The 2025 New Jersey bear hunt is set to return for its second and final segment after more than 350 were killed during the October session.

Segment B of the hunt will take place Dec. 8-13 and is limited to shotgun and muzzleloader rifles. Hunters will be spread across eight North Jersey counties where most of the state's bears live and where wildlife officials say the population is rising.

There were 367 bears killed during the six-day hunt from Oct. 13-18 , the second-most in Segment A in nine years after the 397 recorded in 2024 . The harvest rate, calculated by dividing the number of bears killed by the estimated total population, stands at 15.7% after the October hunt.

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If the rate does not reach 20% by the end of Segment B, the hunt will be

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