2020 LAST YEAR FOR NJ BEAR HUNTS????

[Fletch]

According to the latest reports the 5 year comprehensive black bear management term ends this year... With that Denture Man plans on halting the bear hunts while he's in office... Everyone is fed up with not being able to go hunt deer without having bears around them each and every sit... I left my driveway yesterday and almost hit one about a 1/4 mile down the road... Going to get very interesting...

 

[Gern186]

Bear lives matter.

 

[Big_Holla]

It will take a couple people getting mauled or their little dogs eaten before they make a change back to hunting. Stupid feelings people = stupid results.

 

[Dannmann801]

awww shit

 

[Fletch]

Only roughly 3400 permits sold out of 11,000.... And the first 1/2 of the season starts Monday...

 

[giles]

Are hunters numbers down that low? Whats the average sales?

 

[triple_duece]

Fletch do you eat the meat and if so, how does it tastes?

 

[Sgt Fury]

I had bear when we were hunting up in Saskatchewan. It looked just like sliced roast beef...very tender, you could cut it with a fork. I honestly couldn’t tell it was bear...tasted like roast beef to me. Served with brown gravy and mashed taters...it was awesome.

 

[Sgt Fury]

 

[giles]

I've had bear from different areas. I'll take me a high mountain berry bear. One that gorges on wild strawberries and blueberries for a month!

 

[Fletch]

Fletch do you eat the meat and if so, how does it tastes?

Yup.... It tastes great.... As George said it's just like roast beef.... I've given some out in the past and the people have always asked for more.... Just had a guy remind me that bear season started today, not to forget him if I get one.... Two years ago when I shot one I took around 17 pounds of ground meat to Illinois, it got eaten up like they never ate before... And that was a 12 1/2 year old bear... Meat was very tender... Dave made a good point about bears eating wild berries etc... Like any other animal, they are what they eat.... If a bear is eating garbage constantly he probably won't be as tasty as one that ate berries etc... I'm one that hunts as far away from people as I can... Therefore odds are good a bear I shoot did not live in a dumpster... I'm guessing a Southern bear would be pretty good... George that's funny that bear is on a rooftop in Kearny... Going to see alot of that if Denture Man gets his way...

 

[Fletch]

Dave... Yes hunter numbers are down this year... Not many out of staters from what I hear... My guess is Jersey being a Covid-19 hotspot early on turned guys away... Plenty of permits available for the second half of the season in early Dec...

 

[triple_duece]

Can you hunt over bait? Also does the meat have to be cooked throughly?

 

[Sgt Fury]

Can you hunt over bait? Also does the meat have to be cooked throughly?

Yes & yes. Bears carry trichinosis but cooking the meat thoroughly kills it...same with pork.

 

[Fletch]

Yes you can hunt over bait in New Jersey.... The law though is F-ed up... It reads that you cannot hunt out of a tree stand, popup blind,constructed blind within 100 yds. of the bait. However if you wish you can sit right in the middle of the bait... Or you can sit in a blowdown, on top a rock outcropping, etc. as long as it's natural as close as you want... Therefore I always place bait near a spot that has some sort of concealment that was created by Mother Nature... Therefore I'm legal... As far as cooking bear meat, they say to treat it as if it were pork.... I've cooked steaks medium and have never gotten sick from tricanosis (spelling)...

 

[Fletch]

62 bears were harvested yesterday.... Way more than I thought considering it was raining... Today is another day of rain and foggy conditions in the mountains of NW New Jersey..... I'll be out Thurs. thru Sat. Checking cameras tomorrow.....

 

[giles]

I'm sure your bears taste like they should be frosted.

 

[Fletch]

I'm sure your bears taste like they should be frosted.

Would that be vanilla or chocolate flavor????

 

[bigten05]

I saw the sportsmans alliance had an article about the bear season ending. Sounds like they are gonna have a fight to get it done.

 

[Johnny44]

Sportsmans Alliance was just on MeatEater podcast talking about this and what other issues they tackle.