As we go through the worst year ever of black bear problems in New Jersey with (56) direct house break-ins and over (1372) nuisance complaints, pets and domestic livestock killed we have to have highlighted by a Verona, N.J. resident an accident in the state of Washington wherein a (14) year old bear hunter shot and killed a hiker.

This tragic hunting accident although rare should result in this person never being able to hunt again, and being punished accordingly by law, as this type of incident should carry “no-second-chances”.

The (14) and (16) year old hunters were dropped off by their grandfather and left to hunt alone another mistake in judgment by the adult grandparent and parents that may have trusted his judgment.

Some talk has been made at the type of clothing worn by the hiker while using trails during the hunting season. This should not even be a consideration, although the bright orange safety clothes color is a plus no one human should be shot in the head being mistaken for a bear.

That being said, this is no reason to make a comparison to our black bear problem in N.J. nor to jump on the “hunters just want to kill something” rhetoric, nor to quote, “feel pity for the families of these two-legged creatures.”

Here we go again, take a rare occurrence and yes tragedy and use that to justify (56) house break-ins, over (1372) nuisance complaints, domestic and livestock killings and the increased dangers of the overpopulated N.J. black bear. 

Pity belongs to two legged people like this Verona resident far removed from the N.J. problem black bear areas, far removed from the daily dangers faced by people living in the heart of black bear country; pity to a person so quickly willing to put down all hunters for the act of one.

The black bear problems in N.J. are not just one; they are numerous as verified by factual reports of incidents by victims and newspapers. The fact that we have humans attacked but not killed to date is not an excuse for allowing the black bear to continue multiplying until that inevitable day happens.

In this country, especially after 911, we have learned to read warning signs and to take action to “avoid” tragedies’ “before” they occur. The black bear dangers are a boiling pot waiting to flow over and if citizens like this Verona resident are allowed to “read the signs” and then dismiss them, we are in trouble.

Lastly from this Verona residents letter the anti’s misleading statement; “In the 2005 N.J. bear hunt a woman with a camera was documenting a blood trail and a gutted bear while shotgun bearing hunters angrily told her she was intimidating them as they couldn’t get to their trophies”.

The woman was Angie Metler, known anti hunter who was actually caught with this camera on a sting operation that resulted in jail time and fines for deliberately attempting to disrupt a legal hunt. 
 
 
 

As for the hunters trying to get to their trophies, black bears are not trophies, they are nuisance criminals that break into houses and garages, kill domestic pets and livestock, destroy food crops and infringe on New Jersey taxpayers rights to use tax paid for private and public property. They are an increasing threat to human safety; they are defended by animal-right and anti-hunter fruitcakes that somehow believe that animal rights come before human rights, that until a human in N.J. is actually killed by a black bear we should ignore everything else they do and more importantly ignore the warning signs given by none other than the BLACK BEARS themselves. 

Just imagine, wait for a tragedy before we take action, how tragic is that? 

This is especially true of the Bear Education and Resource Group (B.E.A.R.) ONCE HEADED BY Lynda Smith and now taken over by well know anti-hunter Janet Piszar.

This is the most misleading group of individuals in the state that even went as far as bringing in a “so-called” bear expert, Steven Searles from California then duped the local papers into covering his story and recommendations several years ago warning N.J. against a black bear hunt. Searles it was found, was a once hunter, trapper, carpenter that assisted the local authorities in Lake Mammoth, CA (10) square mile resort of houses and condos’ to chase out roaming bears from the resort areas where hunting was impossible. In fact, CA holds two plus month black bear hunts to cull approximately (1700) bears annually.

B.E.A.R. also uses comments from Doctor Lynn Rodgers, bear expert and “entrepreneur”, that runs a bear retreat of a (4) day bed and breakfast and walk with the bears (food conditioned pets) for approximately $1000.00 a pop.

Lynda Smith did a good deed with revisiting garbage education, but the NJDF&W had similar information available on their website for years. Problem here is “garbage” security will not lower the black bear population to a “safe co-existing number”

Lynda Smith however had real compassion for the black bear and within that passion could not bring herself to cope with legal hunting as the only proven management tool. Janet Piszar on the other hand is a well know anti-hunter whatever the species and using the black bear to further her anti-hunting platform. 

Ironically, hunters are the true animal rights people, as they along with the criticized NJDF&W were responsible for working together to give us the healthy black bear population of the 1990’s and it was the anti’s that thwarted, in part through politics, the continuing management required in the 2000 to 2008 era to maintain that healthy balance. 

The black bear problem in New Jersey will not go away until a hunt is held as part of wildlife management population control and watch out Verona resident the expansion of the black bear could reach you soon then we will see how much love of wildlife you have. See how you feel about letting your children go outside, how it feels to give up the freedom of your tax-paid for backyards, how it feels to look over your shoulder while simply planting flowers or taking a walk down the streets of bear invested areas. 

You won’t and you may never know because people like you are selfish and concerned only about issues that do not affect you. For those like you living in bear country with this attitude, human life just doesn’t measure up to wildlife, how sad is that? 

Mike D