New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 25 - DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE RULES › Subchapter 5 - 2020-2021 GAME CODE › Section 7:25-5.6 - Black bear (Ursus americanus), bobcat (Felis rufus)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) There is a closed season for bobcat. It shall be illegal to intentionally take, kill, or attempt to take or kill a bobcat in the State of New Jersey at any time. Trappers shall report any bobcat incidentally caught within 24 hours of discovery to 1-877-WarnDEP (1-877-927-6337). Bobcat, including any part thereof, legally harvested in other US states or Canadian provinces may be possessed provided they are affixed with a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) tag from the state or province of harvest. It shall be illegal to use dogs to pursue or run black bears. There may only be a season for black bears provided there is a valid comprehensive policy for the protection and propagation of black bear that has been approved by the Council and the Commissioner and adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq., rulemaking procedures, and the Council determines that this subchapter comports with such policy. In the absence of such policy, there shall be no season for black bears. The Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP) shall be published on the NJDEP Fish and Wildlife website at
http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/
and available from the Office of Administrative Law at Rules Division, PO Box 049 Trenton, NJ 08625-0049 or oal.comments@oal.nj.gov. A season for black bears shall be consistent with the approved CBBMP. The season shall consist of two segments. Segment A shall be a period of six consecutive days beginning on the second Monday in October. Segment B shall be concurrent with the six-day firearm deer season as enumerated at N.J.A.C. 7:25-5.27(a). During each segment, black bear may only be harvested by the means specified at (a)4 below. Legal hunting hours for black bears shall be 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset. Following the commencement of the season, the Director shall close the season if the harvest rate reaches 30 percent. The Director will announce such closure, which will become effective 24 hours from the daily legal closing time of the day on which the Division determines that the harvest rate reaches 30 percent, based upon data obtained and reviewed by the Division at the close of each day of the season. Harvest rate equals the number of harvested bears that were tagged in the current calendar year within bear management zones (BMZs) open to hunting divided by the number of bears that were tagged in the current calendar year that are available for harvest (total number of bears tagged in the current year within BMZs open to hunting minus known mortality of such tagged bears and number of such tagged bears known to have left the BMZs that are open to hunting). Season closure will be announced by news release, radio, the Fish and Wildlife website (
www.njfishandwildlife.com
), and other media.
1. Special black bear hunting permit requirement: All black bear hunters must have a current and valid firearm or archery hunting license and a current and valid special "black bear hunting permit" which will be issued by the Division. Apprentice licenses are not valid for the taking of black bear. A total of 11,000 special black bear hunting permits, allocated by bear management zone (BMZ), will be available to properly licensed hunters. Black bear hunting permits and special farmer black bear permits are not transferable and must be in the possession of the hunter while hunting black bears. Hunters are limited to hunting in no more than two BMZs per season. Hunters are limited to purchasing up to two black bear hunting permits per year, as per (a)1iii below, one for each BMZ hunted, until the end of Segment A. Juvenile hunters aged 10 through 13 years of age must have a black bear hunting permit and be under the direct supervision of a properly licensed adult (21 years of age or older) while bear hunting. The adult must also possess a black bear hunting permit. Direct supervision means the juvenile hunter and the supervising adult are together at the same location. The juvenile hunter may not hunt independently of the adult.
i. Black bear hunting permits will be issued on an individual basis to holders of valid and current firearm and/or archery hunting licenses. Apprentice licenses are not valid for the taking of black bear. Black bear hunting permits and special farmer black bear permits are valid only in the BMZ and year designated on the permit, and are not transferable.
ii. Black bear hunting permits consist of a back display and include a "Black Bear Transportation Tag." The back display shall be conspicuously worn in the middle of the back in addition to the valid firearm or archery license.
iii. Black bear hunting permits shall be issued on an individual basis to holders of valid and current firearm or archery hunting licenses, including juvenile licenses, via the Division's ELS or, in the event of ELS operating difficulties, by providing the same information at ELS locations through such alternate system as may be designated by the Division. All persons, while their hunting licenses are void under authority of law or as imposed by a court, are prohibited from procuring a black bear hunting permit. Any permit obtained by fraud shall be void.
iv. Special Farmer Black Bear Permits shall be applied for as follows:
(1) Only the owner or lessee of a farm, who resides thereon, or immediate members of his family 10 years of age or older who also reside thereon, may apply on forms provided for a special farmer black bear permit. Under this section a farm is an area of five acres or more and producing a gross income in excess of $ 500.00 and is tax assessed as farmland. Special farmer black bear permits will be issued only in those Black Bear Management Zones where a season is prescribed.
(2) Application forms may be obtained from the Division of Fish and Wildlife, MC 501-03, PO Box 420, Trenton, N.J. 08625-0420.
(3) The application shall be filled in to include Conservation ID Number or name, age, address, and any other information requested thereon. Properly completed application forms will be accepted in the Trenton office no later than August 31. There is no fee required and all qualified applicants will receive a Special Farmer Black Bear Permit delivered by mail. Information and instructions on whether permits are to be mailed or claimed will be posted on the Division's website at
www.njfishandwildlife.com
and in the Hunting and Trapping Digest.
(4) Application for a farmer black bear permit shall not preclude a farmer from procuring, as stated in (a)1iii above, a regular black bear season permit as a holder of a valid hunting license.