NJ Bear Fatality

[Greg]

There's a Morris County park in Denville where we like to walk in the woods. One time early this summer we went there shortly after a rain, and saw fairly fresh bear tracks in the soft muddy ground. Didn't make too big a deal of it at the time.

Now, having seen what a lousy acorn year it is, and even more so after that bear tried to make his own samosas, we've stopped going there for a while. Don't want to go out of our way to hang out with hungry bears.

[Vonz90]

Now, having seen what a lousy acorn year it is...

Wow, not around here. They are coming down in buckets.

[Greg]

Now, having seen what a lousy acorn year it is...

Wow, not around here. They are coming down in buckets.

Heh, weird. It was like that here last year.

[MarkD]

The the Conservation Dept. in that state is doing it wrong. The length of season and number of tags should be based on the population survey and not on the number harvested. I know that is how it is done here.

If you do that way, then reporting deer taken that were not would only increase the number of tags offered because it would indicate higher numbers of deer harvested do not make as much impact on the total population.

This is what happens when you put people in charge who don't understand how nature works.

Their thought is that if too many tags are filled that they've been over-hunted, so next year they have to kill fewer in order to allow the population to bounce back. It never occurs to them that more tags being filled = larger population.

Similarly, I think it's been a LONG time since NJ has issued doe tags. I've heard that the last time they did, the same thing happened, they were scarfed up by animal rights activists who claimed to have harvested does and TPTB went "OMG! We killed too many does, we can't hunt them anymore!"

I live in a suburb near Paramus and Hackensack, and I've seen deer. Last year I saw one about 100 yards from my front door. A couple weeks ago I saw two about a mile from my house when I went fishing.

[rightisright]

The the Conservation Dept. in that state is doing it wrong. The length of season and number of tags should be based on the population survey and not on the number harvested. I know that is how it is done here.

If you do that way, then reporting deer taken that were not would only increase the number of tags offered because it would indicate higher numbers of deer harvested do not make as much impact on the total population.

This is what happens when you put people in charge who don't understand how nature works.

Their thought is that if too many tags are filled that they've been over-hunted, so next year they have to kill fewer in order to allow the population to bounce back. It never occurs to them that more tags being filled = larger population.

Similarly, I think it's been a LONG time since NJ has issued doe tags. I've heard that the last time they did, the same thing happened, they were scarfed up by animal rights activists who claimed to have harvested does and TPTB went "OMG! We killed too many does, we can't hunt them anymore!"

I live in a suburb near Paramus and Hackensack, and I've seen deer. Last year I saw one about 100 yards from my front door. A couple weeks ago I saw two about a mile from my house when I went fishing.

No. A general deer permit let's you harvest a doe or a non-antlered buck. If you want to shoot a dear w. a rack, you need to purchase an additional "Antlered Buck" permit.

[MarkD]

The the Conservation Dept. in that state is doing it wrong. The length of season and number of tags should be based on the population survey and not on the number harvested. I know that is how it is done here.

If you do that way, then reporting deer taken that were not would only increase the number of tags offered because it would indicate higher numbers of deer harvested do not make as much impact on the total population.

This is what happens when you put people in charge who don't understand how nature works.

Their thought is that if too many tags are filled that they've been over-hunted, so next year they have to kill fewer in order to allow the population to bounce back. It never occurs to them that more tags being filled = larger population.

Similarly, I think it's been a LONG time since NJ has issued doe tags. I've heard that the last time they did, the same thing happened, they were scarfed up by animal rights activists who claimed to have harvested does and TPTB went "OMG! We killed too many does, we can't hunt them anymore!"

I live in a suburb near Paramus and Hackensack, and I've seen deer. Last year I saw one about 100 yards from my front door. A couple weeks ago I saw two about a mile from my house when I went fishing.

No. A general deer permit let's you harvest a doe or a non-antlered buck. If you want to shoot a dear w. a rack, you need to purchase an additional "Antlered Buck" permit.

Thanks for the correction. I think it was my wife's cousin (who hunts) who told me that.

[HTRN]

You got that right. I've heard that the woman in charge of the NJ DEP (which oversees all hunting and fishing in the state) was a PETA member, which is why the bear hunt was closed down, which is why bears ended up in Paramus.

Current commissioner is Bob Martin, a Christie appointee. He's not a PETA member.

[MarkD]

You got that right. I've heard that the woman in charge of the NJ DEP (which oversees all hunting and fishing in the state) was a PETA member, which is why the bear hunt was closed down, which is why bears ended up in Paramus.

Current commissioner is Bob Martin, a Christie appointee. He's not a PETA member.

Sigh. I should just go back and edit everything I've written in this thread.

[HTRN]

I think you're thinking of former Commissioner Bradley Campbell, who had a VERY uneven record for hunting and fishing - did a lot to preserve the watersheds, but fought tooth and nail to kill the bear hunt, and managed to do so, if only temporarily. He also floated a proposal that the DEP commissioner could arbitrarily deny hunting and fishing permits(in other words, the Commisioner would have the power to end hunting and fishing in New Jersey). I don't think it went anywhere.