Florida’s first bear hunt in a decade will take place as scheduled next month after a state judge on Monday denied a motion by a conservation group to stop it from taking place.

Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey denied the temporary preliminary injunction sought by Bear Warriors United, which argued the hunt authorization was based on outdated data and will harm the bear population in Florida — right now estimated at around 4,050.

The group filed a lawsuit in September seeking to stop the 23-day hunt, after it was approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in August and is scheduled to take place from Dec. 6 to Dec. 28.

“I’m going to find here that the plaintiff has not met their burden on substantial likelihood of success on the merits,” Judge Dempsey said at the end of a two-and-half-hour hearing that took place via Zoom on Monday.

“The 2015 hunt was found constitutional under the rational basis test and this hunt is significantly more conservative than that hunt in 2015, both in number of bears that could be harvested as well as the timing, when it’s a little less likely for more female bears to be killed.”

Supporters of the hunt point to increased interactions between bears and humans and consequent fears of attacks.

Questions about the data
Bear Warriors United contended the FWC was relying on “stale and outdated” data to reach the conclusion that the best way to manage the black bear population in Florida was a regulated hunt.

The most dramatic part of the hearing was an exchange between Thomas Crapps, attorney for Bear Warriors United, and FWC bear management coordinator Mike Orlando. Crapps asked Orlando at one point whether it “wouldn’t be more prudent to wait to get that information to decide whether or not a hunt was appropriate, based on more current data?”

“Actually, the science that we have now is actually very good data and, as those population estimates come in over time, we have the ability to actually adjust harvest rates and other things. But no, the population estimates that we’re working with right now are fantastic,” Orlando responded. “It’s good science.”

Orlando said that it takes up to two years for FWC to conduct a population study. That prompted Crapps to ask him why not wait to get more current data before making such an important decision?

“Because we will never have new data. It will always be old,” Orlando said. “So, what we’re doing again is taking a very conservative estimate approach to the hunting season, using the best available science that we have and, any new science that comes in, we will make adjustments. We have to be adaptive. That’s management 101.”

This will be the first bear hunt in Florida since 2015, when the hunt was shut down at the end of its second day after nearly 300 bears had been killed.

The bears are spread out across the state in seven areas known as Bear Management Units by the FWC. In justifying the hunt, the agency has said that, since 2015, the four largest subpopulations of bears have grown annually, and no subpopulations have shown evidence of decline.

Plan calls for removal of 172 bears in four ‘hunting zones’
The plan now allows for the removal of 172 bears from four “bear hunting zones” — 68 in the East Panhandle; 31 in the North; 18 in Central Florida; and 55 in the South hunting area.

To participate, individuals must have been at least 18 years old by Oct. 1 and hold a hunting license and a bear harvest permit. Bear harvest permits cost $100 for Florida residents and $300 for non-residents and are not transferable. It cost $5 to submit an application, and there was no limit on how many applications individuals could submit.

However, not all of those who have received a permit will use it to kill a bear.

News 6 WKMG in Orlando reports that 44 people selected for the bear hunt are against killing bears.

“By the time it’s all over with, we’ve got at least 52 of the 172, which will reduce the number of bears killed down to about 120 or less,” said Chuck O’Neal, president of Speak Up for Wildlife.

In his closing statement representing Bear Warriors United, Crapps noted that agency staff presented the first report on the Florida Black Bear Management Plan in December 2024 with a recommendation that no immediate action was needed.

“And it’s the FWC commissioners then direct them to have a hunt,” he said. “At that point, the science is being driven by the politics. And that is wrong.”

Not true, argued attorney Rhonda Parnell, representing the FWC.

“The science is sound,” she said. “Bears have always been a game animal. This hunt is no different than any other hunt, whether it is deer, turkey, quail, etc. We are the ones who get to make that determination. It is not for the court to say, ‘Well, you can determine deer hunting, but you can’t determine bear hunting.’ That would be an impermissible ruling by this court.”

Litigation will continue, as Judge Dempsey declined FWC’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. A hearing on that motion will take place on Dec. 15 — halfway through the bear hunt.

In a survey conducted by the FWC 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 oppose the reopening of bear-hunting season.

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Mitch Perry reports via Florida Phoenix, a part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: [email protected].