanimously to make the bear season permanent. This will give the NDOW the freedom to review the bear season each year and adjust the harvest quota as needed.

“It could go up or it could go down,” said NDOW’s Chris Healy.

So, having lost the lawsuit, and having science working against them, Big Wildlife and NoBearHuntNV filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have the bears in the area classified as a distinct population under the Endangered Species Act.

“It’s not up to us, but we just don’t think it will happen,” said Healy. “When we show our 15 years of data, I think it will prove this population goes across the California-Nevada border. A dotted line on a map doesn’t make a distinct population.”

So, while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service struggles to review yet another spurious petition based on emotion rather than science, the two petitioners continue to put out ridiculous statements like this one, where Big Wildlife seeks to malign sportsmen who speak up for their hunting rights:

“Also likely fuelling the issue is pressure from hunters eager for the thrill of the ‘sport’ as well as lucrative opportunities to sell bear products such as gall bladder bile and paws on the Black Market. For this reason, hunters and poachers desperately grasp for reasons to convince the State that culling the bear population is necessary.”

Absurd as this statement is, it is not exactly new for anti-hunters to label all hunters as criminals.

The fact that it’s totally untrue doesn’t matter to them. Nor does it matter their claim that black bears in Nevada need Federal protection is baseless. They know it is. All they are trying to do is demonize hunters. It is their basic fundraising tactic.

Let’s hope those reviewing this petition see these two groups for what they are: radical anti-hunters with no regard for the truth, or for the science of wildlife management.

About:
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military. Visit: www.nra.org

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Michigan --(Ammoland.com)- A 49-year-old bear hunter from Shepherd, Mich., was injured Sunday night (Sept. 11) when he was attacked in his tree stand by a female black bear in Mackinac County, west of the village of Trout Lake, the Department of Natural Resources reported today.

The hunter sustained non-life threatening lacerations to his legs and was transported to a local hospital by a member of his hunting party.

According to initial reports, the hunter was seated approximately 10 to 12 feet above the ground in a tree stand when a female bear and three cubs approached. The sow climbed up the tree and clawed at the hunter and he attempted to kick her to fend off the attack. The bear retreated momentarily, and then returned up the tree to again claw at the hunter. At that point, he was able to shoot the bear with his rifle as it was attacking him.

Investigation of the incident is ongoing by the DNR with assistance by Michigan State Police.

The black bear is the only bear species native to Michigan, with approximately 90 percent of the bear population living in the Upper Peninsula. Black bears are shy by nature, and have a fear of humans. However, a perceived threat to cubs can provoke a mother bear to attack on occasion.

For more information on bears in Michigan, including how to prevent problems between bears and humans, go to www.michigan.gov/bear.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Annapolis, MD --(Ammoland.com)- APPLY NOW! Go to www.blackbear.dnr.state.md.us .

Online applications for the Maryland Black Bear Lottery are being accepted until 11:59 p.m. (almost midnight) on Friday, September 2.

To apply, a $15 nonrefundable application fee must be submitted via credit card, check, or money order. All payments must be received by 12 p.m. on Monday, September 5, 2010. Checks and money orders should be made payable to MDDNR Black Bear and mailed to MDDNR Black Bear, P.O. Box 360, Frostburg, MD 21532.

Only one application per person will be accepted. Duplicate applications will result in disqualification and forfeiture of all fees.

Registrations will also be accepted by phone between August 22 and August 26 from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 1-888-579-6768.

• Read what last year’s hunters had to say: www.dnr.state.md.us/huntersguide/BearHunt_Testimonials.asp
• See photos from prior hunts: www.dnr.state.md.us/huntersguide/BearHunt_Photos.asp (Later this year, it could be you in one of those photos).
• For everything Maryland Black Bear, visit our online resource: www.dnr.state.md.us/huntersguide/BlackBearGuide.asp

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is accepting applications to participate in this year’s lottery for black bear hunting permits through September 2. Applications issued will be valid for this year’s black bear hunting season, which will take place October 24 through October 29.

This year’s hunt will follow the same successful model we’ve used for the previous bear hunting seasons.

The application process will follow the Preference Point System for bear hunting permit applications that DNR implemented in 2007. Hunters who apply this year will receive one entry in the random drawing as well as one additional entry for each past consecutive year they have applied.

Therefore, those hunters who applied unsuccessfully in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 will receive five entries in the drawing when they apply this year.

The following rules also apply:

• Applicants must apply each year to retain preference points. If an applicant skips a year, all preference points will be forfeited.
• Once an applicant is selected to receive a bear hunting permit in the random drawing, all preference points will be forfeited.
• If an applicant is selected in the random drawing, but forfeits the permit, all preference points will be forfeited.
• Applicants will have the opportunity to purchase a preference point. This will allow those hunters who cannot hunt in 2010 the opportunity to retain their preference points for use in future drawings.

DNR will issue 260 bear hunting permits with a quota of 55-80 bears and will close the hunt when the quota is reached. The opportunity to hunt black bears in Maryland remains limited to Garrett and Allegany counties.

New Jersey Outdoor Alliance

TRENTON, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- New Jersey’s black bear population has doubled sine 2005. Dr. Len Wolgast is an expert on black bears.

He is Professor Emeritus Wildlife Ecology and Management Rutgers University.

Dr. Wolgast is the primary author of the 2005 Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, he was a Fish and Game Council member, and is an officer of New Jersey Outdoor Alliance (NJOA). Dr. Wolgast made the following timely comments about black bear management in New Jersey:

“New Jersey presently supports a black bear population which far exceeds cultural carrying capacity the number of animals that can exist without causing too many problems for the residents of our state. The only cost effective tool that is available to reduce the bear population to a more tolerable level is hunting. The three most recent New Jersey bear seasons (2003, 2005, and 2010) have occurred under a very conservative format. They were designed to slow the growth of the bear population and gather data. It is my opinion that future bear hunting seasons will need to be designed to reduce the density of New Jersey’s bear population.”

Anthony P. Mauro, Sr, Chairman, NJOA, added, “Yesterday’s black bear attack is only one of a number that have occurred across the country during recent months. While attacks have been infrequent in New Jersey, it should act to open the public’s eyes to the fact that managing the black bear population is a serious issue and must be determined by scientists and not those who would use it for political gain.”

Mauro continued, “The media has also acted irresponsibly by substituting legitimate insights from bear biologists and wildlife experts with the gibber of animal groupies. The chase to report the thoughtless spectacles of animal rights fanatics has created a circus-like atmosphere that has detracted from the urgent need for sound wildlife management practices, a scenario that puts both bears and people in harms way. We are relieved that yesterday’s attack resulted in only minor injuries, but it should be a sobering omen to take bear management seriously.”

JOIN NJOA: http://www.njoutdooralliance.org/support/njoa.html

About:
NJOA – The mission of New Jersey Outdoor Alliance is to serve as a grassroots coalition of outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen dedicated to environmental stewardship. We will champion the intrinsic value of natural resource conservation – including fishing, hunting and trapping, among opinion leaders and policy makers. We will support legislation, and those sponsoring legislation, that provides lasting ecological and social enrichment through sustainable use of the earths resources. Visit: www.njoutdooralliance.org

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania --(Ammoland.com)- Hunters interested in learning the age of the bear they harvested during the 2010 seasons can log onto the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us).

To access the database providing this information, click on “Hunt/Trap” in the menu bar at the top of the page, then click on “Hunting,” scroll down and click on “Black Bear” in the “Big Game” listing, and then scroll down and click on “Black Bear Age Data” in the “Reference” listing.

“As a cost-cutting measure, the Game Commission no longer mails a certificate and letter to successful bear hunters notifying them of their bear’s age,” said Carl G. Roe, agency executive director.

“To maintain this valued customer service, however, we provide hunters with a certificate at the check station when their bear is processed, and information about how and when they can find the age data, which is determined by examining a tooth from the bear that is extracted as part of the check station processing, on our website.”

Ages are available only for bears from which a tooth was pulled. To access the data and learn the age of their bear, a hunter will need to have their legal seal number from the check station certificate. If the hunter no longer has the seal number, age data also is provided in charts broken down by county of harvest.

In 2010, Pennsylvania’s 161,119 licensed bear hunters took 3,090 bears, which is the state’s fifth highest harvest recorded in Pennsylvania. The record bear harvest of 4,164 was set in 2005.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Michigan --(Ammoland.com)- The Department of Natural Resources encourages youth hunters or individuals with an advanced illness* to register with the Wildlife Division to receive a donated bear hunt. These hunts are donated by individuals who were selected in the 2011 bear drawing but will not be participating in the hunt.

Youth hunters, ages 10 – 16, who applied for the 2011 bear drawing but were not selected are eligible to receive a donated bear hunt. Any person who has been diagnosed with an advanced illness is also eligible.

The DNR maintains a waiting list for donated bear hunts. Persons interested in being placed on the list should contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-241-1971.

Placement on the list applies only to the current license year and does not guarantee the individual will receive a donated hunt. For more information, please visit www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.

*NOTE: The Public Health code, Act 368 of the Public Acts of 1978, Section 333.5653, defines “Advanced Illness” as — A medical or surgical condition with significant functional impairment that is not reversible by curative therapies and that is anticipated to progress toward death despite attempts at curative therapies or modulation, the time course of which may or may not be determinable through reasonable medical prognostication.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Michigan --(Ammoland.com)- The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters who applied for the 2011 bear drawing to check their drawing results at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings.

This web page also has information for successful applicants who wish to donate their hunt to an eligible youth or person with an advanced illness.

There are a total of 829 leftover bear licenses available in two bear management units/seasons; 672 licenses for the third hunt in the Bergland Unit (Sept. 25 – Oct. 26) and 157 licenses for the third hunt in the Carney Unit (Sept. 25 – Oct. 26).

These licenses may be purchased online or from any license agent on a first-come, first-served basis on the following dates:

• Holders of Lifetime Comprehensive Licenses may purchase a leftover license beginning at 10 a.m. Monday, July 11.
• Unsuccessful applicants may purchase a leftover license beginning at 10 a.m. Monday, July 18.
• Any hunter may purchase a leftover license beginning at 10 a.m. Monday, July 25 including those who did not apply.

Hunters are reminded that their preference points will reset to zero if they purchase a leftover license, except for Lifetime Comprehensive License holders.

Hunters have an additional opportunity to get a bear license by applying for the 2012 Pure Michigan Hunt drawing. Each application is $4 and you may apply as many times as you like. Three lucky winners will receive a hunt package that includes an elk, bear, turkey, and antlerless deer license. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/puremichiganhunt. Season dates and regulations have not yet been established for the 2012 hunting seasons.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.

New Jersey Black Bear

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife has released the final results of the 2010 Black Bear Hunting Season, held December 6-11, 2010.

The season was held concurrently with the 6-Day Firearm Deer Season and was open in the area north of Rt. I-78 and west of Rt. I-287. The hunting season resulted in a total legal harvest of 592 black bears.

The season is one component of the state’s Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, along with education, a bear feeding ban, aversive conditioning and other strategies. Hunters are required to check in harvested bears which provides a sample for population estimation purposes.

During 2010, division biologists and technicians tagged 333 bears in preparation for the season, of which 299 were available for harvest prior to the season opening. Fifty-four (54) of these bears were harvested. Using this data, the population was estimated to be approximately 3,278 in the area open to hunting, a figure very close (less than 4.8% difference) to the previously determined estimate (3,438) based on the East Stroudsburg University DNA study.

These two estimates are very similar; the difference can be attributed to the different methods used to calculate the population estimates.

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.

Males made up 40% of the harvest (239) and females comprised 60% of the harvest (353), which is the same male/female ratio of the population observed through the research and control activities of division biologists.

The average field dressed weight of females over 1 year old was 179 pounds, with a range of 86 to 410 pounds. The average field dressed weight of male bears over 1 year old was 257 pounds with a range of 114 to 651 pounds. The largest adult male had an estimated live weight of over 750 pounds (651 pounds dressed) and was taken in Montville Township, Morris County.

No hunting accidents were reported during the season. The 2011 black bear hunting season is again scheduled concurrently with the Six-day Firearm Deer Season, December 5-10.

For more information on New Jersey’s black bears, including tips on avoiding conflicts with bears, visit www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearfacts.htm on the division’s website.

Safari Club International Foundation

Washington, D.C. --(Ammoland.com)- Safari Club International (SCI) applauds the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife for holding a hearing addressing Congressman Don Young’s (R-AK) legislation allowing the importation of approximately 40 polar bears.

Young’s bill, HR 991, will amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to authorize the Secretary to issue import permits for polar bears taken legally from approved populations in Canada prior to the importation ban imposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on May 15, 2008.

The ban deprived these individuals of their rightful property. HR 991 would help rectify this unfortunate situation by allowing only the importation of these already harvested polar bears. The bill would not authorize the importation of bears hunted in the future.

“The harvest of these animals provided important income to local native communities, thus supporting sustainable use conservation of this species. The bears were harvested based on quotas reflecting the appropriate levels of sustainable take as determined by Canadian wildlife experts,” said SCI President Kevin Anderson. “These already harvested bears now provide no conservation value as they sit in cold-storage in Canada.”

Importation of these trophies under H.R. 991, will generate up to $45,000 in additional permit fees (under MMPA Section 104(c)(5)(B)) to use for conservation and research activities for the U.S. and Russian polar bear populations. Although these important conservation benefits are lost by preventing these imports, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has determined that the law prevents it from issuing these once-routine import permits.

“I’d like to thank Congressman Don Young for reintroducing this bill on behalf of the sportsmen community. We appreciate his continued commitment to this important issue,” concluded Anderson.

Safari Club International, along with 23 other hunting and wildlife conservation organizations, have already sent a letter to Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Member Edward Markey of the House Committee on Natural Resources communicating our strong support of H.R. 991.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service supports allowing imports for those hunters who both hunted and submitted a permit application prior to the listing on May 15, 2008. International Fund for Animal Welfare testified in opposition to H.R. 991. The FWS’s refusal to fully support HR 991 and IAFW’s complete opposition to this legislation undercuts the sustainable funding of polar bear research that U.S. hunters have provided for over 10 years.

Learn more about protecting hunting at www.hunterdefensefund.org.

About the Hunters’ Defense Fund:
Safari Club International Hunters’ Defense Fund supports the important advocacy, conservation and legal work keeping hunters afield and promoting hunting worldwide. Donations to the Hunters’ Defense Fund have a direct impact on our freedom to hunt, wildlife conservation policy and important legislative, regulatory and legal issues. DONATE NOW: www.hunterdefensefund.org

Becoming an SCI Member:
Joining Safari Club International is the best way to be an advocate for continuing our hunting heritage and supporting worldwide sustainable use conservation, wildlife education and humanitarian services. JOIN NOW: www.safariclub.org/Join.

Safari Club International – First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI’s approximately 200 Chapters represent all 50 of the United States as well as 106 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page www.safariclub.org or call (520) 620-1220 for more information.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Michigan --(Ammoland.com)- The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters that applications for Michigan elk and bear hunting licenses are now available through June 1.

Hunters may apply online at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings or at any retail license agent.

There will be 155 elk licenses available for the 2011 hunting season, of which 90 licenses will be distributed for the August/September hunt and 65 licenses for the December hunt. The October hunt period will not be utilized during the 2011 season. The August/September hunt is designed to target elk outside the primary elk range before these elk move for the breeding season. The December hunt will occur in the core elk range and also allows additional harvest outside the core area.

Only Michigan residents are eligible to apply for an elk license. This includes qualified military personnel and full-time students attending a Michigan college or university who reside in the state during the school year.

There will be 11,742 bear hunting licenses available for the 2011 hunting season, with license quotas remaining the same as 2010. If any licenses remain after the drawing, one leftover license may be obtained on a first-come, first-served basis in July until the quota is met in each hunt period. There is no guarantee that leftover licenses will be available for any hunt unit or hunt period.

All commercial hunting guides utilizing state-owned lands in 2011 must receive written authorization. Conditions of the written authorization include, but are not limited to, carrying general liability insurance and paying an authorization fee. If you are a guide who utilizes state-owned lands, please visit www.michigan.gov/statelandpermission or call the nearest DNR Operations Service Center for more detailed information.

Hunters are reminded to apply for the Pure Michigan Hunt. Increase your odds of getting a bear and elk license by applying for the 2012 Pure Michigan Hunt drawing. Three lucky winners will receive a hunt package that includes a bear and any-elk license. By applying, you will not impact your preference points or weighted chances. Only $4 for each application; apply as many times as you would like at www.michigan.gov/puremichiganhunt.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA --(Ammoland.com)- According to official 2010 bear harvest figures released today by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, hunters took a total of 3,090, which included 269 bears during the first-ever, five-day statewide archery bear season and 2,821 bears during the statewide three-day season, which included a Saturday-opener.

This harvest ranks fifth among Pennsylvania’s annual bear harvests. In 2005, hunters set a record harvest of 4,164 bears. Other recent harvests were: 3,512 in 2009; 3,458 in 2008; 2,360 in 2007; 3,122 in 2006; 2,972 in 2004; 3,000 in 2003; 2,686 in 2002; 3,063 in 2001; and 3,075 in 2000.

In all, 11 bears taken by hunters weighed 600 pounds or more, further illustrating Pennsylvania’s status as a major bear hunting destination.

The bear harvest by Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) for both seasons (archery and 3-day), including 2009’s harvest results in parentheses, were: WMU 1A, 11 (8); WMU 1B, 42 (36); WMU 2A, 1 (0); WMU 2C, 307 (247); WMU 2D, 146 (128); WMU 2E, 94 (77); WMU 2F, 202 (282); WMU 2G, 894 (1,027); WMU 3A, 199 (255); WMU 3B, 234 (292); WMU 3C, 118 (73); WMU 3D, 284 (276); WMU 4A, 135 (125); WMU 4B, 55 (43); WMU 4C, 90 (141); WMU 4D, 245 (442); WMU 4E, 31 (58); and WMU 5C, 2 (1).

Bears were taken in 54 counties. In 2008 and 2009, bears were taken in 54 counties and, in 49 counties in 2007. Harvest by county and region, with 2009’s figure in parenthesis, were:

Northwest: Venango, 57 (33); Warren, 54 (101); Clarion, 49 (48); Forest, 47 (60); Jefferson, 34 (59); Crawford, 10 (8); Butler, 12 (13); Mercer, 2 (3); and Erie, 3 (0).

Southwest: Fayette, 101 (72); Somerset, 83 (72); Westmoreland, 62 (65); Armstrong, 56 (44); Indiana, 43 (33); and Cambria, 18 (19).

Northcentral: Clinton, 250 (295); Lycoming, 230 (280); Tioga, 184 (217); Clearfield, 182 (135); Potter, 148 (181); Cameron, 138 (214); Centre, 119 (148); McKean, 92 (142); Elk, 89 (121); and Union, 46 (51).

Southcentral: Huntingdon, 95 (110); Bedford, 84 (65); Mifflin, 43 (64); Blair, 31 (44); Juniata, 19 (33); Snyder, 19 (23); Perry, 17 (8); Fulton, 11 (16); Franklin, 8 (5); and Cumberland, 1 (0).

Northeast: Pike, 134 (117); Wayne, 93 (49); Monroe, 69 (77); Luzerne, 58 (56); Sullivan, 57 (68); Susquehanna, 41 (30); Bradford, 38 (74); Carbon, 35 (66); Wyoming, 22 (44); Lackawanna, 19 (32); Columbia, 20 (27); Northumberland, 3 (6); and Montour, 1 (1).

Southeast: Schuylkill, 27 (37); Dauphin, 20 (24); Lebanon, 7 (8); Berks, 2 (7); and Northampton, 7 (5).

Black Bears

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

OLYMPIA, Washington --(Ammoland.com)- Hunters may now purchase and submit applications for a 2011 spring black bear hunting permit, applicable to specific areas of western and eastern Washington.

To be eligible for a permit, hunters must purchase and submit an application to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) by midnight March 10.

A drawing will be held in mid-March for 370 permits in western Washington and 209 permits for hunts east of the Cascades. Permit winners will receive notification in the mail by March 31. Applicants may also check the results of the drawing at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting on the WDFW website.

To apply for a permit, hunters must purchase a special permit application and a 2011 hunting license that includes bear as a species option. Hunting licenses, bear transport tags and bear permit applications may be purchased online at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/ , by calling (866) 246-9453, or at any license vendor in the state.

Special permit applications, which require a correct hunt choice number, may be submitted online at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/ , or by calling (877) 945-3492.

Hunters interested in hunting on the Kapowsin Tree Farm should contact the tree farm before submitting an application to find out what areas are open. Those selected for the Kapowsin Tree Farm hunt must then purchase an access permit from Hancock Forest Management by calling (800) 782-1493.

Hunters selected for the Copalis hunt must obtain a Recreational Use Permit and should contact Rayonier at (360) 533-7000 during regular business hours.

More information on hunts scheduled on both sides of the state is available on page 61 in the 2010 Big Game Hunting Rules pamphlet ( http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regulations ).

Any legal weapon used during the modern firearm, archery or muzzleloader seasons can be used for spring black bear hunts. Bait or hounds are not allowed for bear hunting.

West Virginia DNR

PHILIPPI, W.Va. – -(Ammoland.com)- Three Barbour County residents have been arrested and charged with several violations of West Virginia wildlife laws involving the illegal killing of two black bears, according to Division of Natural Resources Lt. Jon Cogar.

Natural Resources Police Officer Josh Prickett, stationed in Barbour County, received a complaint regarding two dead bears hanging in a tree on Talbott Road near Route 33 in the Belington area. Officer Prickett spoke with Brandan Allen of Belington, who lives at the residence and was in possession of both bears.

The bears were checked in by two different hunters and the tags showed the bears were taken in the area of Cheat Mountain in Randolph County. Officer Prickett contacted both alleged hunters who checked the bears in during the first week of bear season in December.

While conducting the interviews, Officer Pickett determined that it was highly unlikely that alleged hunters had killed either of the bears in question because they could not remember key points of the hunt. After a second interview conducted by Officer Prickett and Sgt. Bob Waybright, they were able to prove that all parties involved fabricated their story of the bear hunt to cover up their illegal activity. Tickets were issued January 24 and 25.

• Brandan Allen, age 26 of Belington, was charged in Randolph Co. for exceeding the season limit on bear and violating the bear checking regulations. He was charged with Conspiracy to Violate Chapter 20 of the West Virginia Code (wildlife laws), Withholding Information, and Illegal Possession of Wildlife in Barbour County. Allen entered a guilty plea to the Randolph County charges and was fined a total of $2,677.60 and sentenced to 30 days in jail. The Barbour County charges are still pending.
• James Edgell, age 36 of Belington, was charged with Conspiracy to Violate Chapter 20, Withholding Information and Illegal Possession of Wildlife. These charges were filed in Barbour County. Mr. Edgell entered a guilty plea and was fined a total of $542.40.
• Kimberly Smith, age 40 of Belington, was charged with Conspiracy to Violate Chapter 20 and Withholding Information. These charges were filed in Barbour County. Smith entered a guilty plea and was fined a total of $361.60.

Wisconsin DNR

MADISON, WI --(Ammoland.com)- The 2011 Class A bear drawing is complete. Notices to successful applicants were mailed yesterday.

Applicants may check their drawing or preference point status on-line by accessing their DNR Customer account, calling DNR’s Call Center at 1-888-936-7463 (toll-free, 7 days a week, 7am-10pm), or visiting a DNR Service Center. Drawing winners may purchase their Class A bear license beginning March 9, 2011.

There were 103,853 Class A Bear license applications this year. Of the 103,853 applicants, 27,793 requested a license and 76,060 requested a preference point only.

A total of 9,005 customers were successful in this year’s bear drawing. The minimum number of preference points required to draw a license were:

• Zone A – 1,127 people with 6 points who wanted a kill tag were awarded a license and 89 with 6 points who wanted a license were NOT awarded a license. Everyone with 7 points or more got a license in Zone A.
• Zone B – 43 people with 8 points who wanted a kill tag were awarded a license and 606 with 8 points who wanted a license were NOT awarded a license. Everyone with 9 points or more got a license in Zone B.
• Zone C – 233 people with 4 points who wanted a kill tag were awarded a license and 1,161 with 4 points who wanted a license were NOT awarded a license. Everyone with 5 points or more got a license in Zone C.
• Zone D – 20 people with 7 points who wanted a kill tag were awarded a license and 917 with 7 points who wanted a license were NOT awarded a license. Everyone with 8 points or more got a license in Zone D.

Total licenses by zone: Zone A – 3,465; Zone B – 1,510; Zone C – 2,550; and Zone D – 1,480.

Read more about the 2011 bear quotas and harvest permit levels: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/weekly.asp#art2 .

You are subscribed to Black Bear for Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Wisconsin DNR

MADISON, WI --(Ammoland.com)- More than 9,000 permits will be available for the 2011 black bear season, about the same as last year.

Natural Resources Board members approved at their Jan. 26 meeting a level of 9,005 permits, nearly identical to the 2010 permit offering of 8,910, according to Linda Olver, Department of Natural Resources bear ecologist.

A bear population study completed in 2008 estimates Wisconsin’s bear population at at least 22,000. DNR biologists set the recommended 2011 harvest quota at 5,235 bears, which is the same as 2010’s quota.

That quota is based on the population estimate, the state’s bear population goal of 13,000, hunter success rates, harvest, bait station visitation rates, nuisance complaints, agricultural damage, and public input.

“This level of harvest should continue last season’s successful progress at nudging the state’s bear population toward established goals,” Olver said. “This is something we want to approach responsibly and not overshoot until we have had time to run a repeat of the 2008 population study to verify the first set of findings and evaluate bear population goals.”

A repeat of the 2008 population study will begin in spring 2011. As part of this study, the DNR is requesting that successful bear hunters submit one pre-molar tooth and a two-inch piece of rib from the bear they harvest. The success of the population study relies on the bear tooth and rib samples submitted by hunters during the next two bear seasons.

“Bear hunters who submit samples are directly contributing to bear research required to properly manage Wisconsin’s bear population,” Olver said.

Wisconsin’s preliminary 2010 black bear harvest total stands at 5,056. This number is expected to change only slightly in coming weeks as harvest data are fully entered and verified. Black bear harvests have averaged roughly 3,000 from 1998 through 2008 when quotas were based on a lower estimated bear population. In 2009, harvest increased to just over 4,000 bears when permit levels increased 57 percent. In 2010, permit levels increased an additional 22 percent.

The annual drawing for black bear harvest permits is expected to take place this week and successful permit applicants should receive notification by mail by February 15.

Just under 28,000 hunters have applied for the 9,005 permits available for the 2011 season. An additional 76,064 applied for a preference point only.

The permit breakdown by zone for 2011 is as follows: Zone A 3,465 permits; Zone B 1,510 permits: Zone C 2,550 permits; and Zone D 1,480 permits. The 2011 bear hunting season runs Sept. 7 through Oct. 11.

Bear Season

West Virginia DNR

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. – -(Ammoland.com)- West Virginia hunters harvested a record 2,392 black bears during the combined 2010 archery and firearms seasons, according to Paul Johansen, Assistant Chief in charge of Game Management for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

The preliminary harvest data for the combined seasons in 2010 was 14 percent higher than the previous record of 2,069 established in 2008.

“As predicted in the 2010 Hunting Outlook, mast conditions had a tremendous influence on this year’s record bear harvest,” said Johansen.

“Traditionally, favorable mast conditions lead to lower archery harvests. However, abundant food sources kept many bears active into early winter. In addition, there were numerous counties opened to extended hunting seasons designed to help those counties reach management objectives.”

Hunters took 454 bears during the 2010 archery season. The top five counties were Randolph (44), Preston (39), Webster (38), Fayette (33) and Nicholas (25).

Firearms hunters took a record harvest of 1,938 bears during 2010. Hunters took 462 bears in September, 309 during the concurrent buck/bear season and 1,167 during the traditional December season. Top five counties were Greenbrier (219), Pendleton (192), Randolph (190), Pocahontas (175) and Webster (135).

…

The Lion Man - Meet Ben Lily One of America’s Greatest Hunting Legends

Sporting Classics Magazine

Columbia, SC --(AmmoLand.com)-  In 1908, residents of Coahuila, Mexico, lived in fear of a large male grizzly that had laid claim to a stretch of road leading into the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Vaqueros in the region avoided moving their stock down the road, which was known as Camino Real. Those who traveled Real were faced with the possibility of a dangerous encounter with the legendary bruin.

That same year a peculiar white man drifted into Coahuila with a pack of hounds tied to his waist. The man, who was almost 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, sported a full beard and wore tattered clothes, thin leather boots and a weathered hat pulled low around his face.

Ben Lilly and Cougar Cubs 1920s

The stranger was quiet and kept to himself, carrying with him nothing more than a rifle, a large knife with an oddly shaped blade and cornmeal. The stranger was a bounty hunter, a man who made his living killing predators for profit on local ranches. Shortly after his arrival he departed down Camino Real into the Sierra Madres. He was never seen by the residents of Coahuila again. Neither was the grizzly of Camino Real.

The houndsman who killed the notorious Coahuila grizzly was Benjamin Vernon Lily. His skills as a tracker and his fearless determination in the pursuit of bears, wolves and lions would ultimately make him a legend from the swamps of Louisiana to the deserts of Arizona.

Born in Alabama in 1856, Lily worked as a blacksmith and farmer before kissing his wife and children goodbye and leaving his cotton plantation to fulfill what he believed to be his sacred duty – hunting down and dispatching what he referred to as “malefic creatures” and “varmints.”

Lily lived totally without the comforts of a home and the assurance of regular meals, opting instead to sleep on the ground or in a tree, and to eat whatever he could gather or kill. One of his favorite wild meats was mountain lion, which he ate at least in part to capture for himself some of the cat’s predatory essence.

By the beginning of the 20th century Lily was widely known as a varmint hunter and houndsman. In 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt asked Lily to join him on a bear hunt in northeastern Louisiana near the Tensas Bayou.

Roosevelt had oftentimes expressed a desire to hunt bears in the canebrakes, perhaps in part to erase the memory of a 1902 hunt in Louisiana when a bear cub was lassoed and tied to a tree, an act that left him thoroughly disgusted. (The incident would later result in stuffed bears being named “teddy bears” in honor of the President’s refusal to shoot the cub).

Shortly after Roosevelt was escorted to his camp at the edge of the swamp, Lily emerged from the dense palmetto thickets after a 24-hour walk with two of his hounds in tow. He had not eaten and he’d been without water the entire journey, because he refused to drink from the stagnant swamp.

Roosevelt collected three bears on the hunt, and this time none were bound to trees. No doubt, the President owed his successes to the skill of the wizened mountain man who quietly vanished back into the palmetto thickets at the conclusion of the hunt.

Roosevelt was obviously intrigued by the odd houndsman as he wrote a great deal about him in his journals.

“He could run through the woods like a buck, was far more enduring, and quite as indifferent to weather, though he was over fifty years old. He had trapped and hunted throughout almost all the half-century of his life, and on trail of game he was as sure as his own hounds. His observations on wild creatures were singularly close and accurate. He was particularly fond of the chase of the bear, which he followed by himself, with one or two dogs; often he would be on the trail of his quarry for days at a time, lying down to sleep wherever night overtook him; and he had killed over a hundred and twenty bears.”

Despite Lily’s peculiarities, Roosevelt was taken by his skills as a tracker and for his incredible stamina. Lily opted to follow his hounds on foot for the duration of the hunt rather than ride mules and horses.

“I never met any other man so indifferent to fatigue and hardship,” wrote Roosevelt.

Roosevelt described Lily as a “religious fanatic” and noted his peculiar habits of keeping his hounds tethered to his body while “sleeping in the fork of a tree like a turkey.”

Ben Lily’s reputation followed him as he moved westward into the Big Thicket country of Texas and on to the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona, where he spent most of the last 20 years of his life. Though he hunted most often near the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, he traveled as far north as Idaho and deep into the Sierra Madres of Mexico, always on foot. Some historians credit him with killing thousands of mountain lions and bears. Lily expert and author Dutch Salmon, however, believes a more accurate estimate was 500 cougars and 600 bears, still a sizable number of animals given their relatively wide distribution.

No mountain man of the period could match Lily’s determination and skills as a tracker. His pack, which included a mix of coonhound breeds and Catahoula leopard dogs from Louisiana, remained close beside him until the quarry was treed or bayed, at which point Lily made the kill. On occasion he followed the tracks of a bear or wolf through the night, stopping only long enough to rest his footsore dogs before continuing on.

Ben Lilly Around 1915 with Dead Cougar

For killing lions, Lily preferred his Winchester .30-30 lever action and for bears he opted for a lever gun chambered in .33 Winchester. Quite often he abandoned his rifles altogether and used a double-edged knife with an S-shaped blade that cut more easily through the heavy muscle of a bear’s chest. Lily built the knife during his blacksmithing days.

While working as a bounty hunter in Mexico, Lily reportedly cornered a rogue bear and, before dispatching it with his knife, shouted, “You are condemned, you black devil. I kill you in the name of the law.”

Wealthy oil baron W. H. McFadden, who had heard about Lily’s experiences with President Roosevelt and those in the Southwest, asked him to guide his 1925 hunting expedition from the deserts of Mexico into the Canadian Rockies. Lily, along with his favorite hound Crook, met McFadden in Mexico and led the baron on his quest for big game before abandoning the hunting party in Idaho, presumably to head back to the desert Southwest.

Most of Lily’s earnings came from ranchers who hired him to exterminate predators on their vast holdings, and his expert services commanded a high price. Despite his relative wealth, he refused to buy land or a house, possessions that he considered damaging vices that led to sin and death. Instead, he lived in the hills with his hounds, sleeping where he wanted and hunting where game numbers were high.

From age 50 to 70, Lily hunted every day of the year (except on Sundays). He remained in good health and continued pursuing lions and bears well into his 70s.

Since the time of his death, Lily has been viewed both as a legendary hunter and a shameless poacher. And while it’s true he made every effort to track down and kill predators on the ranches that paid for his services, he also had a strong bond with Ned Hollister of the U.S. Biological Survey, an organization that would later evolve into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In 1916 Lily was hired to collect animals for museums, which he gladly did, carefully preparing the skins so they could be transported by train to Washington. One specimen, a very large male grizzly killed in Arizona, remains on display at the Smithsonian Institution and is one of the last remaining examples of the now-extinct desert bear. Lily’s specimens helped scientists in identifying species unique to the Southwest, such as Mexican gray wolves and javelina.

Despite his reputation as a relentless bounty hunter, Lily faithfully adhered to a strict code of ethics. No matter the circumstances, he would not hunt or kill an animal on the Sabbath. Even when trailing wounded game, Lily would abandon the trail on Sunday and not resume his hunt until Monday morning.

After leaving his family in Mississippi, Lily sent a large sum of money earned from selling hides back East to support his wife and children. And while he had no tolerance for a hound that could not hunt, he had great appreciation and affection for any hound that hunted well. Lily carved a special plaque for his dog, Crook, which died along the Sapillo Creek in New Mexico in 1925. The plaque read:

“Here lies Crook, a bear and lion dog that helped kill 210 bears and 426 lions since 1914, owned by B. V. Lily”

Ben Lily was 80 when he died at a ranch near Silver City, New Mexico, in December 1936. A bronze plaque honoring him was placed near his favorite hunting grounds near Pinos Altos.

Lily’s eccentric lifestyle made him something of an oddity, but his incredible toughness and unmatched skills as a hunter made him the most famous houndsman ever. By forsaking those things his contemporaries considered basic comforts, he gained a knowledge of the wilderness that may never be matched. He spent his life living on his terms, hunting where he wanted, eating what he hunted and living as he pleased. He remains a unique figure in the history of American hunting.

Bear Skinner Lilly at Ben Hooks Camp in Texas

Sporting Classics Magazine Sept/Oct 2010

About:
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Travel to the best hunting and fishing destinations. Relive the finest outdoor stories from yesteryear. Discover classic firearms and fishing tackle by the most renowned craftsmen. Gain valuable knowledge from columns written by top experts in their fields: gundogs, shotguns, fly fishing, rifles, art and more.

From great fiction to modern-day adventures, every article is complemented by exciting photography and masterful paintings. This isn’t just another “how to” outdoor magazine. Come. Join us! Visit: www.sportingclassics.com

New Jersey Outdoor Alliance

TRENTON, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- Some of you know that a few weeks ago the NJOA and I were the targets of a baseless smear campaign. The Times of Trenton allowed me to respond on behalf of the quality people associated with our organization. I feel it is appropriate to share the OpEd with our supporters.

Bear hunt helped balance population, available habitat

Saturday, December 18, 2010 SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

According to opinion polls, the majority of New Jerseyans were in favor of the recent black bear culling that ended last Saturday. Even New Jersey’s highest court supported the hunt by ruling that it is “a safe, legal and responsible use of wildlife resources, as well as a legitimate and effective means to control overabundant game species in a cost-effective manner.” Also, candidate Chris Christie was voted into office with his unambiguous support of a bear culling.

The actions of a small number of people in opposition to the hunt certainly added drama, with protests and madcap tales of conspiracy between the governor and me. But these antics were designed to exploit people’s emotions; they were the sleight of hand meant to tempt our gullibility and distract us from applying reason.

The truth is that we are experiencing a burgeoning bear population at the same time as we are experiencing dwindling habitat for them. This is causing increased reports of incidents of bear-human conflict — a public health and safety issue. The solution is either to increase available habitat for bears or cull bears to bring the population in line with available habitat. Members of the vocal opposition to the culling did not offer to raze their homes and return the acreage to wilderness for the expanding bear population. In fact, they did not offer a single solution to reverse diminishing habitat. They provided only firebrand rhetoric. It took the leadership of our state’s wildlife managers, the courts and the governor to address a festering situation that is as unsuitable for bears as it is for people.

As a result of the hunt, the number of bears that were culled fell into the range projected by professionals in the field of biology and wildlife management. The use of hunting is not only a straightforward solution to reducing the bear population, it also helps to provide equilibrium to the ecosystem while supplying food to those who opt to hunt versus buying slaughtered cow, sheep, pig, turkey, fowl or fish at the food market.

A study commissioned by the Division of Fish and Wildlife and performed by wildlife biologists at East Stroudsburg University put the number of bears in two study areas of northwest New Jersey at almost 3,500. A reported 589 bears were killed during the hunt, which is 17 percent of the area’s population. In spite of the culling, biologists believe that at least 800 cubs will be born in winter dens that will emerge next spring. In other words, the culling was designed to reduce the rate of black bear population growth; there will be more black bears next year, but the number will more likely be approximately 3,700 instead of 4,300, had there been no hunt.

A few animal-rights activists bitterly blamed the Department of Environmental Protection transition team for recommending the hunt. I was a member of the transition team, and I can attest that its members were focused on “big picture” issues, not black bears. After much discussion, one of the recommendations we made was for the DEP to renew its focus on natural resource management and conservation. We envisioned a new, self-sustaining department of natural resources whose priority would be the environment and the practice of stewardship of forests and threatened and endangered species habitat. The transition team report is public information.

It makes sense that we continue to use hunting as one of the key tools to manage a balance between bear populations and available habitat. It helps to open areas for bears to recede from human contact while providing sustenance to the hunter. Hunting helps to ease the ever-increasing number of bear-human conflicts and provides a measure of public safety.

Anthony P. Mauro Sr., chairman and co-founder of the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance, writes about conservation and environmental stewardship

http://www.nj.com/opinion/times/oped/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1292654728260920.xml&coll=5

JOIN NJOA: http://www.njoutdooralliance.org/support/njoa.html

About:
NJOA – The mission of New Jersey Outdoor Alliance is to serve as a grassroots coalition of outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen dedicated to environmental stewardship. We will champion the intrinsic value of natural resource conservation – including fishing, hunting and trapping, among opinion leaders and policy makers. We will support legislation, and those sponsoring legislation, that provides lasting ecological and social enrichment through sustainable use of the earths resources. Visit: www.njoutdooralliance.org

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- The NJ DEP has announced that a state Appellate Division Court today dismissed a legal challenge to the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP), clearing the way for a week-long bear hunt that will take place in Northwest New Jersey starting on Monday.

A two-judge panel rejected a request for an injunction made by the New Jersey Animal Protection League and the Bear Education and Resource Group to prevent the State’s first black bear hunt since 2005.

“The facts and science are clear,” said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. “There are a growing number of black bears in New Jersey and a resultant increase in public complaints about bear and human encounters. This is clearly a public safety issue that requires responsible action by DEP and the Fish and Game Council.”

“Hunting is the only proven and most cost-effective method of wildlife population control, one that is utilized successfully by other states,” said Commissioner Martin.

“But understand that hunting is just one facet of our comprehensive black bear policy which also includes many other important measures designed to deal with the black bear issue.”

The CBBMP includes a common sense mix of bear management tools, including public education, research, bear habitat analysis and protection, non-lethal bear management techniques and enhanced efforts to keep human food sources, especially household trash, away from bears to limit bear-human encounters.

The two animal rights organizations sought a court order to stay the bear hunt. That legal request came a week after Commissioner Martin issued a letter that also denied their stay request for a hunt that is scheduled for a seven-county region, including parts of Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Passaic, Morris, Somerset and Bergen counties.

The bear population just in northwestern New Jersey has grown from 500 bears in 1992 to more than 3,400 bears today, and there are an uncounted number of bears that have now been encountered in all 21 New Jersey counties.

Although bear related complaints vary from year to year due to environmental factors, serious bear incidents have increased commensurate with the black bear population, up by 96 percent from 2006 through 2009, according to DEP wildlife officials. There have been 233 serious Category One encounters with aggressive black bears so far this year, an issue that requires action by the DEP to provide relief to residents in areas of the state with the densest bear population.

Since the 1980s, New Jersey’s black bear population has been increasing and expanding southward and eastward from forested areas of northwestern New Jersey. There have been increased sightings of bears this year in many suburban towns and urban areas, where black bears have not been previously been encountered.

The Fish and Game Council in July adopted the CBBMP, which includes a black bear hunting season, to deal with an overpopulation of bears and problems they are causing. The Council cited increasing damage to personal property and threats to public safety as key reasons for its vote.

The black bear hunt is scheduled to run concurrent with the six-day firearm deer hunting season, December 6-11. It will be held in portions of a 1,000 square-mile area north of Route 78 and west of Route 287 in Morris, Sussex, Warren, Passaic, Hunterdon, Bergen and Somerset counties.

• To view the court’s decision visit: http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/bearcase.pdf
• To review the State’s Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/bearpolicy10.htm
• To view specific rules and requirements for the black bear hunt, visit: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearseas10.htm

Black Bear Eating its Kill Along the NJ Turnpike

U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance

Columbus, OH --(Ammoland.com)- Earlier this week, the Bear Education and Resource Group and the Animal Protection League of New Jersey filed a lawsuit in two New Jersey Superior Courts seeking to shut down the state’s upcoming bear hunt.

The lawsuit alleges that the state’s bear management plan, which includes a hunt, was based on flawed science and that the state did not follow proper technical procedures when adopting the plan.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin denying a request by the groups to postpone the hunt. The six day hunt is set to open on Monday, December 6th.

In denying the request, Martin acknowledged that the bear hunt “is an important and necessary part of the state’s comprehensive approach to the management of its black bear population.”

“We hope that the court will see this lawsuit for what it really is…a last ditch anti-hunting effort that undermines the state’s science based management plan,” said Rob Sexton, USSA vice president of government affairs.

“The New Jersey state agency has a long history of successful wildlife management when it is allowed to do its job.”

This summer the DEP approved a bear hunt as part of the state’s overall bear management plan. The management plan, which includes both the hunt and non-lethal management tools, is meant to help control the state’s exploding black bear population.

Bear hunting in New Jersey has been under fire since 2006 when the former DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson canceled the state’s bear hunt. In response, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, along with the Safari Club International and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, filed a lawsuit against the state to challenge the decision to stop the bear hunt.

Despite two lower court rulings compelling the former Commissioner to proceed with the 2006 hunt, the state’s Supreme Court ultimately ruled the Commissioner could block the hunt.

About:
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. Visit www.ussportsmen.org.

David Price, of Cresco, Monroe County, harvested the largest bear taken during all bear seasons, which he took using a bow and arrow. The male bear weighing an estimated 875 pounds.

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA --(Ammoland.com)- With 224 bears taken during the first-ever statewide, five-day archery bear season, and 2,815 bears taken during the restructured three-day bear season, which included a Saturday-opener, Pennsylvania Game Commission preliminary harvest reports show that bear hunters harvested a preliminary total of 3,039 bears in 53 counties.

Official total bear harvest figures won’t be available until early 2011, after a detailed review of each harvest report is completed.

In the 2005 bear season, hunters harvested a record 4,164 bears. Other recent bear harvests include: 3,512 in 2009; 3,460 in 2008; 2,362 in 2007; 3,124 in 2006; 2,977 in 2004; 3,000 in 2003; 2,686 in 2002; 3,063 in 2001; 3,075 in 2000; 1,740 in 1999; and 2,598 in 1998.

For the first time, Game Commission employees working to gather data at the bear check stations were using new technology to record harvest information. This new approach was designed to improve the processing of bears so that hunters could get in and out of check stations quickly and improve accuracy in data collection. Despite this improvement in timely and accurate processing, the new system did lead to a delay in the release of harvest results.

“While we recognize there is enormous public interest in bear harvest information, our primary responsibility is to accommodate successful hunters and to record harvest information accurately and efficiently,” said Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management director. “The current number and distribution of bear check stations put virtually every successful hunter within a one-hour drive of a check station.

“We also are striving to embrace technological efficiencies for data capture and to minimize processing times. In that regard, we are headed in the right direction, as the lines at bear check stations moved much quicker this year for the hunters. We’re already looking at ways to improve the process and expedite the release of harvest data next year.”

DuBrock noted that, according to the harvest data, the day-by-day archery bear harvest results are as follows: 90 bears harvested on Nov. 15; 32 on Nov. 16; 26 on Nov. 17; 23 on Nov. 18; and 53 on Nov. 19.

For the three-day general bear season, 1,751 bears were harvested on Nov. 20; 793 on Nov. 22; and 271 on Nov. 23. In 2005, when the record bear harvest of 4,164 bears was set, hunters harvested 2,026 bears on the opening of day of the three-day season. Other first-day preliminary harvests for three-day statewide seasons were: 1,897 in 2009; 1,725 in 2008; 1,005 in 2007; 1,461 in 2006; 1,573 in 2004; 1,454 in 2003;1,348 2002; 1,812 in 2001; and 1,691 in 2000.

The preliminary bear harvests by Wildlife Management Unit (with 2009 figures in parentheses) were: WMU 1A, 11 (8); WMU 1B, 42 (36); WMU 2A, 1 (0); WMU 2C, 307 (247); WMU 2D, 145 (128); WMU 2E, 93 (77); WMU 2F, 199 (282); WMU 2G, 892 (1,027); WMU 3A, 198 (255); WMU 3B, 232 (292); WMU 3C, 108 (73); WMU 3D, 256 (276); WMU 4A, 135 (125); WMU 4B, 53 (43); WMU 4C, 90 (141); WMU 4D, 244 (442); WMU 4E, 31 (58); and WMU 5C, 2 (1).

The top five bear harvest counties this year, once again, all come from the Northcentral Region. The top county was Clinton, with 248 (295 in 2009); followed by: Lycoming, 228 (280); Tioga, 183 (217); Clearfield, 182 (135); and Potter 148 (181).

Preliminary county harvests by region (with 2009 figures in parentheses) are:

• Northwest: Venango, 56 (33); Warren, 54 (101); Clarion, 47 (48); Forest, 47 (60); Jefferson, 33 (59); Butler, 12 (13); Crawford, 10 (8); Erie, 3 (0); and Mercer, 2 (3).
• Southwest: Fayette, 101 (72); Somerset, 83 (72); Westmoreland, 62 (65); Armstrong, 56 (44); Indiana, 42 (33); and Cambria, 18 (19).
• Northcentral: Clinton, 248 (295); Lycoming, 228 (280); Tioga, 183 (217); Clearfield, 182 (135); Potter 148 (181); Cameron, 138 (214); Centre, 118 (148); McKean, 92 (142); Elk, 89 (121); and Union, 46 (51).
• Southcentral: Huntingdon, 95 (110); Bedford, 84 (65); Mifflin, 41 (64); Blair, 31 (44); Juniata, 19 (33); Snyder, 19 (23); Perry, 17 (8); Fulton, 11 (16); Franklin, 8 (5); Cumberland, 1 (0).
• Northeast: Pike, 122 (117); Bradford, 38 (74); Monroe, 57 (77); Sullivan, 57 (68); Carbon, 35 (66); Luzerne, 58 (56); Wayne, 82 (49); Wyoming, 22 (44); Lackawanna, 16 (32); Susquehanna, 41 (30); Columbia, 20 (27); Northumberland, 3 (6); and Montour, 1 (1).
• Southeast: Schuylkill, 27 (37); Dauphin, 20 (24); Lebanon, 7 (8); Berks, 2 (7); and Northampton, 7 (5).

According to preliminary reports, the top 10 legal bears processed at check stations for the two bear seasons all had actual or estimated live weights that exceeded 615 pounds, and 37 bears weighing 500 pounds or more were legally harvested.

David Price, of Cresco, Monroe County, harvested the largest bear taken during all bear seasons, which he took using a bow and arrow. The male bear weighing an estimated 875 pounds was taken in WMU 3D, Monroe County, Middle Smithfield Township, at 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 15.

While many have reported this as a “record bear,” for Pennsylvania’s official Big Game Records, the Game Commission only recognizes skull measurements based on Boone & Crockett scoring methods. Although weights are not included in the Game Commission’s Big Game Records tabulations, this was the heaviest bear ever harvested in Pennsylvania.

Randy Chabol, of Somerset, Somerset County, harvested the largest bear during the regular three-day season, which was a male that had an estimated live weight of 772 pounds. The bear was taken in WMU 2C, Somerset County, Larimer Township, at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 20.

Rounding out the top 10 were: a 694-pound male (actual live weight) taken in WMU 2D, Indiana County, Armstrong Township, by Christopher Schultheis, of Kittanning, at 10 a.m. on Nov. 20; a 679-pound male (estimated live weight) taken in WMU 2C, Indiana County, West Wheatfield Township, by Ronald Chero, of Homer City, at 3 p.m., on Nov. 23; a 675-pound male (estimated live weight) taken in WMU 3D, Pike County, Blooming Grove Township, by Brett Treichler, of Kutztown, at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 20; a 666-pound male (estimated live weight) taken in WMU 2G, Centre County, Burnside Township, by David Mihalik, of Howard, at 4 p.m. on Nov. 20; a 656-pound male (estimated live weight) taken in WMU 3B, Sullivan County, Forks Township, by George Mosier III, of New Albany, at 2 p.m. on Nov. 22; a 645-pound male (estimated live weight) taken in WMU 3C, Wayne County, Clinton Township, by Diane Booths, of Lake Ariel, at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 20; a 616-pound male (estimated live weight) also taken in WMU 3C, Wayne County, Buckingham Township, by Mark Soden, of Honesdale, at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 20; and a 616-pound male (estimated live weight) taken in WMU 3D, Pike County, Porter Township, by David Mohn, of Robesonia, at 7:10 a.m. on Nov. 20.

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin today rejected a request for a stay of a scheduled Northwest New Jersey bear hunt, which is authorized under the State’s recently adopted Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP).

The Commissioner, responding to a Nov. 17 written request by the Animal Protection League of New Jersey and the Bear Education and Resource Group, declined to postpone an upcoming six-day hunt scheduled for a seven-county region, including parts of Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Passaic, Morris, Somerset and Bergen counties, that is scheduled to start Dec 6.

“The facts are clear, we have an overpopulation of black bears in New Jersey, and we must address that issue,” said Commissioner Martin. “A regulated black bear hunt is one important and necessary tool to deal with the growing number of bears, as part of the State’s overall, comprehensive approach to managing its black bear population.”

The most recent black bear population estimate for the portion of New Jersey north of Interstate 80 is approximately 3,400 animals, which is a marked rise from less than 500 in the mid-1990s. Bears also have been reported in all 21 counties, with a corresponding rise in bear complaints.

Commissioner Martin, in a letter sent today to the two groups that appealed the hunt, also confirmed the accuracy of the DEP’s data on bear complaints and bear-human encounters caused by the increasing black bear population, despite contrary public claims of inflated numbers made by Rutgers chemistry professor Edward Tavss.

A thorough review of bear complaints for 2008 and 2009 by the DEP’s Office of Audit showed virtually no duplication of complaint reports and verified the accuracy of the information provided in the Black Bear Management Policy, said Commissioner Martin. The audit showed that less than 1 percent of about 3,000 bear complaints registered by DEP in each of those years may have resulted from duplication of information.

“I have reviewed your request and I find that it does not provide any basis to stay the hunt, nor does it raise any legitimate questions about the inclusion of a black bear hunt in the State’s Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy,” wrote Commissioner Martin. “Professor Tavss’ allegations challenging the accuracy of the Department’s black bear incident data are unfounded and, quite simply, wrong.”

The Commissioner stressed the DEP is gathering more and better information on black bears, providing a valuable resource that contributes to the Department’s black bear management efforts.

Commissioner Martin denied the request to stay the hunt after consulting with New Jersey Fish and Game Council Acting Chairwoman Jeanette Vreeland, who also was petitioned to postpone the hunt. Vreeland concurred with the Commissioner, but noted a vote of the full Council, which adopted the CBBMP in July, is required to formalize her position. A telephone meeting of the Council soon will be held to deal with that issue, Vreeland said.

The Fish and Game Council in July adopted a comprehensive policy that includes a black bear hunt in North Jersey for the first time since 2005, to deal with an overpopulation of bears and problems they are causing, especially in northern parts of the State.

The Fish and Game Council cited increasing damage to personal property and threats to public safety as key reasons for the policy. Since the 1980s, New Jersey’s black bear population has been increasing and expanding southward and eastward from forested areas of northwestern New Jersey. There have been increased sightings of bears this year in suburban and urban areas, where black bears previously were not encountered.

The CBBMP offers a common sense mix of bear management tools that, in addition to a hunt, includes public education, research, bear habitat analysis and protection, non-lethal bear management techniques and enhanced efforts to keep human food sources, especially household trash, away from bears to limit bear-human encounters.

The black bear hunt is scheduled to run concurrent with the six-day firearm deer hunting season in portions of a 1,000 square-mile area north of Route 78 and west of Route 287.

• To view the Nov. 17 letter and Commissioner Martin’s Nov. 22 response, visit:

  http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/bearpolicy10.htm

• To review the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/bearpolicy10.htm
• For tips on proper garbage management and coexisting with bears, visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearfacts_avoid.htm

New Jersey Outdoor Alliance

TRENTON, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- I’ve received a lot of feedback on the “50 Reasons a Black Bear Hunt is Needed in NJ” action alert that was posted earlier.

It’s good to see that people find the issue engaging.

There are a number or reasons that justify the need for a bear hunt in New Jersey. Of course, public safety is paramount. The fact that black bears have a history of fatal attacks is evidence that it is an aspect of their nature that we can’t ignore, regardless of the frequency of attacks or where in North America they are reported to have occurred.

There are any numbers of causes for a black bear to attack; environmental, physical, bio/chemical, territorial or some other reason. There doesn’t appear to be answer we can rely on, any more than why humans attack other humans. Bears are wild creatures and this lends itself to an element of unpredictability.

Perhaps the fact that NJ had less than 100 bears in the 1970s and only a few hundred in the early 1990s has helped to keep a safe distance between people and bears. Today the estimate is nearly 3500 bears, most of which are in the northwest portion of the state. Bears have been seen in all 21 NJ counties. The number of reported incidents that threaten human safety has doubled since 2005. Bears are breaking into homes, causing school lockdowns, killing pets, killing livestock, have been found swimming in backyard pools and one even scattered a parade in northern NJ. There have even been reports of black bears attacking a few people this year. The details of these encounters have been reported in the press.

The point is that a bear hunt will HELP to prevent a NJ resident from being added to the Fatal Attack List by reducing the bear population and freeing up space for bears to recede into the wilds. Keep in mind that although it is natural for even habituated bears to avoid humans there have been instances of attacks on humans by bears that were regarded as habituated or “nuisance” bears.

For those of you who want to read more about the need for a bear hunt from a conservation perspective I welcome you read an article on my blog. Just click on the link that follows:

http://anthonypmaurosr.webs.com/apps/blog/show/5318932-a-bear-hunt-in-nj-is-a-good-thing

Some of you requested the link I used as source. I invite you to look at the link and then scroll to the very bottom to read the sources that are referenced. While you’re at the site, please note that bear attacks have increased dramatically during the past 20 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

Thanks

JOIN NJOA: http://www.njoutdooralliance.org/support/njoa.html

About:
NJOA – The mission of New Jersey Outdoor Alliance is to serve as a grassroots coalition of outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen dedicated to environmental stewardship. We will champion the intrinsic value of natural resource conservation – including fishing, hunting and trapping, among opinion leaders and policy makers. We will support legislation, and those sponsoring legislation, that provides lasting ecological and social enrichment through sustainable use of the earths resources. Visit: www.njoutdooralliance.org

New Jersey Bear Conflicts

New Jersey Outdoor Alliance

TRENTON, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- New Jersey is primed to hold its first black bear hunt in years.

Here is a short list of reasons NJ needs to hold this pro conservation bear hunt.

1. Public safety

Fatal black bear attacks in North America

Name, Age at Death, Gender

2. Ester Schwimmer, 5 months, female
3. Brent Kandra, 24, male
4. Glenda Ann Bradley, 50, female
5. Mary Beth Miller, 24, female
6. Kyle Harry, 18, male
7. Adelia Maestras Trujillo, 93, female
8. Christopher Bayduza, 31, male
9. Maurice Malenfant, 77, male
10. Merlyn Carter, 71, male
11. Harvey Robinson, 69, male
12. Jacqueline Perry, 30, female
13. Elora Petrasek, 6, female
14. Samuel Evan Ives, 11, male
15. Robin Kochorek, 31, female
16. Cecile Lavoie, 70, female
17. Donna Munson, 74, female
18. Kelly Ann Walz, 37, female
19. James Waddell, 12, male
20. Raymond Jakubauskas, 32, male;
21. Carola Frehe, 48, female
22. Sebastien Lauzier, 20, male
23. Darcy Staver, 33, female
24. Colin McClelland, 24, male
25. Sevend “Sven” Satre, 53, male
26. Raymond Kitchen, 56, male
27. Patti McConnell, 37, female
28. David Anderson, 12, male
29. Melvin Rudd, 55, male
30. Lee Randal Morris, 44, male;
31. Carol Marshall, 24, female
32. John Richardson, 31, male
33. Victoria Valdez, 4, female
34. George Halfkenny, 16, male
35. Mark Halfkenny, 12, male
36. Billy Rhindress, 15, male
37. Phyllis Tremper, 3, female
38. Robert Huckins, 18, male
39. Barbara Coates, 7, female
40. Carl Herrick, 37, male
41. Carol Ann Pomeranky, 3, female
42. Emerson Joyce, 60, male
43. Grant Taylor, 11, male
44. George Langley, 55, male,
45. James Virtue, 68, male
46. Mary Porterfield, 3, female
47. Wilie Portfield, 5, male
48. Henry Porterfield, 7, male
49. Laird, 1, ?
50. John Robinson, ?, male

\Please help prevent a fatal black bear attack in New Jersey. Help keep New Jersey’s record at zero fatalities. Support the bear hunt. A hunt is both responsible, necessary and supported by research. It’s a matter of public safety. Call the Governor at 609-292-6000 and thank him for his leadership in supporting a hunt.
(source for black bear fatalities: Wikipedia)

About:
NJOA – The mission of New Jersey Outdoor Alliance is to serve as a grassroots coalition of outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen dedicated to environmental stewardship. We will champion the intrinsic value of natural resource conservation – including fishing, hunting and trapping, among opinion leaders and policy makers. We will support legislation, and those sponsoring legislation, that provides lasting ecological and social enrichment through sustainable use of the earths resources. Visit: www.njoutdooralliance.org

Remington Buck Hammer Ammunition

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA --(Ammoland.com)- Pennsylvania Game Commission officials point out that one of the biggest mistakes bear hunters make is failing to locate areas with good fall food supplies – acorns, beechnuts, apples, corn – before the hunting season and overlooking areas of dense cover where bears like to hide.

“Signs to look for while scouting include droppings; bedding areas, which are scratched out depressions, usually at the base of a tree or log; and active trails with tracks,” said Mark Ternent, Game Commission black bear biologist.

“In beech stands, look for fresh claw marks on tree trunks indicating that bears are feeding in the area, and in oak stands look for fresh droppings that are almost completely composed of acorns bits. Either of these signs suggests bears are feeding nearby and, if food conditions are right, they will likely still be there come hunting season. A good time to scout is early November, so you can assess local mast conditions.”

Other bear hunting tips include:

• Look for bears in the thickest cover you can find, such as: swamps and bogs, mountain laurel/rhododendron thickets, north-facing slopes, regenerating timber-harvest areas, wind-blown areas with lots of downed trees, and remote sections of river bottoms. Bigger bears are notorious for holding in thick cover, even when hunters pass nearby.
• Organized drives are effective. Hunters working together often increase their odds of taking bears, especially those bears holding out in thick cover. Develop plans to safely drive likely bear hideouts and follow them to the letter. A minor slip-up by a driver, flanker or stander is all a bear needs to elude even the best-planned drive. Regulations limit the size of organized drives to 25 people or less.
• Hunting on-stand early and late in the day gives hunters a great chance to catch bears traveling to and from feeding and bedding areas. Hunt areas that provide cover to traveling bears and ensure there is either a good supply of mast or cornfields or cover near where you plan to hunt.
• Use the wind to your advantage. If a bear gets a whiff of you, you’re busted as a hunter. Bears have an outstanding sense of smell. They often let their noses guide the way as they travel. Always place yourself downwind of expected travel lanes when hunting on-stand or driving. Bears are cagey enough without giving them more advantages.
• Stay focused and assume nothing. Black bears blend in well in forest settings at dawn and as dusk approaches. Spend too much time looking one way and you can miss a bear. Even though bears are quite heavy, they often are surprisingly quiet moving through the forest. You may see a bear before you hear it coming. Staying alert and remaining vigilant are critical.

BEAR HUNTING BULLETS

• A bear license is required to participate in any bear season.
• Only one bear may be harvested per license year from all seasons combined.
• A hunter who harvests a bear must complete all information on his or her bear harvest tag and attach it to the ear of the animal immediately after harvest and before the carcass is moved. In addition, within 24 hours, hunters who kill a bear must take it, along with their general hunting and bear licenses, to a Game Commission check station for examination. Bear check stations are maintained at the agency’s six regional offices and at other locations listed on page 38 in the 2010-11 Hunting and Trapping Digest.
• Once a hunter has used his or her bear harvest tag, it is unlawful to possess it in the field. Also, hunters are reminded to remove old licenses from their holder before placing a new one in it. If you keep an old license in the holder, you may accidentally use it to tag big game and unintentionally violate the law.
• It is unlawful to kill a bear in a den; use a radio to locate a bear that has a radio transmitter attached to it; hunt in areas where artificial or natural bait, hay, grain, fruit, nuts, salt, chemicals, minerals, including residue or other foods are used, or have been used, as an enticement to lure wildlife within the past 30 days; use scents or lures; pursue bears with dogs; or to hunt bears in a party of more than 25 persons.
• - During the regular bear season, hunters are required to wear at all times 250 square inches of fluorescent orange on their head, chest and back combined, visible 360 degrees, while hunting in either of the black bear firearms seasons. In WMUs where the archery bear season and fall wild turkey season run concurrently, bowhunters, when moving, are required to wear a hat containing 100 square inches of solid fluorescent orange. The hat may be removed when the hunter is stationary or on stand.
• Bears may be hunted with: manually-operated center-fire rifles, handguns and shotguns with an all-lead bullet or ball, or a bullet designed to expand on impact – buckshot is illegal; muzzle-loading long guns 44-caliber or larger; long, recurve or compound bows or crossbows with broadheads of cutting-edge design. Crossbows must have a minimum draw weight of 125 pounds. Also, crossbows are legal for the archery bear season.
• It is unlawful to intentionally lay or place food, fruit, hay, grain, chemicals, salt or other minerals that may cause bears to congregate or habituate in an area.