UPDATE: Extended N.J. bear hunt kill total climbs to 206 for 1st day

NEWTON -- One hundred forty-six bears were killed in the first day of the 2016 extended bear hunt on Monday, a state official said.

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.

"We're the last state that holds a bear hunt to incorporate bow and arrows into it," DEP spokesman Robert Geist said. "All of the other states have a bow component. The last time we used it was in the late 1960s or early 1970s."

The first bear killed on Monday was a 104-pound female in Sussex County. Geist said the largest bear brought into the Whittingham Wildlife Station was a 472-pound male, but information on the largest bears recorded at other weigh-in stations wasn't available as of Monday night.

The number killed on Monday as of 7 p.m. is nearly 29 percent of last year's total harvest of 510 bears, the second-highest number since the bear hunt re-started in 2010.

Geist cited increased human and bear interaction as the reason for the extended hunt, which was scheduled for October because of more favorable weather conditions.

"This is part of our comprehensive bear management program," said Geist. "We now have bear sightings in all 21 counties in New Jersey. By doing this we can prevent negative bear interaction with humans and property."

Geist said the majority of bear sightings have been north of Route 80 and west of Interstate 287. During this time of year, he said bears are preparing dens and looking for food sources.

"We want to manage this culturally not biologically," said Carole Stanko, chief of the Bureau of Wildlife Management.

Five bear hunting zones are open to hunting in Bergen, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties. The DEP sold 7,664 permits for the first week of the bear hunt compared to the 8,799 permits sold for the 2015 season.

Hunters will have to apply for new permits when the firearm-only season takes place from Dec. 5 to Dec. 10, said Geist. There's an option to extend the bear hunt if the harvest objectives are not met, the DEP has said.

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.

The bear season will close if the harvest rate reaches 30 percent of bears tagged in 2016, the DEP has said.

More information on the bear hunt is available on the DEP's bear hunting season website.

Reporting by Dave Hutchinson was used in this article.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.