After a controversial and much-protested reopening of Florida’s black bear season in December, the state has released a harvest report for its first bear hunt in a decade. Overall, 52 bears were legally harvested in the state’s 23-day season. That comprises 30 percent of the 172 permits issued, almost all of which were harvested with a rifle on private land.
These results have been anticipated by hunters and wildlife managers who have been eager to address growing bear-human conflicts in the state, as well as by anti-hunters who bought bear tags to prevent hunters from filling them.
“The 2025 black bear hunt, rooted in sound scientific data, was a success,” the executive director of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Roger Young said in an emailed statement to OL. “We’re proud to have joined the more than 30 states that manage black bears with regulated hunting.”
In 2025, more than 163,000 applications rolled in for some 15,000 individuals. While many were real hunters who were eager to hunt some of the state’s estimated population of more than 4,000 black bears, others were anti-hunters. Each entry cost $5 each, and unlimited entries were allowed. One group claimed to have submitted 37,000 applications — paying a total of $185,000 for the privilege — just for a chance to draw tags that would not be used.
Shortly before the hunt started, the anti-hunting group Bear Warriors United offered to pay hunters $2,000 apiece not to use their tag. In January, the group reported paying more than 37 tag holders not to hunt.
“There have been several people who’ve reached out and said, ‘I could use that money for my family,’” Bear Warriors United executive director Katrina Shadix told OL in December. At the time, Shadix said at least 20 hunters had reached out about the offer, and that another 43 of the 172 tags had been drawn by activists who did not intended to use them.
Much of the 2025 bear hunt’s opposition stems from a highly-publicized 2015 season, when 304 bears were quickly killed over two days in late October, which prompted the state to close the season early, though still under the desired harvest quota. That year’s statewide cap was 320 bears spread across 3,776 permits.
Young of FWC says the limited number of permits for the 2025 hunt were issued in areas with the largest bear populations, and Florida structured the season so it “prioritized a conservative approach that ensures the long-term health of bear populations in Florida, while providing opportunity for hunters.” The hunt itself was not contentious within the hunting community, and the FWC Commission unanimously approved the season last year.
FWC required mandatory reporting by bear hunters so officials could evaluate the condition of every harvested bear. The heaviest of the 28 males taken was a huge black bear that weighed in at 697.4 pounds. (By comparison, the average grizzly in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem weighs 400 pounds.) None of the 24 sows that were harvested had been lactating at the time of harvest, which indicates they were not feeding cubs.
Here are a few other takeaways from the December 2025 harvest data:
- While six of the 172 bear tags were issued to nonresidents, all 52 bears were harvested by Florida residents.
- Just seven bears were taken on public land.
- Two bears were harvested with a shotgun, and one with a bow. The rest were taken with rifles.
- The sex ratio of the harvest was generally balanced, with 28 boars and 24 sows taken.
- None of the sows were lactating, which indicated they were not feeding young cubs.
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