I've always wondered why killing animals for fun is considered by some people synonymous with conservatism. I guess it's because idiots can call themselves conservatives, too.
Bears, refineries. New Jersey has it all. Great state.
Cool bear hunt.
Does anyone know how these things taste?
mmmmmm.... bear meat..... mmmmmm
Killed my first bear when I was 3 years old - it was a kodiak over 11 feet tall - came at me from behind a cypress tree down in the Okeefunookee Swamp. Tasted sorta like chicken.
Update:
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1071067443285530.xml 218 bears killed in three days of N.J. hunt
By KRISTA LARSON
The Associated Press
12/10/2003, 6:37 p.m. ET
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The bear count from the state's first hunt in more than three decades hit at least 218 animals Wednesday evening, according to the director for the state Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Martin McHugh said that figure was consistent with where state wildlife officials thought they'd be as the third day of the hunt winded down.
Hunters had brought in 36 bears by late afternoon, although several more hours remained for taking the animals in to stations, he said.
Wildlife officials have said they hope the hunt will reduce the estimated 3,200 bears living in the state's northwestern region by about 500. They plan to monitor the daily kill and determine if the hunt should last the full six days scheduled, although no decision had been made as of Wednesday evening.
"We want to see bears remain at a healthy population level, and also at a level that is more safe for our citizens, especially in that part of the state," McHugh told reporters Wednesday.
Hunters had an extra 31,000 acres to scout in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area after a federal judge lifted a temporary ban on bear hunting there earlier in the week. It was not immediately known how many of the 36 bears killed Wednesday had been hunted on federal land, McHugh said.
The number of bears killed each day has dropped, from 116 Monday to 66 Tuesday. Still, opponents said they remained disheartened after watching the bear carcasses being brought in to weigh stations.
"Even one bear is too many," said Doris Lin, who lives in Freehold. "We don't want to see any bear turned into a rug or trophy."
Lin was among about a dozen opponents of the hunt who gathered near the Statehouse carrying signs that included "Bears Need Homes Also" and "Bear Blood Stains New Jersey and McGreevey Doesn't Care."
Lin, who supported Gov. James E. McGreevey in the last election, brought a sign to the demonstration that she'd once put in her front yard with a small "ex" in front of the word governor.
Protesters also expressed anger over reports that a wounded bear cub had staggered out of the woods beside a busy highway around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday after being shot by a hunter.
West Milford police reported getting dozens of calls about the cub. The hunter was not cited because he had the proper state permit and had tracked the wounded bear out of the woods, authorities said.
Kari Casper was on her way to work in Lincoln Park when she saw the cub and was brought to tears.
"We love animals, so I was very upset just to see him there," Casper said. "He just looked like a big stuffed animal there that was sleeping in the snow."
McHugh called the incident "unfortunate" but said hunters were not actively targeting bear cubs.
"Most of the cubs that are coming into the check stations are well over 100 pounds," he said. "It's hard to tell a cub from an adult female for that matter, especially when you're in the field."
The incident also was cited in a letter sent to McGreevey Wednesday from state Sen. Joseph F. Vitale, D-Middlesex, urging the governor to end the hunt.
"There are many viable alternatives that give both animals and humans safe, peaceful environments," Vitale wrote. "As representatives of this state, we have a duty to make sure that justice and peace are fair, and this treatment of our state's animals is outright wrong."
State officials authorized the hunt because bears have been moving into populated areas, endangering human residents, pawing through garbage cans and killing livestock in the nation's most densely populated state.
Among the 36 bears killed was a male that weighed 551 pounds after being gutted, McHugh said.
Although no figures were available yet for Wednesday, the number of females killed by Tuesday was twice the number of males. McHugh said biologists considered that figure normal given the bear density in the northwestern part of the state.
A Sussex County hunter had become trapped in an icy swamp Tuesday, but McHugh said there had been no similar reports Wednesday.
Seven rescuers were taken to hospitals to be treated for exposure after they took part in an extensive rescue effort to locate Scott Seelagy, 42.
Seelagy, Sparta's deputy mayor, was admitted to the hospital Tuesday night for observation and treatment of hypothermia, his wife said.
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On the Net:
N.J. Fish and Wildlife:
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw Bear Education and Resource Group:
http://www.savenjbears.com U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation:
http://www.ussportsmen.org