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Shooting Stray Bear

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I understand people who live in rural areas surrounded by woods see black bear pretty regularly roam their back yard and they know how to deal with it without freaking out. I live in lakewood nor rural by any means its a city. this Saturday there was a full size black bear roaming it was actually in my parents back yard. eventually after many hours it found its way back to the woods, when police were called they said bears are not their job and dept of fish and will life only come if the bear is acting aggressively they admitted to my dad it would have to hurt or kill someone first before they take action.

my question is i know for some reason killing a bear is some kind of no no, id like to know the guidelines and consequences of shooting one. if its a nice summer day with children all over the place am i not supposed to shoot it?! if you can enlighten me on the subject id appreciate it, it happened once it will probably happen again and yes its the first time its ever happened in this area. i really no the freak out type but a loose bear out of its normal surroundings can become very aggressive quickly

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If its a nice summer day and children are around playing and you see a bear bring the kids inside. problem solved. Black bear don't just attack for no reason and they don't become aggressive for no reason either. Call Fish and wildlife to make a report that there is a bear in the area and if it begins to become a nuisance bear they will trap and remove the bear. But just because there is a bear in a more populated area doesn't mean it is going to hurt someone. people in many other citys across the US deal with black bear running around without hurting anyone. So no you are not supposed to just shoot a bear because it makes you uncomfortable and if you do there is a chance that you will lose your hunting licenses, firearms, have massive fines and could possible face jail time. Now if this bear is attacking you or someone else by all means kill the bear and the shooting will be investigated and as long as it was attacking someone you will be cleared

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No duty to retreat if the bear breaks into your house. Querry, do you have a duty to retreat before you can shoot the bear outside? Clearly if an attack is in progress, no. Can you shoot the bear if it simply wanders onto your property, looks mean and is very hungry?

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No duty to retreat if the bear breaks into your house. Querry, do you have a duty to retreat before you can shoot the bear outside? Clearly if an attack is in progress, no. Can you shoot the bear if it simply wanders onto your property, looks mean and is very hungry?

Thats basically the question seems like a very fine line to me

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how can a bear be a stray? if it is near by go away. i've run into a few bears while hiking and camping. just keep your distance talk loudly to it and leave the area/go inside. it should not act aggressive simply because it knows you're there. no need to kill something simply because it wandered on your property. but if aggression is shown then defend yourself any way you see fit. just remember you are responsible for every bullet that you fire, hit or miss.

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I'm sure if you talked to your local legislators they would be more than willing to help you ban the scary black thing you are so afraid of from the city limits. Or, you could research how to keep the bear away from your house. And instead of blindly killing it, you could make sure other people as well as yourself know what to do when a bass is around and to call fish and game to help catch it so it can be released in a different area.

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Growing up in Sussex county we encountered black bear on a regular basis and we never had any problems even with children and small animals.  The only thing the bears ever went after were garbage and bird feeders.  I can also sat that they are definitely more afraid of you than you are of them.

 

As the others have said, it is probably not a good idea to shoot a black bear since they are not normally aggressive and rarely attack humans.

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A farmer in Stillwater up here in Sussex County was fined thousands of dollars and had his hunting license suspended 5 or 6 years ago.  That of course doesn't include legal fees which were probably thousands too.  The bear won't bother you unless you give it reason to.  My kids have come in from playing and left the garage door open. I took the trash out one night and found a medium sized bear pawing at my cans.  I told it to go away in a stern voice and it did.  I get that its unusual for you, but going into the city is not the norm for me, it may be for you.  Given the choice between a bear in a dark garage and a gang in a dark alley, I'll take the bear any day.

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I've hiked and camped in black bear country many times.  I've chased them out of my campsite on several occasions and met them in the woods several times too.

 

I've even had a bear rear up on it's hind legs and snarl at me to show me who was boss.  I continued to yell and throw stones and he backed down.  I'm not really that brave, I just figured if I turned and ran, he'd probably outrun me so I had better continue to bluff.

 

The bottom line is that black bear are rarely a real threat.  The make a mess of your garbage cans but other than that, keep the kids inside until it's gone and you'll be fine.

 

However, with that said, I have always believed that whenever we reintroduce a species to an area, we should first consider why our forefathers killed them all off.

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I live in Morris county and have only had the pleasure of seeing one black bear in the past 15 years and it was at my work not near my house. He was about 50 feet away as I was walking from my car to my building and by the time I got my mobile out to get a picture it was running for the woods. Unless there are cubs around black bears would rather flee than fight. Just don't leave out a food source and they will leave.

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Blah, blah, blah.

 

A black bear is a wild animal that gets to be up to 700 lbs.

They are not tame. They will attack. Old boss had his dog mauled by one of these "gentle" creatures.

 

Not advocating bothering them, or trying to avoid a confrontation. But if it comes anywhere near you or your family do what you have to to stay safe. These bears can run better than 20mph so they cover ground very quickly and can do fatal damage just as fast.

 

Yogi they aren't.

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I live in Sussex County. We have black bears up here. I see them at least once per year, but less now that they've been hunting the sh** out of them. 

 

I deal with it by avoiding them. but when I'm in the woods on my own property I have my sidearm, just in case. I just wish NJ wasn't so f'ing stupid that I could carry a full size can of bear spray. Spraying it with that would make me feel much better than putting .45 hollow point bullets in it.

 

That said if you shoot a bear just because you see one (unless it's an actual bear hunt, with a license, during the bear season) that is serious and the state wouldn't like it. Might even be a felony.But if it attacks you, and you cannot retreat safely, all bets are off. 

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A black bear is a wild animal that gets to be up to 700 lbs.

They are not tame. They will attack. Old boss had his dog mauled by one of these "gentle" creatures.

 

 

Only one person in recorded history in NJ has ever been killed by a black bear. These are not grizzly bears. Black bears are mostly harmless and if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. 

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Um....sure, its "rare" for a black bear to attack a human, but a quick google turned-up the following:

 

Bear kills 5 month old in Catskills - http://igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/2002/bear_kills_new_york2.html

 

12 year old attacked by black bear in Michigan - http://abcnews.go.com/US/12-year-girl-thought-goner-bear-attack/story?id=19997134

 

Ontario man mauled, dog killed by black bear - http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/05/man-describes-mauling-by-black-bear/

 

Pennsylvania girl 18 mauled by black bear - http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?id=9356607

 

Bear attacks 2 year old, kills 6 year old in Tennessee - http://www.chattanoogan.com/2006/4/13/83765/Chilhowee-Bear-Attack-Kills-Child.aspx

 

I'm sure not volunteering to be the next one...

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I live in Sussex and am less than a mile from Waywanda park, which I believe has the  highest concentration of black bears in the state.

 

In my town, within 1/4 mile, we've had bears in a fridge during the day while the woman was showering.  It broke through a screen door, opened the fridge and began eating.

A dog was eaten that some New Yorkers had staked out.

A bear attempted to enter our kitchen at about 1am.  It was halfway in and my wife started beating these poles(about 2" diameter) near its nose and it retreated.

Two cubs went into a house with mom, mom ran out, deputies couldn't get the cubs out so had to shoot them.

My next door neighbor was stuck in her house as a bear planted itself next to her door and was eating some cornstalks.  Deputy ran it off with shotgun bangers.

Several bears were shot when they entered a house and proceeded to destroy it.

 

All of the above were within a 5 minute or less walking distance from my house.

 

There are more.

Some guy had his van stolen by a bear in Barry Lake (about 1 mile away).   Woke up,  van missing.  Turns out Yogi went inside, bumped it out of gear and it rolled down the road and disappeared into the woods.

Some guy in down in Glenwood(other side of Vernon) was swatted by a bear that took his sandwich.

 

The bottom line is, you can shoot a bear to protect life.   Even the life of a pet.

 

This pretty much means its in the house or trying to come in or attacking your animals.

 

Anything else and you're in serious trouble.  There was a guy prosecuted for shooting  a bear when they realized the entrance wound was in the bears back and exited the front.

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. I just wish NJ wasn't so f'ing stupid that I could carry a full size can of bear spray. Spraying it with that would make me feel much better than putting .45 hollow point bullets in it.

 

 

 

Big can of wasp and hornet spray, the kind that shoots ~30 feet or so.  Keep it in the car if you drive through areas of questionable safety, too.

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Black bears are generally more scared of you unless they get used to coming around and eating garbage.  I know of one instance where a female got a little aggressive and had my friend up a tree.  This happened in PA.  He was walking a field and got between a mother and several cubs.

 

I was in a tree stand bow hunting, and a mother walked out with her cubs 10 yds. from me.  She stood watch while the cubs hacked berries off a bush. Mama's are very protective of their young.

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Life or death of you or pets or others. Shoot it!

Non life or death, go in side and YouTube it.

May throw rocks at it and tell it " scat!" Or sumtin

 

I was at my buddies in warren, he jus hops on a quad and bum rushes them.

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We had one right next door last year.   What happens is that it's not uncommon to have a sow den in a built-up area, the cubs are born in the Spring and then need to find their way to some habitat that is less suburbanized.   In that move, the new cubs are often seen wandering through housing areas with people.   Usually, they move through and keep on going.  Thus, the 'boat horn' suggestion (which we took) is probably a good one. 

 

As a result of this incident, the chief NJDEP Division of Fish & Wildlife came to town and did a presentation on black bears.  Here's what I learned, and the answer to what I specifically asked him:

 

(1)  you should leave black bears alone and let them make their way out of your area

(2)  if they become habituated to people/your area and a REAL problem you can call DEP F&W and they'll come

(3)  if they are on your property and you shoot them you're likely in trouble (fines, discharge laws, etc.)

(4)  if they break into your house (happens all the time) that's different but they'd better be coming toward you/threatening you when shot

(5)  if attacked by a black bear DON'T play dead - they EAT dead things and they'll eat YOU (unlike grizzlies)

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