TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s black bear hunt is returning this December, and starting today, anyone can apply for a permit to participate. But this year, the state is allowing more bears to be killed than last year, and one conservation group is fighting back with cash.
The hunt runs from December 5th through the 27th. The state is offering up to 215 permits this year, up from 172 in 2025. Last year’s hunt, Florida’s first since 2015, killed 52 bears over 23 days. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the hunt helps manage a statewide black bear population it estimates at around 4,000.
Katrina Shadix, executive director of Bear Warriors United, says her group is doing everything it can to stop the killing. Last year, the group paid hunters not to use their permits and encouraged non-hunters to apply for permits so no bear would be killed with them. Shadix says they will do it again this year, offering at least $1,000 per permit.
“We’re excited that a lot of bear advocates are going to be doing the same thing that we did last year,” Shadix said.
Beyond the permit strategy, Shadix says the group is taking legal action.
“We’re going to be filing an emergency injunction, and we’re going to be filing to get the bears relisted on the state protection list,” she said.
Shadix argues that the state has the science backward, citing what she calls a troubling population study.
“They are doing multiple population studies, and the one that came back last year showed a 67 percent decrease in the North Florida bear population,” she said. “That is cause for alarm.”
Critics have accused the group of gaming the system by paying for permits and recruiting non-hunters to apply. Shadix pushed back on that.
“For those people that think we’re gaming the system, the system has been gamed against Florida black bears for years now,” she said. “So we’re fighting fire with fire, and we’re doing it legally, and we’re doing it morally and ethically, and we’re winning.”
This year, the state is also allowing large private landowners to permit bear hunting on their property, opening up areas closer to Central Florida. Permit applications are open through September 21st.
Eyewitness News reached out to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for its response and will update this story.
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