ALBANY (AP) -- The state Department of Environmental Conservation says New York hunters killed 1,337 black bears in 2012, the third highest number on record.
Regionally, bear harvest increased in the Adirondacks, where hunters killed 606. That represents a return to a normal level after an exceptionally low harvest in 2011.
The harvest decreased in the Southeastern and Central-Western hunting areas.
A summer of low natural food availability had an impact on early season hunting. Towns along the western and southern edge of the Adirondacks saw some of the highest harvests as bears were feeding in corn fields during the early season.
In Southeastern New York, biologists anticipated the lower bear take because the animals denned early due to a lack of food such as apples, acorns and beechnuts.
(Copyright ©2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
