Hunter in deer stand kills bear that began climbing up tree

UNION TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A deer hunter in a tree stand fatally shot a black bear that began climbing up the tree toward him after it got within a few feet of him, state wildlife officials said.

The Sayreville man was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun on Saturday morning when he inadvertently made noise that drew the young male bear's attention, authorities said. The bear, estimated to weigh about 85 to 100 pounds, then began climbing up one of the tree trunks supporting the stand, which was 10 to 12 feet high.

The hunter shouted at the bear several times, hoping to scare it away, which is recommended by wildlife officials, but the bear kept climbing, authorities said. The hunter shot the bear when it was about 3 feet away because he feared for his safety, they said.
The shooting happened in Hunterdon County, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Ragonese said.

The bear fell out of the tree and landed on the ground. The hunter left the stand and soon found a fisherman nearby, and they contacted the DEP to report the shooting, which occurred outside black bear hunting season.

Evidence found at the scene appeared to confirm the hunter's account, Ragonese said. It's unclear if the bear was trying to attack the hunter or if it smelled something on him, such as the residual odor of food.

The hunter had first noticed the bear walking in the area about an hour before the shooting occurred, Ragonese said.

Wildlife officials say the hunter did just about everything they recommend to make a bear flee and won't face any charges.

The last state bear hunt, which lasted six days, ended on Dec. 13. About 270 black bears were killed in six counties, with only five killed in Hunterdon.

The number of reports of aggressive bears has dropped since the hunts resumed in 2010. But a Rutgers University student, Darsh Patel, was mauled to death by a bear in September while hiking with friends. Patel's death is the only known bear mauling in state history.

http://news.yahoo.com/hunter-deer-stand-kills-bear-began-climbing-tree-203351480.html 

Residual odor of food my ass- every deer hunter I know does his or her best to eliminate odor-all odor,especially anything connected to humans. They would not have any "residual odor of food" on them or their clothing.

Something wrong with the bear,if it's climbing a tree to attack a human. The only noises a deer hunter would make when hunting is a doe bleat,and estrous doe bleat,or buck grunts-none of which signal food to a bear.

Maybe it attacked because of too many bears,and too little food to support the large population of bears.

NJ has an overpopulation of another critter-animal "rights" activists,who have succeeded in stopping recent bear hunting seasons by using misinformation,disinformation,lies,half-truths,and obfuscation.

Had the above mentioned morons not prevented the state's wildlife biologists-who know more about bears than all of them combined ever will,from setting season dates and harvest totals-NJ would not have a bear problem.

I watched the California transplants pull the same BS in Colorado in the 80's-they got bear hunting season closed around Aspen or Vail-can't recall which-too long ago-then 2 years later the idiots were screaming for the state's wildlife biologists to do something about the "bear problem"-the state responded by telling them that they could pay to have the bears relocated,which would only work for as long as it took for the bears to return-or they could allow bear hunting which controls the population,and keeps bears afraid of humans.

No one will know for sure why this bear tried to attack a human,but it's a good bet that the overpopulation of bears in NJ played a part in it.

Instead of banning bear hunts-let's ban animal "rights" whackos from having anything to do with hunting seasons,or which animals can and can not be hunted-leave that up to the state's wildlife biologists,and other game management experts,and hunters.

Let's not forget that it's hunters who fund well over 90% of all wildlife conservation efforts in the U.S.

Along with the fact that hunters and hunting groups/orgs have done far more for wildlife conservation than all the animal "rights" whackos ever have-or ever will.