Followup NJ: Bear shooting case, Shooting Bear on Deck judged reasonable, but not Cubs Below

SUPERIOR COURT -- A Superior Court judge has ruled a Sparta man was within his rights to shoot and kill a female bear on the man's second-floor deck nearly two years ago, but was guilty of hunting and killing her two cubs which were on the ground below.

Robert Ehling, of Alpine Trail in Sparta, was found guilty of illegally killing the three bears, as well as a firearms count, in a municipal court trial last fall. In January, Municipal Court Judge James Devine fined Ehling, a total of $4,332, which included court costs, fines on the illegal hunting and discharge of a firearm counts and restitution of $1,000 for each of the dead bears.

At the time, Ehling's attorney George T. Daggett said he would appeal the decision, saying that Ehling was within his rights to defend his home, himself and his wife, from the bears. The adult bear was killed by two shots from a shotgun while on the second-floor deck. The two cubs were shot while they were on the ground.


From njhearald.com: