Bears in NJ entering our homes

[defiant]

Last night 3:30am my dogs went nuts,it sounded like All hell broke loose in my screen in porch an garage.I ran from the up stairs bedroom to the kitchin which is connected to the garage and found a mother and 2 cubs eating our Denton hill food we just packed    .(the guys are going to be P!$$%)  :rolleyes:  Anyway,the mother took one look at me half naked holding two boxers back and my wife screeming to do something, she ran out followed by the cubs making a second hole in my porch screens carrying a full duffle bag of food.MY STRAWBERRY PIE!    Just down the road from us last week the police shot and killed a 400pound male which got into the basement.Please NJ bring back the bear hunt! Frank

[Hardhed]

Thats what you get for baiting them in the kitchen..

Just a joke.  Glad they ran out.

[joe skipp]

I bowhunt in the Sussex area and 2 yrs ago a huge black bear wouldn't allow my hunting buddy and I to enter a certain section of the woods.

He held his ground defiantley and we slowly backed out of there. On 2 other occasions, my buddy ran into sows with cubs...bad news. Luckily they high tailed it the other way. Bears are a problem and since I bowhunt strictly from the ground, I'm always aware of my surroundings when leaving the woods.

I wish Jersey would open up the bear hunt to Non Residents also, either gun or bow. Not only would the revenues increase but the population would be controlled a little tighter.

[woodchucker]

The problem with Bears and "other" problem wildlife is that they have come to associate "people" with "food" instead of "people" with "guns"!!!!!

In areas were Bears are aggressively hunted,they associate "people" with "GUNSHOTS" and that "GUNSHOTS" mean.....FEET DO YOUR STUFF.....YOUR A$$ IS IN DANGER!!!!!!!!!!

Just one Old Fart's opinion.....

[bjk]

Skipper, it isn't because you hunt from the ground Bud, it's your cologne...you smell pretty  

[southpawshooter]

[joe skipp]

Good one Brian....that Vanilla Cover-Up on my boots and Maple Syrup on my clothing does seem to attract those blackies....whitetails too though...Too bad Fedrizzi didn't have that stuff on his clothing in New Brunswick...that sow wouldn't have been so pis....ed

[Snakeeater]

What you are going through is what we went through here in MD for the past ten years or so. We finally got a bear hunt back a few years ago.

The season on black bears was closed for around 50 years while the population came back. Unfortunately, they were a real problem, as they are in NJ, for the last ten of those 50 years.

He'll probably kill me for telling you this, but you should have your DNR folks call Paul Peditto (head of our wildlife and heritage service...aka the hunting folks) here in MD and talk to him about the tactics we used to get our hunt going again. It was a combination of good science, pressure from the delegates in the regions where the problems were, and support from the hunting community. We also started out with a small bag limit (a quota of bears that could be taken) and increased it each year so that we would have proof that we were not hurting the population as the anti's said we would be.

Good luck with it.

[Horney Toad]

If you look up the people in your NJ legislature that are responsible for banning the hunt, they aren't the outdoorsey type, knowhattumsayin?

[Traxx]

Sounds like the Same problem,the Folks at Lake Tahoe are encountering.

[Artur]

In Minnesota, we have the right to kill any bear we feel is directly threatening our health/safety, whether in the house or outside on the property. I don't know if NJ has such a thing, but maybe you should check into it....

Heck, if you are allowed to use deadly force to protect yourself against bears, without having to first get a permit to hunt them, you could shoot first and say later that you truly thought the bruin was going to attack -- especially since it was ALREADY "in the house". Might take a bit of 'splainin' to the cops, but what the hey...and it just might help get the message across that the bears in NJ are more than just a "nuisance".

[crow]

Harass a bear breaking into your home in NJ and the bear's lawyer would sue.

In a state where a guy beats a rat to death as it tries to escape from a havahart trap and ends up in court on cruelty charges there is no possibility for defensive action against pretty much anyone or anything. On the other hand there was a case way back when in our state when a guy shotgunned his wife's boyfriend and a high profile lawyer got him off because he claimed the guy with the shotgun stepped in a depression on the lawn and the gun went off accidently. So maybe there is hope in NJ but not without a good lawywer.

Had a bear breakin in East Brunswick, NJ a few years ago and there was a huge investigation. Don't recall the outcome except that the homowner who wounded the bear with a shotgun was deemed to have acted irresponsibly. A cop or CO finished off the bear. Impression is if you don't have claw marks on your chest, store your garbage in a safe and heaven forbid feed the birds, you going right to Rahway State Prison. No Hollywood celebs going to raise awareness to get your sentence commuted.

[joe skipp]

Seems Governor Corzine dumped the entire problem of black bear encounters with humans on the Fish & Game....Told them to "Handle the Problem".

I personally feel they should offer non residents a Bear Tag for the entire bow season for an additonal $125 (on top of the non res deer tags). Bowhunters from PA and NY would gladly pay the fee to bowhunt bears for 3 months.

Anyway...all falls on deaf ears...until some poor little boy or girl gets mauled while waiting for the school bus or taking out the trash. Thanks Jersey....

[southpawshooter]

Amen Joe..........nothing will change until someone gets hurt. The head of the NJDEP is under orders from Corzine to develop a non-lethal plan for controlling the bear population.  The plan encompasses educating the public against feeding and contact with bears as well as sterilization.  Anyone that hunts the Delaware River corridor has probably seen the bears swimming between PA and NJ.  With the  NY border as well, how in the heck is sterilization gonna work?????  And how could it possibly be cost effective????

[Mark Fedrizzi]

.......Joe--thanx for the comfort---that sow would have ripped my A$$ off...

[joe skipp]

Look at it this way Mark...you were still up in your stand when that sow went crazy. By the time she decided to come up the tree for a visit, you would have had at least 2 arrows in her.

Now...in Jersey, especially when we are in ground blinds or making drives OR leaving the woods at dusk....running into a sow with 2 or 3 cubs could end up disasterous....for the hunter.
Thats why this year I'm carrying the Bear spray.
I don't need to spend anymore time in jail for arrowing a bear in self defense.

Looking forward to bowhunting again this year with you, Scott and Brian. Be talking to ya....

[Angus]

Let's see... Corzine...isn't he the fool who doesn't want to wear a seatbelt in the car?  I have a colleague who has a home in Tahoe, and tells me her neighbor actually leaves food out for both the bears and the songdogs.  She tells me they're afraid to go for walks in the neighborhood because of this idiot, who needs to be turned in to fish and game, since feeding wildlife is a crime here.  I doubt anything would happen to her, though.  Typical CA response to a currently non-violent problem.  Since you can't simply harass animals and chase them away, AND nothing will come of turning the neighbor in to DFG, there is no solution but to beware of the bears! At least we still have the right to shoot a threatening wild animal here, in the only state that bans kangaroo leather (to save the poor beasties!).