I was in my office when the press release came in from the NYSDEC, announcing new areas for bear hunting were being opened this fall. I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw WMU 7M and Chenango County were included. I'd been of the belief that it would be several years before bears would be legal game in Chenango County, once densities grew to what DEC felt were adequate to support hunting them. Apparently they are already, or at least the wildlife managers felt so. The DEC estimates there are 6,000 to 7,000 black bears statewide, but that is an estimate, so it could be higher or lower on any given year.

The nearest county to Chenango that had bear hunting last year was Broome, where only 10 bears were taken last fall, six of them during the archery season. Another bordering county, Delaware saw hunters taking a total of 56, 27 during the archery season and 29 during the regular firearms season. Otsego County only had three taken, all during the firearms season.

In retrospect, I think I understand why DEC opted to open the new areas to bear hunting so soon. One needs only to look at the increasing bear-people conflicts occurring in northwestern New Jersey, northeastern Pennsylvania and in New York's Catskill region. Bear densities have steadily climbed in these areas, to the point where residents are complaining about the increasing conflicts with bears and the damages they're inflicting on property. As these areas' bbear densities grew, the overflow of bruins have increased their ranges into new areas where bears were previously rare or almost unheard of. By acting now, the DEC probably hopes to have some degree of management capabilities to keep the bear population in check before densities reach problematic levels.

Because natural wild foods-berries, fruits, mast, etc. – supplemented by field corn were so plentiful this year, bear sightings in our county have been lower than last year's, when natural foods were scarcer and bears often visited residences seeking garbage, birdseed or pet foods that were left outside. But by their very shy nature, bears tend to stick to denser cover whenever possible, so unless one is crossing a road, field or other open areas, they're not often seen during daylight hours. Sightings alone belie whatever the total population of resident local bears we do have, so there could be more than we think. They just stay out of sight whenever possible.

Before hunters, especially regular firearms hunters, get the idea their chances of harvesting a bear in Chenango County this fall is good, there area several factors to consider. Denning is triggered by the length of daylight, the amount of the bear's body fat and the availability of food. Since food has been plentiful this year, and bears have been able to store plenty of body fat, so many, especially the females (sows), may start denning before the gun season opens, especially if we get cold and snow just prior. Typically, female bears enter their dens first in the late fall and are the last to emerge from dens in spring. Males (boars) tend to den and emerge later than sows. Of course bowhunters may see more because of their earlier hunting season.

I often wonder what my late dad, who was an avid sportsman, would have thought should he still be alive today. In his era, pheasant, grouse, woodcock and rabbits were both plentiful and accounted for the bulk of local hunters' attention. Deer came along a bit later, but the short hunting season often only temporarily drew hunters away from pursuing small game. Then, years later, came the coyotes, the wild turkeys and now the bears. I'm sure Dad would be amused by all this, but I also think he would bemoan the loss of his beloved small game hunting, especially pheasant, grouse and woodcock.