Six-day hunt under way for black bear

Sussex County - A controversial bear hunt aimed at thinning New Jersey’s burgeoning black bear population got under way early Monday, with hunters venturing out in pre-dawn cold to try their luck. The six-day season, OK’d by the state because of increasing numbers of bear sightings and complaints, is expected to lure about 5,000 hunters to New Jersey’s rural northwestern counties. Among them: Rich Cutting, 41, an electrician who took the week off from work in hopes of bagging his first bear in a lifetime of hunting. ``I’m hoping to get lucky. Hopefully, it won’t take all week,’’ said Cutting, who bundled up in two sets of thermal underwear _ temperatures were in the teens _ and set off into the woods in Wawayanda State Park about 5:40 a.m., a .12 gauge shotgun in hand. The hunt, which started at daybreak, has been criticized by animal welfare groups who say it is cruel and unnecessary. Black bears have rebounded from near extinction in the state but the loss of habitat to development is forcing many of the animals to seek food in populated areas. The hunt is restricted to an area of about 1,600 square miles in the state’s northwest corner, with hunters required to use shotguns or old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles.