FWC advances proposal for first Florida bear hunt in a decade

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) gave preliminary approval Wednesday for the first bear hunt in Florida in nearly a decade, to take place later this year. Commissioners will return for a final vote in August.

Their decision followed several hours of comments both for and against the FWC’s proposed rules for a 23-day bear hunt, tentatively proposed to take place in December, plus annual hunts from October through December beginning in 2026.

There hasn’t been a bear hunt in Florida since 2015, when a scheduled week-long hunt was shut down in just 48 hours after more than 300 bears were killed. That’s also the last year that FWC counted the bear population, which it estimated at approximately 4,050 bears statewide.

In justifying the need for a hunt, the agency has said that since that 2015 count, they believe that the four largest subpopulations of bears have grown annually and no subpopulations have shown evidence of decline.

The FWC’s plan is to remove 187 bears from four “Bear hunting zones”: 68 in the East Panhandle area; 46 in the North; 18 in Central Florida; and 55 in the South hunting area. As of now, the plan calls for the permits to be issued through a random drawing and they would cost $100 for a Florida resident and $300 for those from out of state. The applications for those permits would cost $5.

‘Gun-toting individuals 

That was the backdrop of Wednesday’s meeting, held at FWC’s headquarters in Ocala, where the public was limited to just one minute due to the large number of people who signed up for public comment.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods supports the hunt. He said that in the past nine months there have been 107 reported interactions between bears and human beings in his county but that he believes there were at least three times as many, or at least 300 human-bear interactions.

The elimination of black bears should be regulated, Woods said, adding of his residents that “they’re gun-toting individuals, and I love them for it. They will protect their selves. They will protect their property. And they will have my support.”

“Emotions don’t drive wildlife policy. Science does,” said Travis Thompson, executive director of the conservation group All Florida. “It’s time to have a bear hunt.”

Thompson’s comments that the decision by the FWC was based on science and not emotions was a common theme among those who supported a bear hunt.

“What we need to do is follow the science. It’s that simple,” said Thomas Van Note, with the South Florida chapter of Safari Club International, who added that through his Ring door camera he now sees bears on a regular basis at his home in Ocala.

“This is getting to the point where something needs to be done. Science-based hunting is the answer,” he asserted. “This isn’t a political issue, this is a science issue, and we need to follow the science.”

Elizabeth Bland, Florida chapter president of American Daughters of Conservation, disputed the notion that bear hunters are unethical. “We are not evil, vile monsters that some may portray us to be. We genuinely want the habitat, and the species sustain and thrive.”

‘Trophy hunt’

Critics assailed the proposal, arguing that in fact the science isn’t settled.

“I do agree that science should drive actions, ” said Gina Camilleri. “The data that you are using for a data-based decision is over 10 years old. My question — why hasn’t that data been updated in time for a proposed hunt?”

“This is a trophy hunt and there is no good reason to hold it,” said Megan Sorbo. “The proposal for this bear hunt is unethical and unpopular. Hunting does not regulate bear-human interactions. The answer to this problem is reducing attractants in human areas. There is no scientific backing to this suggested trophy hunt. It is rooted in emotion and the desire to hunt.”

Another opponent was Diamond Bergeron, daughter of “Alligator” Ron Bergeron, who served two terms as an FWC Commissioner. Although she is a hunter herself, she might be able to support the plan if it were “clearly grounded in science and demonstrated to be in the best long-term interest of the bear and our ecosystem. This is a comment about rushing a premature decision,” she said, adding that “much of the data appears outdated and incomplete.”

Bobbie Lee Davenport from Collier County said there are “thousands” of people like herself living in a “bear habitat” and that the real issue is a lack of a sufficient trash receptacles. “The problem is with trash, that’s why the bears are coming.”

The idea of a bear hunt is not popular with the public. In a survey conducted by the FWC by UCF that was displayed on Wednesday 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 opposed the reopening of a bear-hunting season.

The FWC ultimately voted, 4-1, to support what was labelled as “Alternative 2,” which includes the option of allowing bear hunting with dogs and the taking of bears at game feeding stations, where food is displayed to attract the animal.

Morgan Richardson, FWC’s director for hunting and game management, said that when a bear comes to a feeding station, hunters can judge the size of the bear. He noted that most female bears weigh 250 pounds or less, while most males weigh more than that.

“When they’re at the feeder, hunters can see them for an extended period of time and judge their size, and they’re less likely to take females — particularly less like to take females with cubs — because they would see the cubs with her. So it’s a more selected method.”

The vote came less than two weeks after the FWC confirmed the first Florida black bear fatal attack of a human being in state history. The death involved an 89-year-old man in a rural area east of Naples, just south of the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area, according to WESH-TV.