Some protesters were holding signs targeting Gov. Chris Christie, under whose watch annual hunts in New Jersey resumed in 2010.
UPDATE: Final bear hunt death toll: A record 636 bruins killed
FREDON - New Jersey's record-setting 2016 bear hunt concluded Saturday amid a protest in Sussex County, where more than half of the bears in the hunt were killed.
About 100 gathered at the Whittingham Wildlife Management Area, across the street from a weigh station set up for hunters returning with dead bears.
Some were holding signs targeting Gov. Chris Christie, under whose watch annual hunts in New Jersey resumed in 2010.
"Save our bears. Harvest Christie," read one sign, playing off a euphemism for hunting used by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
A total of 629 bears were killed through Friday, including 342 in Sussex County.
Of that, 562 were killed in a six-day season in October and 67 over five days starting Monday.
The previous high of 592 bears was in 2010. Bear hunting was extended to October for the first time this year.
Hunters had until 7 p.m. Saturday to record bears at any of the five weigh stations operated by DEP.
No hunters arrived during Saturday's protest, which ran from 10 a.m. to noon.
Some protesters lingered beyond the official end of the demonstration, with thirteen remaining at 1 p.m.
Former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli showed up at the protest with his dog, a Siberian husky named Snowy, drawing surprised looks of recognition.
Torricelli, a Democrat out of office since 2003, stayed for nearly two hours and joined with others in a circle for a moment of silence memorializing the bears.
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Torricelli characterized the hunt as "entirely immoral" while questioning the accuracy of DEP's bear population estimates and the impartiality of the state Fish and Game Council, which approved the hunt.
"This isn't a hunt, it's a slaughter. They're slaughtering entire families of bears, including cubs. It's absolutely unforgivable," Torricelli told NJ Advance Media.
Contacted by phone, State Assemblyman Parker Space, a Republican whose district includes Sussex County, defended the bear hunt.
Space, a hunter, said that though he had a 2016 bear hunt permit he ended up only killing two deer, the latter on Tuesday, during the season.
"Too many times, people base their emotions over common sense. Any habitat can only maintain so many healthy animals," Space said.
"That's why we have the biologists. They are the ones who go out. They tag the bears. It's their opinion on how many should be culled out ever year," Space said.
Taking a differing view was State Sen. Ray Lesniak, a Democrat from Union County sponsoring legislation that would end bear hunting for at least five years. He joined the protesters on Saturday.
"I'm here to make a statement, that this will be the last bear hunt in the state of New Jersey," Lesniak said.
"When we have a new governor, we will have a new look, a new attitude, toward managing the bear population," Lesniak said.
The group included three protesters who pled guilty Thursday night, including City College of New York professor Bill Crain, to having strayed from the area reserved for demonstrators on Oct. 10, the hunt's first day.
While the other two were first-time offenders and fined $250, Crain was sentenced to 10 days in the Sussex County jail and a $750 fine following his seventh bear hunt civil disobedience conviction since 2005.
Wearing a sign reading, "Stop the Slaughter," Crain remained in the protest area without incident, departing at noon for the two-hour drive to his home in Dutchess County, N.Y.
Crain said he had received "tremendous support" since his sentencing, with some promising to visit him in the Sussex County jail after he reports Jan. 6.
"The people here, they're kind of bravely smiling. There's a tremendous pain. They come despite the pain. It'd be easier to just ignore the whole thing," Crain said.
Eleanor Hoffman of Rockaway Township addressed the rally near the end, speaking through a bullhorn, and organized the moment of silence.
Hoffman and Catherine McCartney of Vernon, also present Saturday, were fined $250 on Thursday for not remaining in the protest area Oct.10.
Unlike Crain, it was the first bear hunt arrest for both.
Hoffman thanked attendees for "coming out in the cold, instead of staying home and crying."
"Just a reminder who is responsible for this bear hunt. It is Gov. Chris Christie," Hoffman said, to boos.
"It's a disgrace and it has to stop and we will make it happen," Hoffman said.
Christie's spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DEP spokesman Robert Geist, stationed in Fredon on Saturday and earlier in the week, defended the bear hunt as "responsible and ethical" and supported by "academic studies and years of research on the topic."
"The harvest that happens annually is part of our comprehensive management plan," Geist said.
Geist said the program "also includes some education, trying to help citizens up here to manage their interactions with bears, and make sure counties like this do have an opportunity to live in harmony with nature."
While a majority of bears were killed in Sussex County, that hunt was also taking place in Warren, Passaic, Morris, Mercer, Hunterdon, Bergen and Somerset counties.
Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.