Live updates: FWC meets to discuss Florida bear hunt rules

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is taking another step towards reinstating an annual black bear hunt.

The commission is meeting Wednesday, May 21, in Ocala to consider rules for a 23-day bear hunt in December and an annual hunt from October through December starting in 2026.

The goal is to remove 187 bears from an estimated population of 4,000.

Supporters hail the hunt as an opportunity for hunters to help with population control, while opponents say it’s unnecessary and inhumane.

The last black bear hunt happened in 2015, but was mired in controversy and shut down on the second day after 295 bears of the 320 limit had been killed.

The meeting comes weeks after an 89-year-old man and his dog were killed in a black bear attack in Jerome. It was the first fatal bear mauling on record in Florida.

FWC commissioners have moved the bear hunt up on the agenda, and discussion is taking place in the morning hours.

The FWC staff is currently doing a presentation on the hunt, the quota and the overall bear population.

Other cities in the southeastern United States — Alabama, Mississippi and Texas have viable bear populations where hunting is not allowed, FWC staff showed.

Other states with viable populations do allow hunting.

Fewer than 1% of Floridians have a hunting license to legally hunt any animal, and several public polls have shown that the hunt is wildly unpopular.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission chambers are full today, with dozens of people prepared to speak on the proposed bear hunt.

One side of the crowd is dressed in typical business and casual clothing while the other side is dressed in camouflage patterns.

Commissioners will take the first vote this afternoon on the bear hunt, which, if approved, would take place in December.

Public comment today is limited to two hours, although commissioners could restructure the agenda.

According to a draft proposal, the state would allow hunters to feed bears, kill them near the hand-outs, use packs of dogs and skip check stations.

Florida bear hunt permit cost

The proposal that will be considered in Ocala divides the state into seven “Bear Management Units” and declares any area with more than 200 bears a “Bear Harvest Zone” – there is no cap on how many bears can be taken from one BMU. 

Hunting permits would be issued through a random drawing and cost $100 for a Florida resident and $300 for anyone else; 187 permits would be issued this year. 

Bear encounters on the rise in Florida

Per FWC, nuisance bear calls climbed from 2,000 in 2016 to more than 6,000 in 2024.   

“As the bear population grows and development occurs, we are probably going to see more bears move into developed areas. So that’s one reason we want to try to manage bear population growth,” FWC’s director of hunting and game management Morgan Richardson said.

Florida’s saw first fatal bear attack on record in May 2025

An elderly man and his dog were killed in a black bear attack in the unincorporated Collier County community of Jerome, Florida, on May 5.

Witnesses called police when they saw a bear maul the man’s dog.

Robert Markel, 89, was found dead on the property, about 100 yards from the dog.

A necropsy of three bears killed by FWC near the scene found Markel’s partial remains in the body of a 263-pound male. Additionally, the bear’s DNA was found on Markel’s body, in his home and on the dog’s body.

Contributing: Amy Bennett Williams, Naples Daily News; James Call, Tallahassee Democrat