Despite a full-court press by anti-hunters, Florida’s first managed black bear hunt in a decade turned out to be a successful one. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) harvest report shows hunters took 52 bears during the Dec. 6-28, 2025, season.

“The 2025 black bear hunt, rooted in sound scientific data, was a success,” Roger Young, FWC executive director, told Outdoor Life. “We’re proud to have joined the more than 30 states that manage black bears with regulated hunting.”

FWC approved the hunt to both manage the state’s black bear population and help reduce human-bear conflicts. There are 16 recorded conflicts over the last three years and 44 dating back to 2006. Among the most recent is a May 2025 attack when a black bear killed a man and his dog in Jerome, a small community about 90 miles west of Miami.

Anti-hunters publicly campaigned to buy as many bear licenses as possible to keep them out of the hands of hunters. According to Outdoor Life, extremists drew 43 of the 172 tags and offered to pay others who did receive a tag.

FWC reports Florida residents bought all but six of the available permits, and only Floridians were successful. Twenty-four of the 52 harvested bears were female. None of them were lactating, meaning they were not feeding cubs. All the bears taken met size requirements, and FWC issued no warnings or citations to participating hunters.

Florida black bear population ballooned from several hundred in the 1970s to more than 4,000 today.

According to FWC, a managed Florida bear hunt took place from the 1930s until 1994. It reopened for one year in 2015.

About Hunt 2 Conserve

Hunt 2 Conserve is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its mission is to advance a legacy of hunting and conservation by educating, activating and developing stewards and defenders of these fundamentally American ideals. For more information, go to hunt2conserve.org.

(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)