Hunters kill 52 black bears during Florida’s bear hunt, its first in a decade

Florida’s black bear hunt, the first one since 2015, brought in a harvest of 52 bears across four of the state’s bear management zones.

The hunt was held from Dec. 6 through Sunday.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued 172 permits via a random drawing.

The drawing covered hunting zones in the agency’s four bear management areas with the highest black bear populations — North, East Panhandle, Central and South.

Each permit holder was allowed to kill one bear during the hunting period. The commission did not provide specifics on the gender or age of the bears that were slain by hunters. Agency personnel are still compiling data on the harvested bears.

Florida wildlife officials on Tuesday said hunters stayed within the legal guidelines for the hunt, adding that only one hunter was issued a warning for a minor violation regarding a wildlife management area and no wildlife violations were found related to the hunt.

The hunt was called off between 2015 and 2025 because the 2015 bear hunt led to 304 out of a planned 320 bears being killed in just three days. A public outcry led to the creation of advocacy groups against future bear hunts in Florida.

One of those groups, Bear Warriors United, coordinated with advocates to secure over 40 of the 172 permits, which then went unused.

BWU’s executive director, Kristina Shadix, told Daytona Beach’s WESH-TV that the group offered other people $2,000 to sell their permits to ensure they wouldn’t be used.

“I had to ask all of the hunters why they weren’t going to kill a bear. One simply wanted Christmas presents for his family,” said Ms. Shadix, noting 37 people asked about the deal.

A BWU lawsuit against Florida’s commission next year aims of stopping future bear hunting in the state.