The bears are particularly attracted to feeding stands installed by deer hunters, which makes them a nuisance, especially in the northern part of the state.
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“We are confident that this hunt got us to what we were achieving”.
The group lost a legal battle to stop the black bear hunt, but dozens of volunteers watched over the weekend as hunters brought in bears they had killed.
FWC officials noted that the notoriously timid bears do not have the experience to better evade camouflaged hunters because the species has not been legally hunted since 1994.
But not everyone is lauding the hunt as a success. How can they rejoice over that?
The wildlife commission ended the hunt after only two days, as the tally of dead bears hit 298, near the statewide quota of 320.
By mid-morning Friday, the state had sold almost 4,000 bear hunting permits – more than Florida’s estimated bear population.
Each permit allowed a hunter a single kill.
The limits for each of the bear management units were set to offset birth and mortality rates, taking into account bears killed on highways and those euthanized after conflicts with humans.
Remaining hunters have until Monday at noon to report their kills. “There are uncertainties. But we put many good buffers in place, because it was those uncertainties and we’re still very confident we’re within those sustainable limits”. “They probably wouldn’t even want to go out in the woods, you know?” As of Sunday night 295 bears had been killed. Four with the largest bear populations were opened to the hunt. That area includes the northwestern Big Bend area to west of Apalachicola Bay.
Wildlife authorities had already canceled hunting in designated central and east Panhandle regions of Florida on Saturday, the first day of hunting.
Areas such as the counties surrounding Jacksonville and the southern end of the state including Collier County saw less-than-anticipated numbers.
State wildlife officers have received increasing complaints about bears in neighborhoods close to woodlands where the animals have long roamed, as suburban development has further encroached on to their habitat.
“I was going to go out there today, but they shut it down”, he said Monday.
Commission Division of Law Enforcement Maj.
The state says bear populations in seven bear management units across the state have rebounded remarkedly since the 1970s when the number of bears in Florida dropped to just a few hundred.
They ranged from a couple of 500-pounders to a 42-pound cub in the Panhandle. “I think it’s because there’s more bears out there than people think”.
In the central region, 139 bears were killed, it said. These violations would be second-degree misdemeanors, carrying up to $500 in fines and up to 60 days in jail. The others were issued to hunters who used bait, also a no-no.
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Several hunters were also found hunting without their permits.
