Florida bears hunt draws record applicant pool as permit lottery set for December

Florida's first black bear hunt in a decade will proceed this December with a tightly limited permit pool determined by lottery. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said 172 permits will be awarded for a Dec. 6–28 hunt, down from the 187 initially proposed. A permit allows one bear in areas where officials say the population is large enough, and the state estimates about 4,000 black bears live in Florida.

Applications surged, with 163,459 submitted from Sept. 12 through Monday, far exceeding the needs of the lottery. FWC spokeswoman Shannon Knowles said the agency will collect data on unused permits and hunter success to shape future hunts. The agency said it will evaluate how many permits go unused and how successful hunters are in order to inform future decisions about bear management.

Opponents, including groups such as the Sierra Club and Bear Defenders, have urged people to apply for licenses and then not use the permits, arguing the hunt is unnecessary and could threaten bears with cubs. Chuck O'Neal, president of Speak Up Wekiva and Speak Up for Wildlife, said bear lives will be saved by involvement in the lottery and that the impact will be felt for decades. Several organizations have also sued to try to halt the hunt, reflecting a long-running dispute over whether wildlife should be managed through hunting.

State officials note that Florida has had only one documented fatal bear encounter in recent memory, contrasting with the ongoing debate about human-bear contacts in areas where habitat is shrinking. They argue human development has pushed bears into closer proximity to people, elevating the potential for conflicts.

This year's plan includes more stringent rules than the 2015 hunt, when permits were more broadly available and the event extended into chaotic conditions, culminating in the killing of at least 38 female bears with cubs and many cubs left orphaned. The 2015 hunt was shut down early after crowding and permit sales led to a mass kill.

The 2023–24 process sets a December window for hunting, with a permit price of $100 for Florida residents and $300 for nonresidents. No cubs or females with cubs may be killed under the rules. Private landowners with at least 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) could stage what the FWC calls a “bear harvest program” on their property, and hunting could occur at bait feeding stations on private land. Bowhunting is allowed under rules similar to those for deer.

Looking ahead, the FWC envisions the possibility of a bear hunt between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 in future years, subject to further studies on the impact of hunting and the bear population. In addition to bear management, Florida continues to regulate other wildlife harvests, including an alligator season from mid-August to November and ongoing efforts to remove invasive pythons from private and public lands managed by the agency.

In the near term, the agency plans to analyze unused permits and hunter success data to shape future hunts and ensure that bear management aligns with population estimates and public safety considerations.