Florida’s first black bear hunt in a decade underway as population grows

Black bear seen in Ocala National Forest this year. [Photo by Jack Bond]

Florida has opened a regulated black bear hunting season for the first time in 10 years.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) began the 2025 bear hunt Dec. 6, and it runs through Dec. 28 across designated harvest zones in the state’s four largest bear management units (BMUs), including portions of South Florida.

The FWC unanimously approved the hunt in August after years of discussion about how to handle Florida’s growing bear population, now estimated at more than 4,000. State officials say the limited hunt is intended to balance bear numbers with available habitat and to reduce increasingly common human-bear encounters, as when police killed a bear in Royal Palm Beach in 2022. 

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In South Florida, bear hunting is allowed only on private lands (with permission) and approved wildlife management areas within Collier County (excluding Big Cypress), Hendry County and the eastern portion of Lee County. Big Cypress National Preserve is closed to hunting, and the FWC set lower permit numbers in the South Zone to account for the limited accessible habitat.

Map of the South Zone by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

FWC officials say the season was designed with long-term ecological stability in mind. “I am proud that Florida is joining the majority of states that manage black bears with regulated hunting,” FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto says. “The components of the hunt are conservative and prioritize conservation, with a limited number of permits only being issued in the areas of the state with the largest bear populations.”

The state used BMU-tailored growth models to determine permit numbers meant to cap female bear harvests at a level resulting in zero population growth for the year.

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Hunters must obtain both a Florida hunting license and a bear harvest permit, available only through a nonrefundable lottery application system. Permits cost $100 for residents and $300 for nonresidents, with strict limits on availability. Approved hunters must abide by detailed rules governing method of take: Bows, crossbows, muzzleloaders, centerfire firearms, shotguns and certain air guns are allowed.

By the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Supporters of the hunt, including some wildlife managers and rural residents, argue that carefully regulated harvesting mirrors conservation models used across the country to maintain healthy populations while funding long-term habitat efforts.

Critics, including Speak Up for Wildlife and the Sierra Club’s Florida chapter, challenge the FWC’s rationale for reviving the hunt.

Chuck O’Neal, the president of Speak Up for Wildlife, calls the hunt a “tragedy.” He says the commission failed to properly interpret scientific data on bear populations and urges the agency to pursue nonlethal population management strategies.