Although the odds indicate regulators will OK the first black bear hunt in a decade in Florida, opponents will pull out all the rhetorical stops when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) gathers this week in North Florida for a final vote.
FWC commissioners voted 4-1 in May to give preliminary approval to a 23-day bear hunt, tentatively proposed for December, plus annual hunts from October through December beginning in 2026.
The bear population in Florida is estimated at around 4,050 — but the agency came up with that estimate as long ago as 2015, the last time a bear hunt took place. That hunt was shut down at the end of just its second day after nearly 300 bears had been killed.
READ MORE: Bear Defenders organize multi-city protests across Florida to oppose state's proposed bear hunt
Those bears are spread out across the state in seven areas known as Bear Management Units (BMUs) by the FWC. In justifying the hunt, the FWC has said that, since 2015, the four largest subpopulations of bears have grown annually and no subpopulations have shown evidence of decline.
The plan as approved in May is to remove 187 bears from four “bear hunting zones” — 68 in the East Panhandle; 46 in the North; 18 in Central Florida; and 55 in the South hunting area.
As of now, permits would be issued through a random drawing and cost $100 for a Florida resident and $300 for those from out of state. The applications for those permits would cost $5.
Under plan approved by FWC Commissioners in May, hunters could use dogs to assist them and take bears at game feeding stations, using food to bait the animals.
Responsible or not?
Maria Davidson is large-carnivore program manager for the Safari Club International Foundation. She says the plan as conceived by the FWC is responsible.
“The number of tags being issued in Florida is at a level that doesn’t even stop the population growth. It has the intent of slowing the population growth with wildlife populations similar to trying to navigate large-scale changes in direction,” she said while speaking with this reporter on WMNF 88.5 FM in Tampa on Friday.
“Bear populations don’t really self-regulate. Bears will take advantage of any food sources available, whether it be human-caused or not, and they will continue to grow in their core areas and just spill into unsuitable habitat,” Davidson continued.
“So, in order to slow that, you slow the population growth, which is exactly what FWC has done, and it was the recommendations from the biologists within the FWC to do that.”
James Scott serves on the executive committee of the Suncoast Sierra Club. He says the FWC has actually created “a bait and switch” in their proposal. Once finalized, the agency would allow more individuals to hunt and kill bears than those who participate through the lottery.
A close look in the FWC’s proposed hunt rules issued in May reveals language that, starting on Jan. 1, 2026, the FWC would create a “Private Lands Bear Harvest Program” that would permit landowners to hunt bear on their properties.
The FWC would furnish one bear harvest tag for a property between 5,000 and 15,000 acres with at least up to five individual bears on the land; up to two bear tags for properties of between 15,000 and 25,000 acres with at least 10 bears; and a maximum of three tags for properties of more than 25,000 acres with at least 15 bears. The season would run from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.
“Mark my words, if these rules pass as written, if they don’t cap or eliminate that program over time, that private-lands program will be the name of the game, and if you’re a hunter that wants to kill a bear in Florida, you’re going to have to go to a private landowner and fork over thousands of dollars to engage in a luxury bear-killing experience,” Scott said.
Davidson argues that’s not that big of a problem.
“The fact that FWC is choosing a mechanism that allows private landowners to benefit from the wildlife that they support out of their own pocket, to me, is not a negative thing, it’s just an additional opportunity or an alternative opportunity,” she said.
Public opinion doesn’t support a hunt
Public opinion polls show that Floridians don’t support a bear hunt.
In a survey conducted by the FWC of more than 13,000 self-selected participants, 75% opposed the proposal, with just 23% in support. Other polls, such as a Remington Research survey commissioned by the Humane World for Animals, showed that 81% of Florida residents oppose the reopening of bear-hunting season.
On Saturday, protests against a bear hunt took place across the state, all organized by the group Bear Defenders.
In Tampa, about a dozen people gathered at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the city’s Westshore area. Heidi Henson, a resident of Largo, said she was disappointed the public’s disdain for such an event doesn’t appear to be registering with FWC commissioners.
“I would say that you should really try to represent the people of this state and their viewpoints and that the majority of people believe that the hunts are cruel and unnecessary,” she said when asked what she would say to a commissioner if she had the opportunity.
“There are issues with bears encroaching on human habitation, [but] there are better ways of dealing with it other than a hunt. Trophy hunting is not okay.”
Isabelle Tassi with Bear Defenders said she wants people to call FWC commissioners and Gov. Ron DeSantis and tell them there’s no reason for a bear hunt. She condemned the equipment and tactics that FWC commissioners have already approved if there is a hunt.
“They want to use baiting, they want to use dogs, and they want to use bows and arrows, which are extraordinarily cruel, and there’s simply no reason for that. We need to leave the bears alone and not kill them and not use those horrific methods on them.”
Of the 40 states with black bear populations, 34 have regulated bear hunting seasons, according to the FWC.
The vote on whether the hunt will take place is scheduled for the FWC’s next quarterly meeting to be held on Wednesday and Thursday in Havana, in Gadsden County. If it is approved, the hunt will last three weeks, between Dec. 6 and Dec. 28.
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