Im going to be headed to NY and was curious if anyone could provide info on resident Black Bear in NY. Anyone have a suggestion on places to go etc.

Is public land a viable option? Typically I dont use public land, however NY seems to have alot of it up North which appears to be vast when looking on their states DNR site. Can anyone provide some more info?

Being from New York originally and only a couple of hours from the Adirondacks I hope I can give you some good info. Used to be able to use dogs and bait in NY but the do gooders got rid of that some time ago. Good bear population near the towns of Ohio and Hoffmeister. Best bet is to find a corn or oat field that is being hit by the bears and then set up. Hunting mast crops is a viable option also. Tons of public land so get your topo maps. Chance of running into a bear in the boonies slim to none. PM and I give you a little better info and some contacts. Let me know exctly where you are going to be and when.

Cold this one lives 105 miles north of NYC, hard on the Mass border. We call him our "watch bear." More effective than a watch dog in the dead of night, and growls a bit less.

Hunting Black bears in NY is really more of a chance occurance during our regular firearms season for deer. Where we are located the bear season has been closed for a number of years and sightings are increasingly frequent. The central and southern Catskill region (central NY) and the Adirondak region (north central NY) do have excellent bear populations especially in the state forests. In the north, Hamilton and Warren counties usually have the highest kills, and the south, I think it is Delaware County for the lead, though I could be wrong on that. There is a vestigual guide business which operates within the state, and possible by contacting the department of environmental conservation you may be able to get a better lead or two. Like so much of the world, opportunity has a lot to do with access or knowledge... good luck.

The local Gander Mtn. (Syracuse, NY) has a historical listing of successful Bear harvests by county. It looks like an official document. have you tried the DEC for such info? If not I can try and see if there are any lists left. I remember them from the fall.

I'm a big SOCOM fan myself... if you make it to the intersection of 90 and 81 look me up!

Thanks for the info guys!

Im going to be in the central NY area so I will check out the Gander Mtn in Syracuse!

Lots of them here in the Catskills .With the terrible deer season we had here it's said that there are more bear than deer here.Bow hunters took some big ones this year ,600+ lbs !! But a 458SOCOM will take even them !! I haven't hunted bear but do use a 45-70 !!