New Jersey will extend this season’s Bear Hunt from Wednesday through Saturday. State Fish and Wildlife officials extended the days because hunters took home fewer than the maximum number of bears earlier this fall.
Bitter cold is facing hunters as New Jersey's black bear hunt resumes for four more days.
State environmental officials decided to add the extra days after the harvest fell short this year.
Hunters bagged 382 black bears overall during both segments of the 12-day hunt that ended Saturday.
But only 21 of the 135 bruins culled had been "tagged," or documented prior to the hunt. That's six fewer than the 20-percent threshold required in the state game code to avoid an extension.
The hunt resumed at sunrise Wednesday and concludes shortly after sunset on Saturday. The bear zones include all of Sussex, Warren, Morris and Hunterdon counties, and parts of Bergen, Passaic, Mercer and Somerset.
There were 636 black bears killed during the 2016 hunt.
