If the proposed hunt moves forward—it's unclear whether final authority for the hunt will rest with the Commissioner or the Fish and Game Council—it is scheduled for December 6 to 11.
Hunters would be required to have a hunting license and complete a safety course offered by Commissioner Bradley's department. Either shotguns or muzzle loaders can be used. Hunters can shoot bears of either gender, cubs included. The minimum age for a hunter is ten.
"The type of gun that a ten-year-old can handle is not sufficient to kill a bear humanely, so we are concerned that kids with guns could cause a lot of injuries to bears," said Linda Smith, leader of BEAR, Bear Education and Resource Group based in Hewitt, New Jersey. "Bears are not easy to kill; it often takes grown men multiple shots."
Bear baiting is also legal in New Jersey. "Bear baiting involves putting out a food source for bears, like a bucket of jelly donuts, every day for a few weeks before the hunt. That way the bear gets used to coming to a predetermined area," Smith said. "Then the day of the hunt, the hunter goes to the food pile and shoots the bear while it's eating the donuts or whatever. Most people find that offensive."
However, the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance defends bear baiting, a method used for hunting bears all across the country. "It ensures a cleaner shot, meaning a more humane death," Ruth said.
Guns vs. Garbage-Pail Lids
Regardless of how the bears are killed, the question of whether hunting is an effective way to manage bear populations in suburban areas remains hotly contested.
"The problem with the hunt is that they are not targeting the bears who cause the problems," said Susan Hagood, Wildlife Issues Specialist for the Humane Society of the United States in Washington, D.C. "The bears who happen to have a home range next to places where people live are the most likely to get into trouble. But hunters go out into the woods, a long way from people and towns, so they are killing the bears least likely to cause conflicts."
Hagood argues that figuring out how to manage bears that show up in the suburbs—where hunting is not permitted—is the best way to reduce conflicts with people. "If someone sees a bear in their backyard or at their bird feeder, they usually call the police. So we believe training police to deal with bear conflicts is the safest and most effective way to proceed."
The Humane Society of the U.S. hosts workshops that teach officers to scare bears off, which has proven effective in national parks like Yosemite, where people and bears are also living in close quarters.
"The goal is to use the bear's dominance structure against the bear by convincing them that you are tougher, meaner, noisier, and stronger than they are. If you convince them of that, and that being around people is a recipe for discomfort, they will move on," Hagood said.
That means shouting, waving arms, or crashing pots and pans, which often sends the bear back into the woods. "If that doesn't work, a police officer can fire in the direction of the bear to scare them, or shoot rubber bullets or bean bags at their backsides. That always gets them moving."
Depending on how habituated the bear is to people, it may take two or three rounds of scare tactics to get the animal to move on permanently.
"That approach needs to be partnered with a bear-safe community program, which means educating people about how to reduce the attractants that bring bears to their doorsteps," Hagood said. That includes using bearproof garbage cans, feeding pets inside, and taking down bird feeders during prime bear season.
"Black bears are not aggressive. I think that's the biggest misconception out there," said Lynn Rogers, founder of the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota. Rogers has studied bears for 38 years and was an advisor to New Jersey's Fish and Game Council. He is also a hunter.
"Black bears aren't after us, they are after our food. In the eastern United States, there have been only two people killed by black bears in the last hundred years. They are not a significant threat to the public," Rogers said. "Cut off an easy food supply, which is essentially what a loose-lid garbage can represents, and bears will move back into the forest."
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