im one in ten thousand
 

ive been chosen to take the course to allow me to hunt black bear in new jersey. was wondering if anyone had an idea of where i might stand a chance of seeing one. i was thinking of heading up to the greenwood lake region near the new york border . im wondering if theres any state gamelands or forests to hunt. any ideas would be a great help as i want to start scouting now for this december hunt.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

I was working in Worthington state park and saw bears every day it off rt 80 .Im not sure what kind of hunting is possible nearby.I know thats the area I' d be looking at if I had a permit.There is some private ground just down the road,but most of the bears seem to be in the park.I doubht that you can hunt in the park itself but I' d look into it If I was you

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

i haven' t been there in years but i know they have a few up by the flatbrook and i know there was some in morris county especially denville , but it' s mostly private property , good luck!

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

Flatbrook or Stokes both good areas.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

There are lots of bears off Rt 23 in places such as Nwk Watershed, Wawayanda, and Hamburg Mtn. My buddy has been seeing bears behind the Dunkin Donuts off Rt 23S! Good luck....

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

Take a look at the Newark Watershed land off cozy lake rd in oak ridge or the south side of lake tammerack. Lake Tammerack is overrun with bears.
Good Luck!
Noons

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

wow! thanks for all the ideas my homework begins:D

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

What kind of course do you need to take to hunt black bears? Is it shotgun only? I don' t know much about bears in NJ, but I do know that Pike County in PA has so many bears that they not only have a 3 day bear season there but you can shoot bears in deer season, too. If there is any public land bordering Pike County PA it probably holds bears.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

i actually deer hunt in pike county and know it has a good population of bear but i have yet to see one in several years of hunting there. as far as what is included in the bear hunting course i have no clue. im pretty sure its 20 or 12 gauge slug only. i think some guys have taken the course already so maybe they can fill us in on what is taught at the course.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

Good luck. Let us know how you do.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

Got my permit tonight. Now to go get that bear that shared in the hind leg of a deer I shot last year and had to recover the next day. I' ll teach him.:D Also if your lucky enough to tag one the Division wants you to save the reproductive tract. (uterus and ovaries) in a plastic bag for examination.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

The course covers safety, shot placement, game laws for NJ bear season, field dressing and quartering and skinning.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

wherever you are going to hunt find out what day the garbage is picked up and what time. Hunt the edge of the woods just outside the safty zone. The bears seem to know these days and usually a little easier to predict where they will be.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

Remember the safty zone is measured from the buildings 450' . If the house is set back far from the road the trash may be less than 300' from you and is considered a bait pile. You can' t hunt there from a tree stand or blind.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

just giving an update on my scouting efforts. i called the newark watershed and they want to charge me 30$ to hunt on there land and that i wasnt the first phone call asking about bear hunting there. she told me there was no particular problems with the local bears and that they have no more population of bears as any state gamelands. boy she told me! anyway i might check out some other nearby game lands. stay tuned!;)

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

That' s funny... 65% of the complaints fall within the watershed property.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

i figured as much! i was hoping to get some statistics on population numbers and problem areas to give me an idea where to check out for hunting but my buddy who just took the bear course down south at georgian college said nobody asked the questions at the class and the people giving the course didnt know much. the class was only an hour and a half long with the video being mostly the one you get when you sign up to take the hunters education course.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

Some of the video was from the hunters education home study course but much of it was new, including the dressing/skinning/quartering portion of the video.

Believe me, nobody knows the bear of NJ better than the biologists giving the course, but they are not going to give you scouting information. As a matter of fact they are not permitted to take part in the hunt.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

im in no way asking for someone to do my physical scouting for me this is why i started the question. i dont expect the biologists to tell me where the 600lb. radio collered bear is located but i expect some basic questions answered such as estimated state wide population and what is the carrying capacity of the state. if there is a log of nuscence bear reports obviously having this info could play key in starting my search for gamelands or state parks. if you were hunting only trophy deer you would check the records from kills and hunt only those counties its that simple! i was just commenting on my buddy from work and the particular class he took. from what he gathered it was at best an interesting class but more or less just red tape to go through to have the privilage to hunt bear which i am willing to do:D

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

It is mentioned in the class and video that there are between 2000-3000 bear in the area West of 287 and North of 78. Carring capacity is somewhere around 500-600.

Ask questions at your seminar. They will answer them.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

my class is next week so i will let you know how it goes. i have decided to go look at hamburg mountain wma this week.

RE: im one in ten thousand
 

ILL TELL YOU FIRST HAND THERE ARE LOTS OF BEAR IN THE CAKSILLS ...IT' S WORTH THE TRIP!!!