Our bears are active year round...there is plenty of food yeare round for them with garbage to keep them full.

I think the last season was 2006 and it was shotgun only and no baiting.  I'm hoping they change the laws this year.

Scott I think the final chance for them to stop it is may 11...if we make it past that we should be in the clear and yes it will be in december.  I think I read somewhere it will be december 6th through 11th.

Also this year any legal weapon will be allowed muzzleloader, bow, or shotgun (slugs only).

If it passes I"ll be out there with the widow sitting and praying for a biggun!

And skippy yes years ago when they had the hunt you had to remove it whole and many bear were left in the woods because no one thought of that prior to shooting.  Be sure you have a truck load of guys to get it out!!  I plan on shootng mine at the top of a hill and parking my truck at the bottom hahaha!

Tom How far from Atlantic County are you? I live in Atl.Co. and thought of going north.

Every time us Jersey boys finally get something good the New York boys want to take it.We gave you the Giants stadium and took all your garbage,Whats next...LOL Just kidden The animal activist are fighting this one really hard.But this crappy state is broke and needs the money from the sale of tags and fines so it may get a thumbs up

Deadbolt, if you decide to stay on the ground, make sure you can outrun your partner. Hap

Tom if you plan on hunting Old Mine Road = Delaware National Recreation Area. There is absolutely no baiting. It's Federal Land. Not State. There  are  alot of Bear there though. Bear Swamp WMA [get it Bear Swamp] is a good spot. A bunch of your Trad Gang Buds hunt that spot and know it well. They might chime in. Stokes State Forest and Walpack, Flatbrook Roy, are also great Bear spots.Remember if you plan on building a blind on State or Federal land figure on another hunter to be in it. That's Jersey.That's opening day of the six day firearm too. Get up extra early and be where you want to be early.Get there while the hunters are still in the Diner.         Like Larry said you might be better to scout out a spot/area  with good bear sign and pack in a climber. Another option is a pop up blind. Wear plenty of orange. My favorite is the orange camo style. Even put some  orange on a pop up.  I do not venture out into the Jersey Woods during those days. Sold my guns. Best day is the opener. Try to be in the woods that day.Remember bring plenty of helper/hunters. If you do wack one it's your responsibilty to get it out of the woods and checked in. That goes for a 200,300 or 400 pounder.  Fill your pockets with Snickers bars.They seem to like them alot. I know that from experiance.         With Republicans in office it might go threw. The Democrats were the ones that stopped it. ChuckC I was out bowhunting last New Years Day and saw a 150 pound bear. They hibernated late this winter. Seems like if there's food around they will not hibernate. It was also pretty mild the beginning of the winter. If you do plan on Baiting buy a bag of Sweet Oats with molasses . They cannot resist it. They'll lay down in it and eat, sleep, until it's gone.

A few more tips. Put your stand 12' TO 15' high with lots of back cover. You need to double lung a bear for a quick kill. One lung hit means a very long tracking job. As Manitoba Stickflinger said, aim about middle high. I aim about 3-4" behind the shoulder. Your arrow will not penetrate a bears shoulder. Put logs and dead wood behind your bait to keep the bear in front. As stated above, use a variety of baits and bait early to get the bears accustomed to the bait site. A bear will sometimes watch and circle a bait site before comming in so be quiet the entire hunt. If you have time with good light, don't be in a hurry, give the bear time to settle on the bait. GOOD LUCK  >>>> RAY

With the Commissar out of office you will probably get the hunt. Here is the Bear policy as is.      

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearpolicy10.htm

I'm wondering if they will make you take a special bear hunting course like last time. Most guys left bears in the woods last time because they shot the first thing they saw which was usually a tiny second year bear just chased off by mommy.
If you find a good spot, you won't even need bait. I usually have bears walking past my blind in NJ half the time I'm out. If you can bait, it will just be a bonus. If I can go, I all ready have my spot picked out.    

As luck wouild have it the last two recent seasons (04 and 06 I think )We had early snows and very cold weather both years . 05 was very mild . The bear season has always been combined with our 6 day firearm deer season . Some years that's a little late for some mature bears as they are well fed by that time and very cold weather seemed to cut down on activity (my expirience ) Those 2 seasons there were a lot of small immature bears taken but the state agency promoted taking the first bear encountered . bows weren't allowed and it was a lottery system with different zones and quotas . You had to check with fish and game every evening to see if they reached their limit for a particular zone as it would then close that zone immediately .
Looking forward to another chance though , Fred

Thanks Tom...because last year, we saw more black bears than we did deer.

Bamboo and I stumbled into 4 while easing into our hunting spot one morning. 30 yds and watching us...finally they moved on.

Had one bear walk up to me maybe 15 yds away before he saw me waving my arms..then he took his sweet time walking away....I would love to bowhunt them because spot and stalk is just as good as sitting over a bait pile of apples or corn.

QuoteEvery time us Jersey boys finally get something good the New York boys want to take it.  

Don't worry us NY boys will come and bail your state out and rid you of some bears in the process  

IMHO I wouldn't think The state would limit the Hunt to Residents. Non Resident licenses will give the State even more money.That's always a good thing. More Money! Hec I hear the non resident license might go up again this year?? Hey Stone Knife you New York Trad Gangers are always welcome as far as I'm concerned. Just keep that Governor of yours in your own State.  

It sounds to me that you guys in Jersey have way too many bears. I've talked to my bud Bentpole about it for a while.

Aside from the importance of game management, do they ever report any Nusiance Bear's?  I would think the Public would be in outrage, over Bear Human encounters.  Especially with the population where it seems to be.

Seems to me the Animal rights groups, have deep pockets out there.

Its ironic, here in Minnesota they started up the bear season years ago, and intially there were lots of hunters/interest.  Then it seems lately, people have cooled off to the whole thing, and some zones I believe you can buy two tags.  Here in MN it is imperative to Bait for the most part.

I can see the point of removing the Carcass of the game.

A tool that works really well for Deer Hunting, is one of those Deer Carts, I'm not sure how much weight you can find them to take, but they are slick.. Even for a out of shape, dude like me. :eek:

If it turns out that baiting is OK then get a couple of gallons of the frying fat from a local restaurant or McD's. Dump it on the ground where you want to bait. The bears will be attracted to it, walk around it it, roll in it, etc. When they leave their feet will be covered with the oil and  make trails for other bears to find and follow. It'd a good way to get them started.

Gator the politicians don't care about management hunting in this state is a buisness. There have been endless nuisance reports and its taken the death of pets and injuries to open it up again.

Stone Knife,If your Govenor can make a sane decision without screwing the people who live in the state and giving it all to out of state contracts then bring him. We can't get any worse with yours than we have with ours.And I like you New York boys,Just stay in the right lane on the parkway.  

When you place your bait take an old t-shirt that you've worn for a couple of days and throw it right on top ov everything.  The bears will get more used to your scent that way and won't be as badly spooked when they scent you.

Well maybe New Jersey will learn the importants to proper game management before the have an issue. Utah has always keep the nusiance bear problems on the "hush hush" until a young boy was pulled from his tent and killed. Many people had reported the bear causing problems around a campground but did not post it. Now they are putting out more tags and you see bear beware signs everywere. But they still make baiting real hard to do. Last year they had the most bear and human/livestock conflicts "reported" than any year. I think there were 7 bears killed two were out of campgrounds on the mountain above my home and the bear population is low on cedar mountain.

Glad to hear we'll have another season. I always wanted to hunt bears legally with a bow.   :D  

Now if they'd only let me hunt'em in the spring.