West Milford New Jersey officials’ decision to hold a black bear hunt next month is sparking protests from environmental and animal rights activists opposed to the practice. More than 100 demonstrators, some wearing bear costumes and carrying stuffed bears, gathered along Route 23 on Saturday, asking motorists to honk in support. The protesters want acting Gov. Richard J. Codey to cancel the hunt, approved last Tuesday by state Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell. ``We are very opposed to killing bears for any reason,’’ said Lynda Smith, director of the Bear Education and Research Group. This year’s hunt is scheduled for Dec. 5-10 in a roughly 1,600-square-mile territory in northern New Jersey. The hunt is the second in three years: A 2003 hunt killed 328 of the animals. Before that, the state’s last bear hunt was in 1970. Hunting is part of an overall state plan including more bear-proof trash cans and possibly contraceptive injections for the bruins meant to control a bear population that has increasingly come in contact with suburban residents. Bears have been considered safety risks or damaged property nearly 1,000 times so far this year, almost 25 percent more incidents than in all of last year, according to state officials. Supporters of the hunt say it’s the only effective way to manage the animals, which sometimes kill pets or break into homes as they forage for food. Environmental and animal rights groups say the problem isn’t the bears, but rather people who don’t follow guidelines to keep them away. ``This hunt is really for trophies,’’ said Judy Fortenback, of Vernon, one of the protesters. ``People want to put bear heads on their walls. Birth control and educating the public is more useful,’’ she said. Saturday’s protest was near where motorists found a dead 65-pound cub on the second day of the 2003 hunt. The dead cub’s story drew widespread media attention and became a symbol for anti-hunt activists, but a state investigation later determined that the bear was killed by a car, not a hunter.