New York hunters take fewer bears in 2021
We were fishing out in Wyoming, and having a great time.
It wasn’t wilderness, but we were on a lonely ranch and it was wild enough, a long way from anywhere, in an open basin at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains.
Our host served as our guide. I noticed right away that he carried a Model 1911 .45 pistol on his hip.
“Is that for bears? I asked.
“Yeah,” he answered.
I scanned the terrain – red rim rock dropping down to flat-as-a-pancake bottom lands, cottonwoods here and there strung along the cold, clear creek, and a couple of big irrigated hayfields. Could there be a bear out there somewhere? It was possible, but not likely. Still …
“It isn’t big enough,” I said, thinking our friend needed a more substantial means of protection.
Well, it might have been big enough. I don’t know. The Model 1911 was designed to knock people down, and I’m sure it has knocked some bears down, too. I’ve never seen a bear in all my trips out West, however, even to Yellowstone, where you might expect to. If I do see a bear out there, I’d prefer it to be at a distance – 50 yards for a black bear, and at least 100 for a grizzly (more on those guys in a future column) – while gripping a Remington 870 loaded with slugs. (I’m told the .45 is not a great bear pistol option, with .44 Magnum, 454 Casull, and 500 Smith & Wesson preferred. The slug gun and rifles in beefy calibers are better yet, but much less convenient to carry.)
Back home, I have seen a few black bears, very much up close, and at eye level. They seem to like our hunting property in Steuben County. We have many photos of them on our cameras, the guys come across them frequently, and a couple have been killed by our group.
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Some people don’t like bears. They can do some damage to crops, they are death on young fruit trees and bushes, even when you think you have them securely fenced, and they will kill whitetail fawns when they can. If you are stupid enough to leave food where they can get wind of it – I have – you will never see it again.
I do think it is cool in a way to have something that big and wild and maybe a little bit dangerous ambling around, but, again, I prefer it to be at a distance.
Well, the bears kept their distance this past deer season. We didn’t see any. Apparently there were fewer bears in many places around the state, because the Department of Environmental Conservation’s recent bear take reports shows hunters killed 1,346 bears, down from 1,723 in 2020. In our township, Canisteo, five bears were taken, with 70 killed overall in Steuben County. The year before the totals were six and 82.
The take was down 30 percent in the Northern Zone, to 403, and down 20 percent in the Southern Zone, to 983. The DEC says bear harvest numbers fluctuate from year to year based on cub production and food availability. The change was dramatic locally. There were 20 bears taken in Herkimer County in 2021 after 37 were killed in 2020. In Oneida County, the numbers dropped from 25 to zero. There were 61 bears taken in Lewis County, 10 in Otsego County, and one in Madison County.
The average number of bears taken in the state the last five years is 1,496. Hunters have killed more than 1,000 bears every year but one since 2003, when a record 1,863 were taken. Indeed, there are a lot of bears out there, with the state population believed to be as high as 8,000.
The heaviest bear reported last season was a 560-pounder taken in Greene County. The heaviest taken in our area was 478 pounds from the Town of Middlefield, just east of Cooperstown in Otsego County. The 2021 black bear harvest report is available at dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/bbrpt2021.pdf.
Seeing a bear in the wild can be a great thrill. It also could be less than fun if you run into an aggressive specimen, although the chances of that are low. Many years ago when I visited Yellowstone Park shortly after a series of gruesome grizzly bear-backpacker incidents, anglers and backpackers were advised to be cautious, wear bells, back away from bears, pack bear spray, and perhaps carry suitable firearms. I was told, however, that I needn’t worry because I talked so much and so loudly and made so much commotion otherwise that no bear would come near me or my companions. That made me feel bad, but after a while I felt like kind of a hero because no one got crunched by a bear while I was there.
There was a time that it was believed that black bears would not attack people, and that they certainly would not kill human beings. Not so. It’s an extremely rare thing, but it does happen – at least a couple of dozen times in the last 25 years in North America. And hasn’t always been a sow protecting her cubs that has been involved.
It is unlikely you will ever have a problematic meeting with a bear, but if you do, be judicious. And remember: never, ever trust a wild animal, especially one with sharp claws, big teeth, and a lot of muscle. They demand respect, and you’d better give it to them.
State hunters set safety record
New York State hunters were involved in nine shooting incidents during 2021, the lowest total since the hunter safety program was inaugurated in 1949.
There was one fatality – one too many – and there was another involving tree stands, with a total of 10 elevated hunting incidents.
There were no incidents involving 12- and 13-year-old hunters, who were allowed to hunt with rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader and crossbow for the first time. There also were no incidents during the new extended shooting hours of a half-hour before sunrise and after sunset.
We will have more details on the hunter safety report in the next column.
Write to John Pitarresi at 60 Pearl Street, New Hartford, N.Y. 13413 or jcpitarresi41@gmail.com or call him at 315-724-5266.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: New York hunters take fewer bears in 2021
