DEC Announces Bear Harvest Totals

New York State bear hunters took 1,505 black bears during the 2019 hunting seasons, state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today.

Commissioner Seggos said

Black bears are thriving in New York, and bear hunting seasons are a critical part of our state's necessary population management. The state's accessible public lands offer great opportunities for bear hunting and the data DEC's wildlife managers collect from the harvest continue to help us maintain healthy bear populations.

The 2019 bear harvest played out differently across the state. Hunters took a record 1,179 bears in the Southern Zone, while hunters in the Northern Zone took only 326 bears, the fewest since 2011.

In part, the great success hunters enjoyed in the Southern Zone was a consequence of below average harvest in 2018 due to early snowfall and early denning by bears that year. Hunters were able to capitalize on the availability of more bears in 2019.

Bear harvest in the Northern Zone tends to alternate between strong harvests during the early season if natural foods are lacking and strong harvests during the regular season if natural foods are abundant.

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