Throughout New England, bear numbers are up or holding steady. In most states, harvest rates are also strong. Hunters with a good working knowledge of bruin behavior and the time to do some pre-season scouting stand a good chance of bagging a bear in 2008.

Mark Werner

Biologists have long said that bear behavior is driven largely by food supply. Well before opening day, a wise hunter will find natural mast, apple orchards and cornfields that are drawing in black bears.

MAINE
The Pine Tree State has more black bears than most of the other New England states combined, yet the state's dense forest habitat makes bear sightings a rare treat.

According to Jennifer Vashon, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's Bear Project leader, about 23,000 bruins are roaming the Maine woods, and their population remains fairly stable from year to year. Bears are a valued big game resource in Maine and are carefully managed.

"Each year, we analyze harvest data and participation rates to determine trends in hunter success and harvest levels," Vashon said. "We also continue to study black bears at three sites in northern, central and eastern Maine.

"We monitor radio-collared female black bears to document reproductive rates, cub survival and adult and yearling female survival rates.

"This year, we are initiating an update to our density estimates using GPS technology," she continued.

"Fifteen female bears will be equipped with GPS collars so we can map their home ranges in our northern study area. By mapping the outer boundaries of their ranges, we can estimate population density, which is the number of bears per square mile.

"From these collars, we will also gather information on den entry-den exit dates, habitat use and bear movements. The collars will be removed from bears during den visits in January 2009. The data will be downloaded off the collars, and then we will replace the batteries and deploy the collars on 15 bears in our eastern study site.

"The biggest challenge is getting adequate funding to maintain our telemetry studies and initiate other survey efforts to better monitor and manage Maine's bear population," she noted. "Like most state agencies, the department depends on dedicated funds, with little or no general-fund money. Thus, our budget is flat to declining in spite of increasing responsibilities like non-game duties and public safety. To be more effective, we need other sources of revenue, like state general funds or new sources of dedicated funds."

Because deer, moose and furbearer harvests are tallied before bears, Vashon did not have 2007 harvest figures at press time. But she expected that about 3,000 bears were taken. She wasn't anticipating any changes to the current bear-hunting season structure, but those decisions aren't finalized until solid harvest data has been analyzed.

Overall, the 2008 outlook seems good for Maine's bear hunters.

"Hunter participation rates are stable, and weather and natural foods appear to have the strongest impact on recent harvest levels," Vashon said. She noted that these factors make pre-season predictions difficult.