Florida Bear Hunt Approved

[OXN939]

FWC approves first black bear hunt in a decade amid fierce opposition

A lawsuit filed by Bear Warriors United could delay or derail the season, which is set to run Dec. 6-28 if the state prevails in court.

floridapolitics.com

Florida black bear rug would be pretty legit. Sounds like they're at least trying to learn some lessons from the 2015 hunt... fingers crossed this one goes off without a hitch.

Good luck to anyone applying!

 

[thinhorn_AK]

That’s cool, it would be awesome to have a Florida black bear rug.

 

[lost_in_the_wma]

I can’t understand why big cypress or at least bear island in big cypress is excluded from the bear management area of south Florida, anyone catch anything about that? There’s no shortage of bears there

 

[Doc Holliday]

Im definitely gonna put in for one

 

[lost_in_the_wma]

I’ll be putting in for one but I’m not crazy about it being unlimited $5 special opportunity entries rather than a single entry

 

[FLHunter87]

Having the season in December is stupid in my opinion. 10 years ago the season lasted a whole 2 days before FWC called it and over 300 bears taken in those 2 days. I imagine it's going to be the same even in December. It should have been in September/October though. This time is only 187 tags will be available and each county will have their own specific amount. Dumbest thing in the world. This will actually not do much to the population. There's plenty of bears in Florida. FWC had to be one of the worse game and fish departments in the US along with NOAA in the South Atlantic region. All these restrictions and no common sense for many species they are controlling.

 

[go_deep]

Having the season in December is stupid in my opinion. 10 years ago the season lasted a whole 2 days before FWC called it and over 300 bears taken in those 2 days. I imagine it's going to be the same even in December. It should have been in September/October though. This time is only 187 tags will be available and each county will have their own specific amount. Dumbest thing in the world. This will actually not do much to the population. There's plenty of bears in Florida. FWC had to be one of the worse game and fish departments in the US along with NOAA in the South Atlantic region. All these restrictions and no common sense for many species they are controlling.

Would you rather they didn't have a hunt?

I get it, it's not enough, but it's a start.

 

[FLHunter87]

Would you rather they didn't have a hunt?

I get it, it's not enough, but it's a start.

I really don't care either way. It's the entire way they manage things. FL is terrible management on most of the big game animals that can be hunted here. Im in NE FL. There's a fair amount up here but in my opinion not worth chasing after, especially in December. Only times I've seen the most bear activity is August-mid October personally. $5 per application which can be as many as you want and then $100 more if drawn. I'll pass. Not even worth it with the 187 they are giving out statewide. Basically a lucky lucky lottery. Just like the stupid Red Snapper project they are doing. Plus what's it going to start? Another hunt 10 years from now and they hand out 90 permits statewide? FWC is ruining FL fishing and hunting. Is only a matter of time jobs and people's livelihood are ruined(in partner with NOAA South Atlantic Region). Along with the working class who can't even hunt or fish in the future the way things are going here. It's a joke.

 

[Loper]

I really don't care either way. It's the entire way they manage things. FL is terrible management on most of the big game animals that can be hunted here. Im in NE FL. There's a fair amount up here but in my opinion not worth chasing after, especially in December. Only times I've seen the most bear activity is August-mid October personally. $5 per application which can be as many as you want and then $100 more if drawn. I'll pass. Not even worth it with the 187 they are giving out statewide. Basically a lucky lucky lottery. Just like the stupid Red Snapper project they are doing. Plus what's it going to start? Another hunt 10 years from now and they hand out 90 permits statewide? FWC is ruining FL fishing and hunting. Is only a matter of time jobs and people's livelihood are ruined(in partner with NOAA South Atlantic Region). Along with the working class who can't even hunt or fish in the future the way things are going here. It's a joke.

I’m confused. You seem upset about the way the bear hunt was managed 10 years ago when it only lasted 2 days and over 300 bears were harvested. Now this year, they changed it so the counties have a limit and have it planned for a month of the year when you say you see fewer bears, all of which could likely make the season longer than 2 days. I’m not sure what you want?

I’m pretty sure 10 years ago, the total number of bears taken exceeded the targeted amount because people killed them much faster than anticipated, which is why the hunted ended in only two days. It seems that FWC changed things this time around to prevent that same thing from happening .

Perhaps, with the changes they are making, it won’t be just a “once a decade” hunt where a large number of bears are harvested, but rather a more frequently occurring hunt with fewer bears harvested. .

 

[Poser]

Do the bears in Florida tend to be fairly visible? If the total population is ~4,000, but 300 were killed in 2 days, that seems to be a proportionally high success rate. I'd expect the bears to be in dense vegetation areas and extremely difficult to hunt.

 

[Loper]

Generally speaking, the bears are in dense vegetation.

However, with the ever increasing population of people and residential/commercial developments in the state, they lose their natural habitat and can be in more open areas and more visible.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Do the bears in Florida tend to be fairly visible? If the total population is ~4,000, but 300 were killed in 2 days, that seems to be a proportionally high success rate. I'd expect the bears to be in dense vegetation areas and extremely difficult to hunt.

Not visible. Would lead one to believe there are a lot more bears than they thought….

 

[Nine Banger]

Is it an activity where dogs are the way or is there a chance for stand hunters or any spot and stalk opportunities maybe in the prairie or big burned pine tracks?