Early season black bear hunters reported successful harvests in Northern and Southern Zones, taking a total of 1,723 black bears during the 2020 hunting seasons.
Hunters took an estimated 1,152 bears in the Southern Zone, comparable to the record set in 2019, and 11% greater than the recent five-year average. While take in the regular season was lower than last year, hunters had record success during the early and bow seasons.
In the Northern Zone, hunters harvested an estimated 571 bears, the highest number since 2015.
A productive early season in the Northern Zone is generally followed by a relatively low regular season harvest, with the reverse anticipated in the year to come. The 2020 bear harvest followed this pattern, with an early season harvest that increased four-fold from 2019, and a regular season harvest that dropped approximately 25% from 2019 numbers.
Notable numbers from the 2020 bear harvest include:
3—the number of bears harvested per 10 square miles in Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 3K, which includes southern Sullivan County and a portion of Orange County. WMU 3K had the greatest bear harvest density of any unit, but the town of Monroe in Orange County yielded 4.5 bears for every 10 square miles;
116—the greatest number of bears reported taken on any one day was recorded on September 12, the opening day of the early bear season in the Southern Zone;
550—pounds for the heaviest dressed-weight bear reported in 2020, taken in the town of Greenville, Orange County. Scaled weights of dressed bears were submitted for 26% of bears taken in 2020.
13—the number of tagged bears reported in the 2020 harvest. The 13 bears included two bears originally tagged in Pennsylvania and one from New Jersey. The remainder were originally tagged in New York for a variety of reasons, including research, nuisance response, relocated urban bears, or released rehabilitated bears.
911—the number of hunter-killed bears from which DEC collected teeth for age analysis in 2020.
Hunters who reported their harvest and submitted a tooth for age analysis will receive a 2020 Black Bear Management Coordinator Patch. Results of the age analysis are expected to be available later this year.
Harvest estimates rely on successful hunters reporting their harvest. For more information on game harvest reporting, visit the DEC website.
A complete summary of the 2020 bear harvest with results and maps by county, town, and WMU is also available online.