New Jersey Bear Hunt

“I was watching MSNBC last night and a bear hunt is scheduled for New Jersey with 10,000 licenses to be sold. The last hunt took place in 1970 when there was only around 100 bears. Now the bear population has swelled to 3,500 and it's more than the New Jersey residents can stand. Hunting works in PA. and the bears are timid because they're used to being shot at although the Poconos have some problems with people feeding them. The game commission says it will start fining people for feeding bears. Some groups are threatening lawsuits to stop the New Jersey hunt, but I think it will happen despite lawsuits.”

“10,000 licenses, 3,500 bears. Nice. 3,500 bears for the entire state? New Jersey's not that small.”

“"it's more than the New Jersey residents can stand"

f*ck them. another example of mans inability to co-exist with the natural world without shooting it to make room for his shopping malls and suv's. have they even considered, better, more peaceful solutions, like relocating the bears out west? probably not. i hate people”

“I sure hope so.”

“That's a bright statement 2scoops. Why don't you check out of the human race if you hate it so much? You're part of the problem. Whack em and stack em! Kill em and grill em!”

“One theory of human survival and evolution is that we don't taste good.”

“That's so untrue.”

“Marinating is the key!!!

Don't know the price of a tag/license but the possibility of 10k licenses getting sold is alot of cash going into the preservation till.
How much do you non hunters contribute to this cause???

Even though it is called the Garden State, 3500 bears is probably more than that state can handle.”

“I agree. I'm a hunter too. I once had a hiker ask me what I was doing in a forest with a gun during turkey season. I told him it was turkey season and that I was hunting. He looked at me like I didn't belong out there in the same forest as he. It pissed me off. I have to buy a hunting license, a turkey license and a migratory bird stamp to hunt, all of which goes to help pay for places he was hiking in. How much did he pay to be there?”

“TT Deathpool Update!!!!!!!!

Jersey Bears - 4:1
Jersey Bear Hunters - 2,500:1”

“I will probably be corrected on this one but oh well. What about relocating these animals? I know this will be expensive, far more expensive that a large hunt, but what about it? Would relocating these bears to another part of the USA do more harm to the bears? Has anyone been attacked by a bear here? Are the bears causing a problem, other that people feeding them?”

“where would they relocate them to? i mean that's alot of bears to move and wherever you put them , people would likely complain.”

“I know. I just do not want to read about 2000 bears killed because some people are pissed off. If we killed every animal, do you think people would be happier?”

“WK, people have been attacked by bear here, mostly through ignorance or blatant stupidity. Trouble is bear/people contact is increasing because both populations are increasing and habitat is not.

Contact includes houses being broken into, pets eaten, and total devastation for beekeepers?. Beekeepers are needed for field pollenation in 'the Garden State'.

There is no program here to discourage bears from people. Bears are predators, and omnivores they do not know if people are food or not, and with no program to make them avoid people, problems are inevitable.

A discouragement program would cost a lot less than relocation....if you could find some location that agrees to accept relocated bears. Then the question comes who is going to pay ?
Almost all the funding for wildlife management in NJ comes from hunting and fishing licences, or the Pittman-Robertson excise tax on hunting and fishing equipment.

Everyone wants to save the bears, until it is time to pay for it, or the bear trashes THEIR kitchen.”

“I have no problem with trying to relocate them other than the possibility of spreading disease's and bad genes to another otherwise health stock and the cost it might involved to research and plan. And the cost to the bear with futher human interaction and association. I would like to believe there is more involved than just catching and moving the bears hundreds of miles away to a different environment only to release it.

I think a NG Explorer Special not to long ago was on this same subject. It was interesting, they actually tracked and took a known nuisance bear.

.”

“it would take millions of $$ to relocate them....it would take years to catch them all....it's an impossibility, practically speaking”

“What is the life span of a bear?”

“hmmm....not sure

lets ask buddah bear”

“Don't quote me on this but I think it's some were between 20 & 30 years.”

“it's more than the New Jersey residents can stand"

f*ck them. another example of mans inability to co-exist with the natural world without shooting it to make room for his shopping malls and suv's. have they even considered, better, more peaceful solutions, like relocating the bears out west? probably not. i hate people"
2scoops
07:01:44 AM


AMEN!!!!


shoot first, then ask questions later is there motto!”

“That was what I was thinking. I am just glad I do not have to make any typ of desicion on the fate of these animals. I agree with both sides, but I still think is unfortunate. I do not want to see these animals shot yet I do not want to see them breaking into houses because they are starving to death.”

“A lot of Jersey people are idiots (I know, I lived there, unfortunately). They think it's too inconvenient to secure trash cans so bears can't get them, and insist on putting up bird (bear) feeders. A lot of Jersey people.. not all.. but a lot of them have an urban mentality. It's the most densely populated state in America (I'm talking people) and shares borders with two major cities, Philly and NYC. From what I've observed... in general, people in NJ are more out of touch with nature than probably every other state in America for said reasons.

The bear hunting is necessary, but if people weren't complete morons it wouldn't have to be that way. More could have been done to prevent there even being a bear problem to begin with.”

“Well, having wildlife around dissuades people from leaving garbage around, and letting their pets run amok. At least that's the theory. One of my parent's neighbors was trying to kill a bobcat that killed one of his cats, until the next month when his other cat had a littler of persian/bob kittens. He made a bundle selling them, even though I think their behavior was still mildly feral. They were very cute.”

“These bears are decendants of bears that were shipped to NJ by man.

The original (natural) bears were all killed long ago.

I guess 2scoops is a vegetarian.”

“I don't think he is bacpac.”

“Slight correction bacpac. These bears were not shipped in, they migrated in from Pennsylvania crossing along the Delaware water gap area and re-populated the area sort of along the Appalachian trail corridor.

The bear population has grown, and young bears are pushed out of the territory held by older bears. Not enough wild space for the new bears so they are now overlapping living space with humans.

Artex, your comments indicate there are some idiots in Florida also. A lot of the bird feeders have been there for years, the bears are new to the area and the people have to remove the feeders. Have you any idea what sort of garbage can is required to stop a bear ? say 1/8 inch steel. The people in bear areas have to keep their garbage cans in a closed garage. Pets and children have to be kept inside. Parents must escort children onto school busses. The main problem time is late Spring/early Summer when last years cubs are being pushed out on their own by the mothers.

I do think that a harrassment program like the one using Karelian dogs in Yellowstone NP could delay the necessity for hunting for some years, but the same question comes up, who is going to pay for it?

Mapleleaf and 2scoops, people here are concerned about their children getting eaten by bears that cannot differentiate prey species. why don't you two go co-exist with some Polar bears and rationalize about sharing the Earth while they eat you. You might have a different view if it was your child at risk.”

“Have you any idea what sort of garbage can is required to stop a bear ? say 1/8 inch steel.

Manuka

If I were a home owner in a bear populated area, I would have no problem with buying steel cans or constructing a bear proof bin to house the trashcans.

Seems simple enough to me.”

“The gators kinda keep the excess dog and cat population thinned out in my subdivision. (for real!)”

“LOL @ Stovestomper! Same here. You actually make a good point. Gators chomp cats, dogs, and the occasional person down here in Florida. They're in virtually every body of fresh water bigger than a basketball court, and I'm guessing there are tens of thousands of them in Florida alone. Despite the dangers, people here usually follow the precautions, know the risks, and for the most part we coexist just fine.”

“Speaking of Flor-i-dee, looks like I'll be down Cocoa Beach-way week after next. Any TT'ers in that general vicinity?”

“Bitpusher, that's about two hours away from me. What days will you be there?”

“One woman they interviewed made the point of buying a bear proof garbage can and she showed one that she had. It had a locking top and looked good enough to keep a bear out. She claimed that if people would get them there wouldn't be the problems they have now. I don't know if it's that simple, but there's probably a limit to how many bears can be allowed around neighborhoods when children are out playing. It would take one child to get mauled and a bear hunt would be a definite thing, I would think.”

“My backyard is a saltmarsh. I used to drag a canoe from my yard into the marsh and paddle the maze of channels. You'll come across a gator hole ever now and then. I've passed within a few feet of some big 12 footers (gators) in a canoe, and the gators don't even blink. Let a small dog or cat get into the marsh and he's a goner.”

“Looks like from July 27 to August 1.”

“True, RichB. But the point I was trying to make before was that if more people took these and other steps earlier, the bears wouldn't be a problem. The fact that Jersey is densley populated and most have an urban mentality dosen't help.

BTW Manuka, you obviously took some offense at my earlier post. I know you live in Jersey, sorry you took it so personally. But sorry dude, what I stand by what I say. If you read again, you'll notice I said most people in Jersey, not manuka people in Jersey.”

“Artex, I took offense at the prejudice shown to a group of people "most people in NJ" and the implication that these stupid people were causing the bear problem. The bears are migrating into people areas as well as people spread. People living in rural areas for years are now having to learn to live with bears because bears are moving into areas they have never been before. This does not make the people idiots. This year a bear walked through the local high school, and one was seen in Bridgewater, basically a city area.

I did not take it personally, just object to that type of blanket statement applied to any group.”

“Fair enough.”

“10,000 licenses will be sold. how many do you think will get a bear. a few hundred? just out of curiosity.”

“What happens when a hunter gets picked off instead of a bear?”

“Look, all you bear protectors are forgetting one thing and that is the bears are rapidly outgrowing their environment. Why are you not whining about the 3500 bears hunted and killed in PA every year, a place where most of you have backpacked on several occasions? New Jersey has an explosion of deer, geese, bear, rabbit and turkey populations. What we need are more predators except that these are not acceptable to a state that is heavily suburban. Hunting is one method among many in attempting to control animal populations that have developed a taste for the suburban life of woodland edge and lawn environment. They have become yard junkies, except that they strip the land of vegetation, pile up as road kill, spread pathogens and in the case of bears, terrorize parents of small children as well as hikers trying to eat their meals. There needs to be a balance in everything. If we could just train the bears to eat the deer, turkey, geese and rabbits, we'd have a plan.”

“This was not aimed at RichB, who I know was just bringing this bit of news to our attention.”

“Here in Indiana in the Dunes area there is a problem just like this one.There is a place called Bevely Shores in Lake Co. that has a very bad deer problem.It is so bad that there are deer in peoples back yards and in the streets etc...etc...So what the IDNR did was they told the people that live out there that they could shoot the deer if they came into there back yards without a hunting permit.

8)”

“Bitpusher - I'm taking this girl surfing in Daytona Beach that weekend you'll be here. I don't like her much, so if I can get out of it, I'll let you know. I already blew her off once before though, so I gotta be careful.”

“We'll be driving up on Saturday the 27th and won't be there till late. Sunday the 28th is our first full day there.”

“Oh, I'd love to get together if we can swing it. Guess I should have made that more plain. But dude, if there's like, you know, a chance at getting some horizontal action, go for it...”

“My sweetie got a bear permit this year. I'm looking forward to owning a bear rug. :)

I've got bear stories, my family has bear stories. I respect them, I like them, I eat them. The bears, not my family.

It's the baby lambs that I care about. Why do people have to butcher these poor defenseless creatures just to eat them?? Why not wait until they get big, mean and nasty and then hunt them?

On a serious note, though, I don't have any problems with hunters. Particularly those who get permits and follow the guidelines and laws. It's the b@st@ards that shoot the bear out of season and without permit just to chop off its paws to sell on a black market and leave the meat to rot.”

“When I first saw this thread title, I thought it was a thread about the search for Jerbear in New Jersey. Where is that guy that I consider barely a friend? ;o)”

“Moving the bears wouldn't work because they'd just be hunted in the state they moved them to even if it was possible to relocate them. Gary Alt one of the PA. Game Commission experts on black bears says that PA. already has all the bears that PA. residents will tolerate. Over 2000 of them need to be harvested every November to keep the population at around 6,500. It would be better for the bears and people to let the hunt begin in N.J.”

“I really don't know how successful moving the bears would be anyways. THey're accustomed to one type of environment, and food. Moving them elsewhere would leave them vulnerable, particularly to starvation, and therefore more likely to risk bear/human contact.”