The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that hunters harvested an estimated 1,759 black bears during the 2025-26 hunting seasons. According to DEC’s tracking of the annual bear harvest since 1955 (PDF), the 2025 statewide bear harvest was second only to the 2003 season and Southern Zone estimates set a new harvest record. The Northern Zone harvest estimate of 557 bears was slightly lower than 2024, but still above the 10-year average.