As of 2 p.m., 27 bears had been killed in the hunt - 19 females and 8 males. The biggest was a female at 297 pounds Watch video
NEWTON -- Despite repeated warnings from the State Police that she was violating the designated bear hunt protest area, Cathy McCartney refused to move Monday morning.
McCartney was standing on the edge of Fredon Spring Road near Whittingham Wildlife Management Area's office, where state Department of Environmental Protection officials weighed, sampled and tagged harvested bears on the first day of an extended bear hunt.
After nearly 10 minutes of protesting, McCartney was arrested.
"Bow hunting has a very high wounding rate," said McCartney, of Highland Lakes, before her arrest. "For every bear taken out of the woods, there's another that's wounded. It could takes days, weeks for them to die."
McCartney was among more than two dozens protesters who greeted hunters with shouts of "murders," "killers" and "cowards" as they came to the check station.
"This bow and arrows hunting is the cruelest possible thing you can do to a bear," said Jerome Mandel, a long-time protester against the killing of any animal.
As of 2 p.m., 27 bears had been killed in the hunt - 19 females and 8 males, said Robert Geist, spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection. The biggest was a female at 297 pounds.
At approximately 2:15 p.m., a female weighing 309 pounds check in. While she was being lifted to be weighed, the winch fell over. It hit the top of the pick-up truck and struck a hunter standing nearby in the head.
The 27-year-old Sparta resident suffered a gash on the back of his head and was taken by Fredon EMS to Newton Medical Center as a precaution, said Geist, who refused to release the hunter's name.
Jason Capozzoli, of Stillwater, was the first hunter to bring in a kill to the station at 8:30 a.m.David Chanda, the director of the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Division, said the use of bow and arrows to hunt bears is humane. He said with modern equipment hunters get close, clean shots that usually kill bears.
In the extended hunting season, hunters with valid bear hunt permits and hunting licenses are allowed to hunt bears using bow and arrows from Oct. 10 to Oct. 12, and using both bow and arrows and muzzleloaders from Oct. 13 to Oct. 15, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The extended hunt was implemented because the regular hunt in December hasn't harvested enough bears, said Chanda. In previous years, hunters were limited to one bear, but in the current season hunters may kill two bears, limited to one bear during each week of hunting and each hunting zone permit.
While several hunters said they're undecided if they'll return for the December hunt, Tom Berlinski of Long Beach Island said he will.
"Yes, I'll most likely come back," he said.
And so will the protesters.
"The Fish and Wildlife says the area is over populated with bears but that's not the truth," said Eleanor Hoffman, of Rockaway, a member of the Bear Education and Resource Center.
Chanda said in the northern one-third of New Jersey, the state has a population of 3,000 bears, the highest population in North America per square-mile over a 15,000-square-mile area.
He said previous hunts harvested between 400 and 500 bears but another 700 to 800 cubs were born, negating any decrease in the population.
"The protesters have their freedom of speech," said Chanda, standing directly across the street from the vocal group. "It's a small but passionate group. Most people don't hunt, but the vast majority support it as long as it's regulated."
The hunters were undaunted by protesters.
Berlinski said he hunted his bear at the request of a friend who said they are a nuisance and threat to his children on the family's 20-acre property in Sparta.
Andrea Fleck and Justin Henrik of Cranbury showed up at the station with two bears. Fleck, who usually hunts deer, said this was the first bear she had killed.
"I don't mind the protesters too much," she said. "Everybody has the right to say what they feel. They have their opinion and we have ours."
The bear season will close if the harvest rate reaches 30 percent of the 197 bears tagged in 2016, said Geist.
More information on the bear hunt is available on the DEP's bear hunting season website.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.