Bear hunt draws crowd on opening day
NEWTON - A dozen trucks and SUVs wrapped around the Whittingham Wildlife Management Area by the time New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection officials were ready to weigh the slain bruins on the first day of the state’s annual bear hunt.
The number of vehicles waiting at the start of the check-in was an uptick from recent years, when cold, rain, and snow caused some hunters to wait until later in the week to use their permits and many more bears to “den” earlier in the year.
But with temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s, more bears were expected to be out, as were the hunters, taking advantage of the nicer weather.
The first bear was checked in at about 11 a.m. Monday at Whittingham, a 163.5-pound male killed by Marc Beardslee, who also recorded the hunt’s first kill in 2014.
“Apparently I find the early risers, I was blessed,” said Beardslee, 41, of Vernon, who killed the bear at about 7 a.m. Monday. “I’m tickled that I could be successful so quickly and now I’ll enjoy some time off.”
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Beardslee said he took several days off from work this week to hunt, but since each hunter is allowed to harvest one bear, his bear hunting season is over. He planned to relax for the rest of Monday and hunt deer for the remainder of the week.
“Right now I need to get the bear home. It’s a warm day and should be preserved quickly,” Beardslee said, adding he planned to use the bear’s meat for chili and stew. “It’s one of my favorite animals to consume.”
Beardslee passed two dozen or so protesters on his way into the check-in station, who greeted him with shouts of “murderer” and “coward.” But the cries did not appear to bother him.
“The protesters believe the hunt is not the way to do things, and I just happen to disagree with them on this particular issue,” Beardslee said. “That’s what’s great about this country. They have their rights and I have mine.”
Protesters were closer than they were in recent years, given a vantage point of the check-in process in addition to the allotted location across the street from the wildlife management area.
They were separated from the hunters who arrived to check-in by several uniformed State Police troopers, but remained in place, showing their opposition to the hunt through chanting and holding up signs.
Jerome Mandel, 70, of Newton, held a sign that said “No Bear Hunt” and directed people to NJBearHunt.com, a website that opposes the hunt.
“This is absolutely despicable. Taking peaceful, innocent animals and murdering them. I don’t understand why this is allowed,” Mandel said. “This is nothing more than a trophy hunt that makes me ashamed to be a human being.”
Mandel, who said he was associated with the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, said there is no need for a black bear management plan in the state.
“When I see bears in my backyard it’s a blessing. I get my camera and watch them from a distance. They’re magnificent, defenseless animals,” Mandel said. “We don’t learn from the lessons of Newtown, Paris, and San Bernardino.”
Mark Worobetz, 59, of Fredon, held a sign that said “Drop Christie, Not Bears.” He said he’s not opposed to hunting or gun ownership, but does not see the need for a bear hunt.
“I just don’t think it makes a lot of sense to me and thought I might as well have my voice be heard,” Worobetz said. “I just don’t know if this hunt is absolutely necessary.”
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Though there are many who oppose it, there were thousands who reserved the right to join the hunt this year.
DEP spokesperson Bob Considine said nearly 8,200 permits had been purchased for the hunt as of Monday morning, with more than a thousand being sold in the past few days. Considine credited expanded hunting zones and a relatively warm and dry forecast for the uptick in permits.
Bill Richardson, 73, of Mount Arlington, began hunting at 5:30 a.m. Monday and saw a bear soon after sunrise.
“I saw him at a distance and he started coming at me,” Richardson said. “Then I took him down.”
This was the second year Richardson has killed a bear in the annual hunt, and he didn’t expect to be done on the first day. He planned to use the bear meat to make steaks and chops.
At the check-in station, each bear was lifted off the ground to be weighed by DEP officials. A tooth was also taken to determine the age, along with blood and tissue samples to collect additional information.
Prior to checking in, the bears had to be field dressed, cut open and internal organs removed, causing the large incision at each recently-killed bruin’s midsection to steam up as it interacted with the cold weather.
The Division of Fish and Wildlife utilized studies conducted by Penn State University along with population estimate methodologies known as the Lincoln-Petersen Index and linear regression modeling to conservatively estimate the size of the black bear population in northwestern New Jersey at 3,500, about the same as when the hunt was first authorized in 2010.
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“But it could be more than that,” Considine said. “It’s not like they’re filling out a census form.”
This year’s bear hunt lasts through Saturday and runs concurrently with the six-day firearm dear season, though DEP has the option to extend the hunt an additional four days if objectives are not met.
During the 2014 hunting week, 272 total bears were harvested, with more than half coming on the first day of the hunt. Thirty bears were killed in Morris County, a distant third to Warren County at 60, and Sussex County with 148.
The hunting zone, approved in 2010, encompasses about 1,000 square miles in northwestern New Jersey, including Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon and Passaic counties and a small portion of Bergen County.
For all information on the 2015 NJ Black Bear Hunt, go to http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearseason_info.htm, or go to www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearfacts.htm to learn more about black bears in New Jersey.
Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com