Bear take likely to stay high

Post date: Aug 23, 2010 5:22:57 PM

Posted: Thursday, August 19, 2010 12:00 pm | Updated: 10:25 am, Mon Aug 16, 2010.

By Steve Piatt Editor | 0 comments

Outdoornews.com

Albany - Black bear hunters in New York have a greater chance of success than ever before, and that will likely be the case again this season.

While DEC biologists won't go out on a limb and predict a banner bruin hunting season, the numbers don't lie: three of the state's four highest bear harvest totals have occurred in the last three years.

Those tallies include the 2009 harvest of 1,487 bears - the second highest total ever, behind only the 2008 record kill of 1,864.

And with bruins continuing to expand their range in at least one hunting region of the state (the Allegany range, now called the Central-Western area), that trend is likely to continue.

"Last year's harvest was a little surprising," said DEC Region 3 wildlife biologist Matt Merchant of the high kill total. "But I expect a similar harvest this year (in the Catskill range, now referred to as the Southeastern area). We have plenty of bears and in the last three or four years there's been a lot of expressed interest in bear hunting."

The Southeastern region earlier this decade (2005 and 2006) actually unseated the Adirondacks as the top bear-producing region in the state as bruins expanded their range in many parts of southeastern New York. A total of 494 bears were taken last year in the southeast, the second highest number ever, tying the 2005 tally and just below the record kill of 520 bears in 2008.

The Adirondacks led the way last year with 814 bears taken - the second highest number ever, behind only the record 1,370 of 2003.

DEC wildlife biologist across the state's bear hunting areas are generally predicting an average harvest - which, in recent years, has been among the tops ever recorded in the state. That's largely due to the fact that bears have expanded their ranges in the Southeastern and Central-Western ranges and more wildlife management units have been opened to bear hunting.

"What I'm seeing out here is that now that they're everywhere, people are more likely to hunt them," DEC Region 9 wildlife biologist Tim Spierto said of the burgeoning bear population in western New York. "It's not such a rare event anymore. In the past, people called and complained about the bears, but they didn't want to hunt them. That's changed."

A total of 179 bears were taken last year in the Central-Western area, just below the 2008 record of 193.

Spierto said 10 bruins were killed on Region 9 roadways this year, down from a record 26 in 2008.

Biologists generally use nuisance complaints as a good barometer of bear activity and numbers, and most describe this summer as average.

"It hasn't really been that bad," DEC Region 6 biologists Steve Heerkens said. "A couple of issues in the Old Forge area, but we always have that."

"It was an average year for bear complaints, but it seemed they all came in a short period of time," said Region 4 biologist Larry Bifaro. "We have a few of what we describe as Class I bears. They're the worst behaving bears, breaking into homes and damaging property."

Merchant, too, said nuisance complaints in Region 3 included an incident in which a bear was destroyed for killing livestock and a number of home and cabin break-ins, one involving a pair of bears inside a house.

"Our three-year average on nuisance complaints is over 200," he said.

In Region 5, which includes the big woods of the Adirondacks, biologist Ed Reed said nuisance complaints were fairly low.

"We had a lot of good rainy weather and there's a lot of food out there," Reed said. "Berries were fantastic this year, and it's been my experience that when there's a lot of food available the early season isn't so good because of that. But when that happens, our regular season harvest is much better, so it kind of flip-flops."

Heerkens says the early season (Sept. 18-Oct. 15 in the Adirondack range) typically comprises the bulk of the Region 6 bear harvest. "It seems to make or break our season," he said. "And if we don't get that early kill we generally don't make it up during the regular season."

Reed says Region 5 "has seen a little expansion" of bears on the edges of its borders. "We have bears all the way to Lake Champlain now," he said.

Bifaro, in Region 4, says he's not seeing a lot of bruins roaming into new areas. "We have nine counties with bears now, and the core population is in Delaware and Greene counties," he said.

While some hunters specifically target bears and there are seasons in place for hunting the state's largest game animal, the bulk of the harvest still comes at the hands of deer hunters who encounter a bear while hunting whitetails.

In the Adirondack region, bear season kicks off Sept. 18 with the early offering that ends Oct. 15. That's followed by an Oct. 16-22 muzzleloader season (which parallels the muzzleloader deer season); and the Oct. 23-Dec. 5 regular season. An archery season runs from Sept. 27-Oct. 22.

In the Central-Western region, the archery bear seasons run from Oct. 16-Nov. 19 and Dec. 13-21. The muzzleloader season takes place Dec. 13-21, with the regular season Nov. 27-Dec. 12.

The Southeastern region seasons include an Oct. 16-Nov. 19 archery offering, a Dec. 13-21 muzzleloader and archery season, and a regular season that kicks off Nov. 20 and runs through Dec. 12.