Hunters in New York harvested an estimated 1,759 black bears during the 2025 hunting seasons, including a record number in the Southern Zone with 1,202. The estimated statewide total was about 4 percent more than the 2024 season and 18 percent above the 10-year average.
The Northern Zone harvest estimate of 557 bears was slightly lower than 2024, but still above the 10-year average. According to DEC’s (Department of Environmental Conservation) tracking of the annual bear harvest since 1955, the 2025 statewide bear harvest was second only to the 2003 season.
The Southern Zone record is the culmination of a long-term pattern in New York’s bear populations. Southern Zone harvest first exceeded the Northern Zone in 1998 and has accounted for the majority of the state’s harvest for the past 20 years. In the 1950s, bears occupied only the most remote and mountainous regions of New York, such as the Adirondacks, Catskills and Alleghany mountains. Over the past 70 years, bears gradually expanded their range, and the DEC began opening new areas for hunting. Now, bears occupy most areas except Long Island, and all areas of the state are open to bear hunting except Long Island and areas closed to all big-game hunting.
While populations and hunting opportunities have increased in the Southern Zone, the Northern Zone remains a traditional destination for many New York bear hunters. Northern Zone bears typically grow slower in the wilderness ecosystems of the Adirondacks. But they tend to survive to older ages than their Southern Zone counterparts. All but one of the oldest bears in DEC records were taken in the Northern Zone.
Notable Numbers from the 2025 Bear Season:
- 74: The number of Wildlife Management Units (WMUs), out of 88 open to bear hunting, with reported 2025 bear harvests
- 562 pounds: The dressed weight of the heaviest reported bear, harvested in Olive, Ulster County, WMU 3C
- 668: The number of harvested bears from which DEC received pre-molar teeth to determine the bear’s age in 2025
- 26 years: The age of the oldest bear harvested in 2024 (the most recent year for which age data are available), coming from Mooers, Clinton County, WMU 5A
- 21: Bears harvested per 100 square miles in WMU 3C, the highest harvest density of any WMU for the 2025 seasons
Black bear harvest data are gathered from two main sources: harvest reports required of all successful bear hunters and the physical examination of bears by DEC staff, cooperating taxidermists and meat processors. Harvest estimates are made by cross-referencing these data sources and determining the rate at which hunters report their bear harvests in each zone. In fall 2026, DEC will send a commemorative 2025 Black Bear Management Coordinator Patch and a letter confirming each bear’s age to all hunters who reported their 2025 bear harvest and submitted a tooth for age analysis.
