Hunters Killed More Black Bears in This Hudson Valley County Than Anywhere in the State

Hunters set record numbers in the state of New York in 2014, killing more black bears in than ever before, according to a report from the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Ulster County toped the state with the highest total of any county. According to statistics released by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, hunters took 192 black bears in Ulster County in 2014. 

For the entire state, hunters took 1,628 black bears last year. The DEC said the 2014 numbers were "strongly influenced" by the special early bear season, which ran from Sept. 6 to 21 in parts of the Catskills and western Hudson Valley.

Encounters between black bears and humans become more frequent, as the bears numbers continue to increase across the region. Bear hunting is prohibited south of Westchester County though, as well as in some other portions of the state.