VERNON Hunting has been a family tradition for many residents. So when New Jersey hunters took to the woods this week to begin a controversial season aimed at thinning the state’s growing bear population, John Rogalo and his 12-year-old son planned to be among them. “It’s a chance to harvest a bear,” said Rogalo, 47, of Stanhope, a self-employed contractor. “I started at 10 with my Dad. Now, my son will be with me.” Up to 5,000 hunters were expected to converge on a 1,600 square-mile region in the northwest portion of the state to take part in the six-day hunt, the second in New Jersey in 35 years. Armed with shotguns or old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles, hunters braved frigid temperatures and opponents who turned out to denounce them on Monday, the hunt’s first day. “It’s an emotional issue,” said Martin McHugh, director of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. 202 bears, from a population estimated between 1,600-3,200, had been bagged by 8:30 Tuesday night, the Division of Fish and Wildlife reported. The state’s last bear hunt was in 2003, when 328 were killed. It marked the first hunt since 1970, after which they were suspended because the black bear population had dropped to about 100. Black bears have rebounded from near extinction in the state, but the loss of habitat to development has forced many of the animals to seek food in populated areas. The hunt has been sharply criticized by animal rights advocates, who call it inhumane and went to court last week in an unsuccessful bid to stop it. “This hunt is not rooted in public safety,” said Janine Motta, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, which sued to stop the hunt. “It’s rooted in providing a hunting opportunity, getting trophies for walls and rugs for floors.” But the state believes the hunt is necessary, given the bears’ increasing incursions into backyards and trash cans. Last July, a 142-pound female bear bit the leg of a sleeping camper at High Point State Park, in Sussex County. The camper’s injuries were minor. A state biologist shot the bear. About a dozen hunt opponents gathered at a weigh station at Wawayanda State Park Monday, confronting hunters and forming teams with plans to tend to wounded bears. Many protesters wore bright orange shirts, the same color required of hunters. A second protest is planned at Wawayanda State Park for Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. Proponents of the hunt have rejected arguments that bear-proof trash cans and “aversive conditioning,” such as using fireworks to scare bears away from populated areas, would work better than a hunt. The bear hunting area is divided into four zones that include Sussex and the portions of Warren, Morris, Passaic, Bergen, Hunterdon and Somerset counties that are west of I-287 and north of I-80. Daily hunting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. A licensed hunter may take only one bear of either sex. All harvested bears must be taken to a bear-check station where biological and geographical information is collected. At the check stations, biologists weigh and measure each bear, record ear tag numbers, and collect biological data, including hair samples for DNA analysis. Data collected at the check stations is used to refine the state’s bear population assessment.