Black Bear Hunting in New York

Hunting Seasons

In New York, bear-hunting seasons are divided into four categories: early, regular, muzzleloading and bowhunting. Collectively, these four categories occur during fall and early winter, from about mid-September to just before Christmas. Specific dates depend not only on the season type (early, regular, etc.), but also on the license year and the "hunting zone" (location of the hunt). New York has established three separate big-game hunting zones: Northern, Southeastern and Central-Western.

Bear hunting is allowed from sunrise to sunset every day of the week, with a few local exceptions. Before hunting, always check the local hunting ordinances and regulations, especially within state parks.

Each hunter is only allowed to take one bear per license year. The bear can be taken with either a gun or a bow. Additional take restrictions apply to bears in New York's Southeastern Hunting Zone: Hunters are not allowed to shoot cubs, shoot a bear that is with a group of bears or shoot or take a bear from its den.

New York has numerous regulations that restrict the manner in which you are allowed to kill black bears. According to New York law, it is illegal to kill a bear while it is in the water; to possess a firearm (of any kind) when bowhunting or accompanying a person bowhunting; or to make, set or use a salt lick on land used by bears. In New York, it is also illegal to hunt bears using laser-sight-equipped firearms (or bows), shotguns less than 20-gauge, autoloading firearms with a capacity of more than six shells, rimfire ammunition, bows with a draw weight of 35 pounds or less, arrows with barbed broadheads, arrowheads less than 7/8 of an inch wide, arrowheads with fewer than two cutting edges, dogs, aircraft or bait.

A killed bear can be transported on the inside or outside of a vehicle, but the carcass must be properly tagged (immediately following the kill) using the appropriate portion of the big-game hunting license. All bear hunters are required by law to report their take using the "toll free DECALS game reporting system within 48 hours by calling 1-866-426-3778 (1-866-GAMERPT)." Department of Environment Conservation wildlife staff are interested in gathering additional information about black bears harvested in the Northern Hunting Zone (hunters are asked to submit a tooth or part of the lower jaw from harvested bears, to determine its age) and in the Southeastern Hunting Zone (hunters are asked to allow wildlife staff to physically examine bears before they are skinned or butchered).