New York hunters killed an estimated 1,356 black bears during the 2023 big game hunting seasons. The overall number of bears killed increased slightly compared to the 2022 hunting season, with the greatest density of kills occurring in areas of the Catskills.
An estimated 485 bears were killed in the Northern Zone and an estimated 871 bears in the Southern Zone. This represents roughly 6% more bears killed in the north and 1% more in the south than in 2022. However, the total number of bears killed by hunters in 2022 was about 7% fewer bears than the five-year average.
Notable Numbers
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16.1: The number of bears killed per 100 square miles in WMU 3K, the greatest density of bears killed by hunters of any WMU.
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550 pounds: The heaviest dressed-weight bear reported to DEC in 2023, taken in the town of Windsor, Broome County, WMU 7S. Scaled weights of dressed bears were submitted for 21 percent of bears hunters reported they killed in 2023.
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648: The number of hunter-killed bears from which DEC collected teeth to determine the bear’s age in 2023.
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25: The age of the oldest bear killed in 2022. The bear was killed in the town of West Union, Steuben County, WMU 8X.
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1: The number of bears killed by hunters in WMU 7A in 2023. This was the first bear ever reported as harvested in the unit since DEC first began tracking bear harvest information in 1970.
Black bear hunting data is gathered from two main sources: reports required of all hunters to kill a bear; and the physical examination of bears by DEC staff and cooperating taxidermists. Estimates are made by cross-referencing these two data sources and determining the rate at which hunters report bear kills in each zone.
DEC also requests that bear hunters submit a premolar tooth from any bear they kill to determine its age. DEC uses this information to assess the impact of bear hunting on the age distribution of the bear population.
Hunters who reported their bear kills and submitted a tooth for age analysis are provided a commemorative Black Bear Management Coordinator Patch and will be informed of the age of the bear they killed in the fall of 2024. Bear teeth from the 2023 season are still being analyzed.
DEC’s 2023 Bear Harvest Summary report (PDF) provides tables, figures, and maps detailing the bear hunting around the state. Past hunting summaries are also available on DEC’s website. DEC’s Black Bear Management Plan (PDF) provides information on how black bear population objectives are determined throughout the state.
Photo: Michael Milillo with the black bear he killed in Inlet, Hamilton County in 2023 (photo provided by DEC).
