For the first time in over ten (10) years, there will be no black bear hunting in New Jersey this fall, due to a lack of bear management policy required to conduct the state-wide hunt. The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife posted on their website that the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP), required under a 2007 state Supreme Court ruling, expired in July. The statement read, “No black bear hunt may occur without a properly-promulgated CBBMP proposed by the New Jersey Fish and Game Council and approved by the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.”

New Jersey’s Democratic Governor, Phil Murphy, pledged to end the bear hunt when he ran for governor in 2017, and the following year he halted bear hunting on public lands that come under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environmental Protection.

Back in 2015, New Jersey’s Republican Governor, Chris Christie, added a second annual bear hunt in October to the existing bear hunt in December, he also increased the number of bear hunting permits and allowed bow-hunting, to help control a growing bear population in the state.

According to a newspaper article, a 2020 report stated that bear-human interactions indicate that through November, bear sightings are up 104%, nuisance reports are up 123% and property damage reports are up 53%.

NJ Assemblyman Parker Space said, “This is a self-serving attempt to placate extremists in an election year while increasing the likelihood of a dangerous encounter with a bear. Once again Governor Murphy is more concerned about politics. Hunts effectively controlled the bear population since 2010 and reports of nuisance and damage were cut in half during that time.”

Deer Archery Seasons!

Deer archery hunting seasons will be opening up shortly in both New York and Pennsylvania. New York’s archery season in the Southern Zone starts on October 1st to November 19th. Crossbows are not allowed to be used from October 1st to November 5th. Crossbows may be used in the archery season from November 6th to November 19th. The late bow season starts on December 13th to December 21st and then again from December 26th to January 1, 2022.

If you would like to hunt the early bow season and all archery seasons with a crossbow, one could go to neighboring Pennsylvania where you can legally use your crossbow throughout the entire deer archery seasons.

Pennsylvania’s archery season (bow & crossbow) opens on October 2nd to November 13th and then again from November 15th to November 29th. The late archery season then starts on December 27th and ends on January 17, 2022.