Heading into its fourth consecutive year, the state’s black bear hunt has become something of a seasonal ritual, despite the continued and fervent opposition from foes — and, officials say, significantly fewer documented encounters between humans and bears.
And as the six-day hunt — officially called a "management" effort — begins tomorrow, there also are as many as 1,000 fewer bears prowling the woods and mountains of northwestern New Jersey than in 2010, officials said.
"The naive ones got taken in the first hunts," said Larry Herrighty, assistant director of the state’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. "They’re getting smarter. We still have a robust population."
But with 1,000 fewer hunters this year than last taking aim — there will probably also be a lower kill, state officials say.
After reaching near-extinction in the 1970s, the Garden State bear population burgeoned by the early 2000s. But as the animal population grew into the thousands with ample food sources in the nation’s most-densely populated state, officials opened up a week for bear hunting in December.
Hunts in 2003 and 2005 brought in 328 and 298 kills, respectively. After a hiatus of a few years and some battles in court, the hunt resumed in 2010 under a new, five-year bear management plan.
The latest hunts easily set records, but kill totals have dropped each year — from 592, to 469, to 287 last fall. This year’s six-day season is expected to "harvest" about 240, said a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, Larry Ragonese.
"I think we’re moving toward a better balance," Ragonese said.
Bear contact with people decreased 20 percent from 2011 to 2012, and another 20 percent leading into this year’s hunt. Bears now number between 2,500 and 2,800 — down from the 3,400 estimated before the 2010 hunt, officials said.
A bear killed in the 2011 hunt, waiting for weigh-in at the Franklin check station.
The goal is to cut the bear population in half — between 1,200 and 1,500 animals — since New Jersey has the densest population of the animals in all of North America, said David Chanda, director of the Fish and Wildlife division, during last year’s hunt.
But hunter numbers have also declined, from 7,800 in the first year to 6,400 last year — with an estimated 5,500 hunters ready to take to the woods this week, officials said.
Hunters who wanted their rug or their trophy may have already gotten it in the first hunts, Herrighty said. Otherwise, the bears who were more easily slain were already taken in the first years — meaning a lower success rate with each progressive hunt, he said.
Protestors remain livid at the sight of hundreds of carcasses dragged out of the state forests and private properties every fall.
Groups such as the Bear Education and Resource Group and the Animal Protection League of New Jersey say it’s only a sport hunt — and the bear-human balance could better be struck by limiting trash access to the creatures. They also object to baiting, the practice in which hunters lure bears with food to a target area.
In November, two prominent opponents of the hunt held a mock-hunt on a private Vernon property alongside Wawayanda State Park, one of the most dense bear-hunting spots.
Angi Metler and Susan Kehoe and the Bear Education and Resource group called it an act of theater — as the pair successfully completed their hunter education course, obtained hunting licenses and bear permits. Then they set up a "bear smorgasbord" of baiting.
"We did this to expose what hunters do, how easy it is to legally feed bears, and how the practice of baiting causes the very problems the Division of Fish and Wildlife says hunting solves," said Metler.
Protesters have not sought permits to protest at the bear-check station at Whittingham Wildlife Management Area in Fredon, but they will be there tomorrow with signs and attorneys, several said.
The animal-rights advocates point to stricter management of trash and food sources in bear country as a way to curb the population.
A bill pending in the state Legislature would outlaw baiting of bears and require bear-resistant garbage cans and dumpsters.
The legislation passed the Senate’s Economic Growth Committee last month and was referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.
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