{"id":49909,"date":"2025-11-17T15:31:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/49909\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T15:31:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:31:12","slug":"will-there-be-a-bear-hunt-in-florida-in-2025-what-to-know-ahead-of-lawsuit-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/49909\/","title":{"rendered":"Will there be a bear hunt in Florida in 2025? What to know ahead of lawsuit, protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three months after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners approved it<\/a>, the controversial Florida bear hunt<\/a> has been reinstated and is scheduled for next month.<\/p>\n

Will it be be stopped?<\/p>\n

Bear Warriors United,<\/a>\u00a0a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of wildlife and habitats, filed a lawsuit<\/a> against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in September, seeking a temporary injunction to halt the hunt.<\/p>\n

“The FWC’s (Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s) hunt, if it is allowed to go forward, will result in the needless destruction of Florida black bears,” the temporary injunction<\/a> said. “Bear Warriors has brought forward competent, substantial evidence showing that FWC’s action in authorizing the bear hunt has violated its constitutional duty to manage the state’s wildlife in a responsible, sound manner.”<\/p>\n

Now, their attorneys are preparing for a hearing on Monday, Nov. 24, in a\u00a0lawsuit that could block the 23-day hunt. The dispute between the two revolves around\u00a0the allegation that the\u00a0FWC\u00a0failed to\u00a0follow\u00a0“scientifically based recommendations” when it decided to\u00a0resume bear hunting.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, protestors of the hunt are set to attend the nonprofit\u00a0Sierra Club Florida’s\u00a0\u201cRally to Stop the Florida Black Bear Hunt,\u201d on the steps of the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee on Monday, Nov. 17.<\/p>\n

Here’s what to know about Florida’s upcoming bear hunt.<\/p>\n

Is bear hunting allowed in Florida? See dates<\/p>\n

As of Nov. 17, Floridians with valid permits will be able to hunt black bears between Dec. 6 and Dec. 28.<\/p>\n

Hunters will be allowed to use bait traps, guns and archery to capture a total of 187 bears across 31 counties during the first two years of the annual bear hunt. Only one bear can be captured per permit.<\/p>\n

Can I get a permit to participate in the 2025 bear hunt?\"Black<\/p>\n

Black bear sighting in Florida.<\/p>\n

No, you cannot.<\/p>\n

The deadline passed on Sept. 22, with the FWC sharing they received more than 163,000 applications for tags and $815,000 to participate in this year’s bear hunting season. The FWC issued a total of 187 permits, one bear per permit.<\/p>\n

Participants were chosen through a lottery system. If chosen, residents must pay $100 to claim a tag; the cost for non-residents is $300.<\/p>\n

However, previous reports note that it is unknown whether all the permits were issued to legitimate hunters, as a campaign organized by\u00a0opponents of the hunt<\/a>\u00a0sought to secure as many permits as possible.<\/p>\n

What are the new regulations for the bear hunt in 2025?<\/p>\n

The\u00a0proposed rules for Florida’s annual bear hunt<\/a>\u00a0are outlined over 31 pages in a May 2025 FWC agenda document. The full proposal can be found embedded below.<\/p>\n

Where will the black bear hunt take place?<\/p>\n

The FWC breaks Florida up into seven “Bear Management Units” (BMUs): West Panhandle, East Panhandle, North, Big Bend, Central, South Central and South.<\/p>\n

Florida’s bear hunt in 2025 is restricted to 31 counties within four BMUs that have the largest bear populations.<\/p>\n

How many bears were killed in the last bear hunt in Florida?<\/p>\n

During Florida’s last bear hunt in 2015<\/a>,\u00a0it was reported that 295 black bears\u00a0were killed before the season was shut down early, two days after it began, because bears were being harvested too rapidly.<\/p>\n

Are Florida black bears endangered? How many black bears are in Florida?<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Florida black bear, which is one of 16 subspecies of the American black bear, is listed as a “Recovered species.”<\/p>\n

As of 2025, FWC biologists estimate that there are\u00a0approximately 4,050 black bears in the state of Florida.<\/p>\n

Where are black bears found in Florida?<\/p>\n

Florida black bears have been observed in nearly every part of the state.<\/p>\n

“While bears can be found almost anywhere in Florida, they prefer a mixture of flatwoods, swamps, scrub oak ridges, bayheads and hammock\u00a0habitats. The area they roam in search of food, water, and adequate cover is called a home range,” the\u00a0FWC<\/a>\u00a0states online.<\/p>\n

They have previously advised that\u00a0juvenile Florida black bears may be seen in unexpected areas\u00a0as they leave their mothers\u2019 home ranges in search of new locations\u00a0to settle down.<\/p>\n

What do you do if you see a Florida black bear? What should you not do?<\/p>\n

The FWC advises that if you\u00a0encounter a bear at close range<\/a>, you should\u00a0“remain standing upright, back up slowly and speak to the bear in a calm, assertive voice.”<\/p>\n

“Never approach or surprise a bear. If you see a bear from a distance, enjoy the experience, but do not move toward the bear. If you are close, do not make any sudden or abrupt movements. Back way slowly and be sure the bear has an obvious escape route.”<\/p>\n

As for what not to do, the FWC advises you:<\/p>\n

Do not make any sudden or abrupt movements<\/p>\n

Do not run; this can trigger a chase instinct, and bears can sprint up to 35 mph<\/p>\n

Do not play dead, black bears eat dead things<\/p>\n

Do not climb a tree; they can climb faster than you, too<\/p>\n

Do not approach or surprise a bear, especially if one might be injured<\/p>\n

The FWC says that you should aggressively fight back if a black bear attacks you. People have successfully fended off black bear attacks using simple tools like rocks and sticks or even their bare hands<\/p>\n

Contributing: James Call<\/a>, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida bear hunt 2025 almost here. Rules, dates, what to know<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three months after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners approved it, the controversial Florida bear hunt has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8278,31789,30461,28,31788,4324,8659,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-49909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-bear-hunt","9":"tag-bear-hunting","10":"tag-black-bears","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-florida-black-bear","13":"tag-florida-capitol","14":"tag-florida-fish-and-wildlife","15":"tag-florida-headlines","16":"tag-florida-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}