Florida is approaching opening the state belt for the Flack Bear hunt, the first since the controversial 2015.
Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee voted 4-1 on Wednesday, moving forward with plans for the Bear Hunt later this year. The next vote is scheduled for August. Like it or not, the people responsible for these things are very likely to say yes.
This plan requires that you issue 187 permits. Each hunter with a permit is permitted to kill only one bear of about 4,000 people roaming the state.
For those who are morally opposed to hunting, the plan is horrifying. They call the hunt unnecessary “genocide” and “trophy hunting,” adding that there are too many bears in the state. They want the hunt to stop and also recoil by allowing hunters to help kill bears using dogs and feed stations.
Hunting is welcome news for supporters. They claim they are claiming, and they claim Florida is the only state with these many bears that do not allow hunting. They say that science is on their side and hunting is an efficient and traditional way of controlling animal populations, including bears.
Given that the committee appears ready to approve the hunt, it seems futile to debate who is right. Instead, let’s take a look at two ways this new plan is better than 2015, and some ideas to improve it.
It’s not free for everyone. In 2015, the state created a Derby-style hunt. More than 3,100 permit holders competed to kill 320 bears, set up by the Wildlife Commission. The season was to last a week, but the hunters stormed the forest, killing about 300 bears in two days, and quickly finishing the hunt in the state.
Commission officials said at a meeting Wednesday that time pressures urged some hunters to shoot the first bear they saw instead of ensuring the bear was big enough, not the Cubs woman. Even some hunters have called the 2015 hunt a “bad failure” or “problemous.”
The 2025 plan will scrap the Derby. Instead, the state issues 187 permits through the lottery. Luckily, I was able to get permission and hunt bears during the 23-day season in December.
The system isn’t perfect, but it’s far better than the frenzy that Derby creates. With the extra time, the hunter will kill more male bears and ensure that breastfeeding women and bears will kill less than 100 pounds.
“They could be more selective,” said Morgan Richardson, director of the Wildlife Commission’s Hunting and Game Management.
More conservative. This proposal allows hunters to kill 187 bears, much less than 320 years ago. As in 2015, the hunt occurs in four of the state’s seven bear management areas with the largest and healthy bear populations. Low quotas and smart geographic boundaries all ensure that bear populations in these regions will increase as well as the next year.
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To improve your hunting in 2025…
I’ll charge more. The state plans to charge $5 to enter the permit lottery. Anyone can enter as much as they like. Lottery winners will pay $100 for their bear hunting permit and $300 for those coming from out of state.
These amounts are too low.
The state has not hunted bears in 10 years. Many hunters are willing to pay premiums to become one of the few chosen people who can shoot one of the 187 bears. The lottery will charge at least $20, the permit will charge $500, and non-Florida residents will charge $1,500.
Other states charge a premium to hunt certain animals. Non-residents $6,000 to kill Wyoming bison and more than $1,600 in a Washington moose. We are constantly hearing from state leaders about the benefits of capitalism. This is the perfect opportunity to actually put it in.
The Wildlife Committee can use the extra money to distribute more unbearable garbage cans. It’s a win-win.
Transparency is important. In Florida, the idea of bear hunting is divisive and emotional. The Wildlife Committee needs to double transparency. Everything about the hunt should be made public, from planning to permit lottery tickets to data collected after the season. The committee should not limp by responding to requests for public records, which unfortunately become too routine in Tallahassee.
The nation has a habit of trying to protect things from the public. Recent examples include trading valuable state land for developers, building golf courses in state parks, and transferring money to a committee established from a charity overseen by Casey DeSantis to oppose amendments that legalize marijuana. The secrets rarely look good for national leaders and rarely undermine the confidence of the people. To make a successful bear hunt, you need to answer some timely releases of offensive questions and information.
The bear hunt seems inevitable, but it will greatly disappoint many Floridians. However, if a hunt is happening, the Wildlife Commission should avoid the chaos of 2015, and it is humane and professional, and do everything possible for hunters to follow the rules.
