Syracuse.com - DEC: Good year for bear hunting in central and western zones of state

[HuntingNY-News]

The most recent figures indicate that more than 900 bears were killed this fall by hunters statewide.

Preliminary reports from the state’s bear hunting scene indicate a record number of successful hunts this fall — particularly from those counties bordering Pennsylvania from the Binghamton area and westward.

“The bear take was down in the Northern (Adirondack) Zone but reached record levels in the Southern Zone,” said Matt Richards, a wildlife biologist from the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Cortland office. The Southern Zone is made up of the central and western zones, along with the southeast area of the state.

Richards, citing a recent report from the Albany office of the DEC, said the state’s central and western zones were on track to top 300 bears as of Dec. 9. The previous record for that area, which stretches from Broome County, along the Pennsyvania border all the way to Lake Erie, was 189 bears.

Richards said the number of bears taken in the southeast area (which includes the Catskills) was up, but not as much as the central and western areas. The most recent figures indicate that more than 900 bears were killed this fall by hunters statewide.

In New York’s Southern Zone, which includes Central New York, bear hunting is permitted during the regular and late bowhunting season, the regular firearms season and during the muzzleloading season. The late bow and muzzleloading seasons close Tuesday.

Bear hunting is allowed in only specific areas. One can’t hunt them, for example, in Cayuga, Oswego or Oneida counties. More specifics and maps are available in the DEC hunting guide.

It’s been three years since the DEC expanded the state’s black bear hunting zone to include portions of Madison and Cortland counties, along with a sliver of southern Onondaga County in Fabius and Tully. Richards noted no bears were taken in those areas this fall as of Nov. 29.

During that same time period, Richards said 20 bears were taken in Broome County, along with five in Tioga and two each in Chenango and Tompkins counties.

Pennsylvania Game Commission executive director Carl G. Roe recently announced preliminary bear harvest results from that state’s recently concluded seasons. Hunters harvested 3,968 bears, which would rank as the total harvest as the second highest in Pennsylvania history.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog