STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FISH AND GAME DEPARTMENT WILDLIFE DIVISION
12 December 2017
Bear Season Update Final
The 2017 New Hampshire bear season concluded at 572 bears which was 25% below the preceding 5-year average of 764 bears. Additionally, this year’s harvest was down 36% from 2016 level when a record harvest was achieved. The harvest consisted of 312 males and 260 females resulting in an overall harvest sex ratio of 1.2 males per female. Method-specific harvest sex ratios included 1.4 m:f for bait, 0.9 m:f for hound and 1.1 m:f for still hunters.
A breakdown by region and method follows:
Interpretation of harvest data and ages of ha
North Region | WMUs | A, B, C2, D1 |
Total Harvest | 99 bears (52 females, 47 males) | |
Harvest by method (# bears) | Bait (79), Hound (10), Still (10) | |
5-year average annual harvest (2012-2016) | 154 bears | |
White Mountains Region | WMUs | C1, D2, E, F |
Total Harvest | 169 bears (67 females, 102 males) | |
Harvest by method (# bears) | Bait (95), Hound (41), Still (33) | |
5-year average annual harvest (2012-2016) | 226 bears | |
Central Region | WMUs | G, I1, J1, J2 |
Total Harvest | 192 bears (92 females, 100 males) | |
Harvest by method (# bears) | Bait (88), Hound (46), Still (58) | |
5-year average annual harvest (2012-2016) | 253 bears | |
Southwest-1 Region | WMUs | H1, I2 |
Total Harvest | 64 bears (29 females, 35 males) | |
Harvest by method (# bears) | Bait (32), Hound (10), Still (22) | |
5-year average annual harvest (2012-2016) | 79 bears | |
Southwest-2 Region | WMUs | H2, K |
Total Harvest | 46 bears (20 females, 26 males) | |
Harvest by method (# bears) | Bait (27), Still (19) | |
5-year average annual harvest (2012-2016) | 51 bears | |
Southeast Region | WMUs | L, M |
Total Harvest | 2 bears (both males) | |
Harvest by method (# bears) | Still (2) | |
5-year average annual harvest (2012-2016) | 3 bears |
rvested bears will be complete and available by mid-winter.
2017 Bear Harvest Tally Compared to Previous 5 Years | |||||
2012 SUM |
2013 SUM |
2014 SUM |
2015 SUM |
2016 SUM |
2017 SUM |
812 | 572 | 786 | 754 | 898 | 572 |