New Jersey’s black bear hunt has been a controversial topic for several weeks, after Gov. Phil Murphy walked back his long-stated promise to ban it. Murphy halted the hunt last year but because of increased bear interactions and damage reports, the hunt was allowed to resume this year. Animal rights activists failed in a legal challenge to the resumed hunt as appellate court judges sided with state officials who said a regulated bear hunting season would better protect public safety and support healthier wildlife.  

The hunt resumed on Dec. 5 and ran through Dec. 10, with the stipulation that it could be extended if hunters did not reach a minimum goal of 20% of bears tagged. As it turned out, according to the Department of Environmental Protection, the harvest rate was just 6%; some 11 bears were harvested. So the hunt is being extended by four days, beginning a half-hour before sunrise on Dec. 14 and ending a half-hour after sunset on Dec. 17. 

Northwestern New Jersey has one of the country’s densest black bear populations. While the spreading population has caused risky bear encounters, environmental activists are adamant that more nonlethal measures should be used to contain the population and minimize the risk of encounters between bears and humans.