New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Tuesday announced the results for the 2006 black bear hunting seasons. Big Game hunters harvested 318 bears in the Adirondack bear range, 113 bears in the Allegany bear range, and 365 bears in the Catskill bear range.

This was the second consecutive year of below average harvest in the Adirondacks with only 318 bears taken. In recent years, the Early Season take has accounted for an increasing proportion of the overall Adirondack bear take. However, this past year, Early Season take was 70% below the 10 year average. An abundance of berries and other natural foods during late summer and early fall may have reduced bear movements making them less vulnerable to hunters in the big woods areas. In fact, most of the Early Season bear take was in towns on the edges of the Adirondacks where there is more agriculture. Bear take during the Regular Season occurred throughout the Adirondack bear range.

Hunters took 113 bears in the Allegany bear range, just slightly below the 2005 record take of 119 bears. Almost 50% of the bear harvest was accomplished by bowhunters who took 51 bears and matched the area's record archery take set in 2005.

Hunters in the Catskills took 365 bears in 2006, including a record 177 bears taken during the archery season. Although the bowhunters set a record, overall Catskill bear take was down 25% from 2005. However, the 2006 harvest fits within a predictable pattern seen in the Catskill range and was still the 3rd highest take for the area. Bear hunting in the Catskill range was expanded in 2006 to include Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) 4F, 4G, and 4H, located predominantly in Otsego, Schoharie and Albany Counties. This expansion was based upon the recommendations from Stakeholder Input Groups that met in 2003 and 2004 to discuss black bear management in the Northern Catskills. These additional areas contributed 17 bears to the legal harvest in the Catskills.