Community Corner
68 Bears Killed On First Day Of December Hunt
The state-sanctioned hunt taking place in New Jersey including in Somerset County began on Monday and ends Saturday.
SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — Hunters killed 68 bears on the first day of the second segment of a state-sanctioned hunt designed to control New Jersey's black bear population.
More than half the bruins, 38, were killed in Sussex County, statistics from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) show. Warren County had the next highest total with 14. Passaic and Morris counties had the next highest totals with nine and seven, respectively.
No bears were killed in Bergen, Hunterdon, Somerset or Mercer counties. The numbers are preliminary and subject to revision by the DEP.
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This year's December total is nearly equal to last year's of 74.
Only guns may be used during the December hunt. Bows and arrows and muzzle-loaded weapons were allowed during the first six-day hunting period in October when 244 bears were killed.
Find out what's happening in Basking Ridgefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
This is the 10th bear hunt in New Jersey since 2003. The hunt has been held every year since 2010. Last year was the first time in nearly 50 years hunters could use bows and arrows to hunt bruins in New Jersey.
(Image via Morguefile/Sgarton: Black Bear.)
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