I find it interisting that they got to keep the bear.

STONY POINT — A black bear that wandered into a family’s backyard barbecue wound up being the meal Saturday.

Richard Wheeler and his family were inside their home prepping for a casual afternoon cookout when the bear showed up in the yard about 10 feet from where his two young sons were playing, a family member said.

When Wheeler spotted the bear, he got his .22-caliber rifle and killed the animal with one shot, said his brother-in-law, Chris Dabreau.

Wheeler, an experienced hunter, acted on instinct to protect the boys, ages 5 and 11, who were playing outside alone in the family’s pavilion next to the house, said Dabreau.

“We normally hunt deer, but today the bear didn’t make it out of here,” he said.

No people were hurt and no charges were filed following the shooting outside 567 Willow Grove Road about 12:20 p.m., Stony Point police Sgt. John Wood said. Authorities called the bear a nuisance animal and told the family they could keep the carcass.

Dabreau, 39, said he was keeping it on ice and the family planned to cook it later in the evening.

Dabreau and Wheeler, 32, who live side by side with their families on Willow Grove Road, have six children between them, ages 3 to 13.

The property lies at the edge of Harriman State Park and near Cheesecote Mountain Town Park, an area where bears are known to make night-time appearances.

Dabreau and other relatives who were continuing their barbeque Saturday afternoon said recent bear sightings during the day over the last couple months had surprised them and their neighbors. The bears had been seen shredding garbage, on a porch, and in one case, hovering around a swimming pool while two kids swam, Dabreau said. Normally, they just shoo the animals away or ignore them, he said.

But none had ever come as close as Saturday’s visitor did, Dabreau said. They knew it was in the area because a neighbor had called to report a sighting less than an hour before the bear appeared in their yard, he said.

His account of the distance differed slightly from one provided by the Department of Environmental Conservation, which reported the 160- to 175-pound male bear came within about 30 feet of the children.

DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said the animal had been spotted in the area Friday night and had two tags from the New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Police and DEC officers who responded to the scene determined Wheeler’s actions were justified and the DEC released the animal’s carcass to him, Wood said.

“This is kind of a unique situation,” Wood said, because of the children’s presence and because “the bear has been a nuisance.”

Typically, people aren’t free to shoot wildlife that ventures onto their property, he said. Potential charges could include discharging a firearm within proximity of a residence or hunting without a license, he said. It is not bear hunting

I have seen plenty bears killed with a 22LR.Back when bears were considered vermin you could shoot one with a Small Game License.I was living around Three Lakes at the time.We had a bunch of guys from Tenn.come up with their dogs to run bear for the early September season.Most were shot with a Rifle shooting 22LR.They usually carried a 30/30 just in case it was a big boar who was fighting and would not tree.

Would that have to be close range head shots with a .22? It said it was one shot.

.22s seem to be adequate for up to 13' gators on "Swamp People", so apparently it's just a shot placement question. That caliber is more capable than many of us are used to thinking.

I would like to know exactly where the bullet went.That's probably a 1.5 year old ,on it's own for the first time . NY , like other states has a growing population of black bears .Problems usually start when people intentionally or not , feed bears.

MY father and uncle were a couple of the last foot hold bear trappers in Wis.

They said they would pop the trapped bears with a 22 in the head to finsh them off.

My cousin tells the story about when he let the boys, ages 12 & 10, take the horses and "camp out" on the Sapello river in the Gila Wilderness. The boys returned next afternoon with a bear that they shot with their 22 single shot. It's a real thigh slapper to hear him tell how they explained that the bear was "stealin" their fish off the stringer and they did what any red blooded ranch kid would do to protect their fish. According to the boys, "throwing rocks didn't work so they had to shoot him 'several' times to get him off their fish".
This was many years ago so I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations has run out on these desperate poachers. Both boys are now grown wth families of their own. One owns his own trucking business and the other is a college professor now. Mom and Dad still struggling with the USFS on the ranch.

That proves it beyond a doubt. The .22RF is totally adequete for bear hunting. 'cause it ain't what you stick 'em with, it where you stick 'em.
Anyone that uses anything larger is a puzzi.

quote:

'cause it ain't what you stick 'em with, it where you stick 'em.

..well, it's better than using a stick...I'll go with that.

I w atched a guy drop one with one shot to the head with the 60 gr 22 ssg loads.It died faster than any big game animal I have ever seen .It didnt kick just rolled!

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
That proves it beyond a doubt. The .22RF is totally adequete for bear hunting. 'cause it ain't what you stick 'em with, it where you stick 'em.
Anyone that uses anything larger is a puzzi.

Right... Lets all go out and hunt Bears with our .22 LR now.. Sheesh..