Sparta Police Informs Citizens of Updated Hunting Regulations for 2016 Season

SPARTA, NJ — The Sparta Police recently put out information regarding the New Jersey black bear hunting season and the new updates to the process as of this year.

As of this year, there will be two segments to the bear season. Segment A will be held from Oct. 10-15. The first three days of this segment (Oct. 10-12) will be for archery only and the final three days (Oct. 13-15) will be for archery and muzzleloading rifle hunters.

Segment B will be held from Dec. 5-10, concurrently with the Six-day Firearm Deer Season. There's an option that the season will be extended to the following week if harvest objectives are not met.

Also new as of 2016, hunters can obtain permits for two separate zones, and the season bag limit is increased to two bears. Hunters can only hunt one bear per permit and per segment. Before this year, hunters were limited to one black bear for the season.

All hunting permits will be sold "over-the-counter" as of this year at license agents and online, instead of the permit lottery.

All New Jersey residents who wish to participate in the hunting are required to obtain a Black Bear Hunting Zone Permit for the zones they wish to hunt in, as well as a current hunting license. Hunters must stay in the five bear hunting zones designated for the 2016 season and can only hunt in the zones they have a permit for.

All hunters should keep in mind the 450-foot "Safety Zone" distance placed around playgrounds and buildings when firearm hunting and the 150-foot distance when bow hunting.

For more information about the 2016 season, look on pages 12, 26, and 51-53 in the 2016-17 Hunting and Trapping Digest, or contact the Sparta Police Department at (973) 729-6121.

Photo courtesy of Jitze Couperus/Flickr