Harvest Information

General Information

The New Jersey black bear hunting season is held concurrently with the Six-day Firearm Deer Season (in 2012 the dates were December 3 through December 8). Participants are required to have a Black Bear Hunting Area Permit for the area(s) they hunt in and a current Firearm or All-around hunting license.

There are four bear hunting areas open to hunting in New Jersey; hunters are restricted to hunt only in the area(s) for which they possess a permit. Hunters are limited to one black bear per hunter for the season even if possessing permits for two separate areas. There is a limit of two permits per hunter.

Detailed information about the 2012 season can be found on pages 59-61 in the 2012-13 NJ Hunting and Trapping Digest.

Bear Season Frequently Asked Questions

Black Bear Hunting Areas Map and Descriptions

After Harvesting a Bear — Mandatory Bear Check Requirement

Properly licensed hunters who harvest a black bear shall immediately complete and affix to the bear the "Black Bear Transportation Tag" from their Black Bear Hunting Permit. Information included on the black bear transportation tag shall include: the hunter’s name, address, Conservation ID (CID) Number; date and time of kill; nearest road, county and municipality of kill; and the sex of the black bear.

Successful hunters must take the black bear to a designated check station by 7 p.m. on the day of the kill. Hunters shall surrender the black bear transportation tag and will be issued a legal possession seal.

Any legally killed black bear recovered too late to be brought to a designated black bear check station by 7 p.m. on the date of the kill must be reported immediately by telephone to the Northern Region Office of the Bureau of Law Enforcement (908-735-8240). Hunters must provide their name, address and a telephone number where they can be reached on the telephone message recording device (if a Division representative is not available). Said black bear must be brought to a designated black bear check station the next day to be registered and to receive a legal possession seal. Hunters reporting bears to the law enforcement office after check stations close on Saturday will be contacted by a biologist on Sunday to legally check the bear and collect biological data on Sunday.

• Black Bear Check Stations

HARVEST INFORMATION

2012 Black Bear Season Harvest Information as of 8:30 p.m., Sunday, December 9.
Data is preliminary and subject to revision.

Black Bear Harvest by Bear Hunting Area

Bear Hunting Area	Bears Harvested in 2012
	12/3	12/4	12/5	12/6	12/7	12/8	Total
Area 1	43	11	7	10	8	9	88
Area 2	31	15	15	11	14	12	98
Area 3	37	11	8	14	3	10	83
Area 4	11	4	0	0	2	1	18
Total	122	41	30	35	27	32	287

2012 Bear Check-in Station Totals

Check Station Location	Bears Checked In
	12/3	12/4	12/5	12/6	12/7	12/8	Total*
Flatbrook WMA	41	9	2	9	7	7	75
Whittingham WMA	31	14	13	10	14	10	92
Green Pond Golf Course	30	12	14	15	3	8	82
Pequest WMA	15	6	1	1	3	2	28
Black River WMA	5	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed	3	8
Total*	122	41	30	35	27	30	285*

* Two bears harvested on Saturday were checked in by biologists on Sunday.

2012 Bear Harvest by County

County	Bears Harvested
	12/3	12/4	12/5	12/6	12/7	12/8	Total
Sussex	73	27	23	24	21	21	189
Warren	19	6	1	2	4	0	32
Morris	19	4	5	7	0	8	43
Passaic	11	4	1	2	2	3	23
Total	122	41	30	35	27	32	287

No bears were harvested in the portions of Bergen, Hunterdon and Somerset counties open to bear hunting in 2012.

2011 Bear Season Harvest Results
2011 Bear Season Harvest Data (Bear's sex, age and weight)
2010 Bear Season Harvest Results
2010 Bear Season Harvest Data (Bear's sex, age and weight)
2005 Black Bear Hunting Season Results
2003 Black Bear Hunting Season Results

RELATED PAGES

Frequently Asked Questions
Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy
Bear Recipe Guide (pdf, 83kb)
NJ Hunting License Information
Non-Resident Hunting Information
Hunting DIGEST
Hunting in New Jersey