Hunters: You Have a Bear, What Do You Do Next?
Bear hunting in certain areas of New York is legal in certain parts of the state as soon as early as September 12 (early hunting). If you are one of the people who gets a bear, what do you then do with it? A trip to the taxidermy might be on your list of things to do for some, others might be taking it to a game butcher.
The thing that you are required to do by the State of New York's Department of Environmental Conservation is to report your kill. Persons are limited to one bear per year and you must contact the DEC afterwards (within seven days) with the following information, you will need to (on the phone or online) submit your tag numbers, along with your date of birth, where you found your bear, the date of the hunt, plus the sex of the animal. In addition, you will need to supply the following, from the NYS DEC website:
- Implement used in hunt (bow, muzzleloader, crossbow, rifle/shotgun, handgun)
- Season during which bear was taken (regular, archery, muzzleloading)
- Age of bear (adult, cub, unknown)
- Please save the skull or lower jaw for DEC to collect a tooth to age the bear. You will be asked additional contact information of where your bear will be located. DEC will either contact you to arrange collection of the tooth or will send you a packet with instructions for collecting the tooth and a return envelope.
Do you plan on heading to the taxidermy or will you be heading to the big game butcher? Do you hunt for sport, food or both?