By
on October 15, 2016 at 8:01 AM, updated October 15, 2016 at 10:35 AM
The season continues through Saturday for hunters using bow and arrows and muzzleloaders and has the potential to surpass the 510 total bears killed during the entire 2015 season before the state’s firearms bear hunt in December.
Hunters were permitted to use only bow and arrows during the first three days of the extended hurt. Hunting with muzzleloaders is also permitted from Thursday to Saturday.
Pedals the walking bear feared dead as hunt continues
Social media accounts saying Pedals was brought by a hunter to a check station on Monday prompted a DEP response
Fifty-five bears were killed on Thursday, according to figures released by the state Department of Environmental Protection Saturday morning.
The county-by-county totals through Friday:
- Sussex County – 249
- Warren County – 86
- Morris County – 85
- Passaic County – 52
- Hunterdon County – 13
- Bergen County – 2
Bow and arrows were allowed in the bear hunt this year for the first time since the late 1960s, DEP officials said.
Five bear hunting zones are open to hunting in Bergen, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties. Saturday is the last official day of the archery and muzzleloader season.
More information on the bear hunt is available on the DEP’s bear hunting season website.
Exposing the Big Game 