Bear hunting season to start in Vermont: What to know about rules, dates, costs

Bear hunters will be in the woods soon in Vermont, as the early season opens on Sept. 1 and runs through Sept. 15, with one exception. Nonresident hunters using dogs are not allowed to start hunting until Sept. 15.

The late bear hunting season starts on Nov. 16 and continues through Nov. 24. Hunters are limited to one bear during the year.

Early-season hunters must have a special bear tag, which costs $5 for residents and $15 for non-residents. For late-season hunters, a bear tag is included with their hunting licenses. In addition to a hunting license, a bear hunter using a bow or crossbow must have a bow license or a certificate showing completion of a bow hunter education course.

Bears must be field-dressed before the reporting station in Vermont

Game Warden Jeremy Schmid, who covers an area stretching from Bolton to Cambridge, said Vermont Fish and Wildlife requires bears to be field-dressed before showing up at a reporting station, so the meat can be preserved and cooled as quickly as possible.

“Bear meat has a tendency to spoil quicker than deer meat, especially in the early part of the season when temperatures can be hot,” Schmid said.

Joshua Morse, Fish and Wildlife’s public information officer, said the department wants people hunting bears to “make good use of the meat.”

Bear hunters are also required to collect and submit a pre-molar tooth from the bear at the time it’s reported, or within 30 days. The tooth provides important information on the age, structure and size of the bear population.

Do hunters have to return to the kill site if requested?

Hunters, whether of bear, moose or deer, are required by Vermont law to return to the kill site at the request of a warden. Schmid declined to say what might trigger such a request, but he said the purpose was to make sure the game in question was taken legally, and in the case of bears, to make sure the animal wasn’t baited into the site, which is illegal.

“We monitor all reports as reports get inputted to our database by the reporting stations,” Schmid said. “We have live access to the reports.”

Where can bears be found in Vermont during hunting season

Bears will be feeding along power lines and in forest openings and old fields where berries and apples can be found, as well as in forested beech and oak stands, Jaclyn Comeau, Vermont’s bear biologist, said in a news release.

“They also are likely to be feeding on standing corn,” she added.

How likely are hunters to find a bear in Vermont

Vermont Fish and Wildlife reported recently that Vermont’s bear population is between 6,300 and 7,600, which is down from a record year last year, but still robust, making it a great opportunity for those who have never hunted bear to give it a try this year.

Comeau asks hunters not to shoot a bear with cubs, or bears observed in groups, as they are usually made up of sows with cubs.

“Black bear cubs are dependent on their mother through the following spring,” Comeau said. “It is important to maintain these family groups.”

Fish and Wildlife has tips on its website for identifying sows with cubs, as well as the 2024 Black Bear Hunting Guide.

New Vermont law prohibits selling black bear paws and internal organs

Vermont also has a new law in effect that prohibits the sale of paws or internal organs of a black bear, which is a problem around the country, fueling a black market. Bear gallbladders are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and bear paws are used to make a soup that’s considered a delicacy.

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT.