171 Bears Killed So Far In NJ Hunt, Surpassing 2018 Total

NORTH JERSEY — The total number of bears killed in the 2019 New Jersey hunt has already surpassed the total killed in 2018, and there are still two more days left to go.

So far, 171 bears have been killed in three days of the bow hunt. Only 140 were killed in the entire five days of the bow hunt last season. The 2019 hunt is also on pace to surpass the 244 killed in the 2017 hunt, the most recent year the hunt was allowed on public lands.

Most of those bears have been killed in Sussex County, with 85 reported shot there. Warren and Morris Counties are the next highest, with 37 and 37 killed, respectively, and another 15 were killed in Passaic County. Just one has been killed in Bergen County. No bears have been killed in Somerset or Mercer Counties.

During the first three days of the hunt, hunters are limited to bows and arrows. Rifles and archers are allowed on the last two days of the fall hunt, which wraps up on Friday.

An additional firearms-only hunt will take place in mid-December.