Florida is on track to see its first bear hunt since 2015.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners voted 4-1 Wednesday to move ahead with a plan for a hunt.
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Almost 200 people came to the meeting to support and oppose the plan, but there’s still at least one more step before it’s official.
The proposed bear hunt that would allow 187 bears to be harvested during a season that would begin in December of this year.
The plan would allow for bow hunting, dog hunting, and hunting at feed stations.
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But opponents who testified Wednesday argued the use of dogs, feed stations and bows is inhumane and unfair.
“This isn’t conservation. This is state-sanctioned slaughter,” bear hunt opponent Chris Teodorski said.
Hunt supporters argued the Florida’s Black Bear population, which FWC estimates to be approaching 4,000 bears, has reached a healthy level.
They suggested recent incidents like the first-ever Floridian to be killed by a Black Bear earlier this month and other recent sightings in urban areas show a hunt is long overdue.
“I had multiple encounters including a 35-minute stare down with a bear within 20 yards. It had gotten so bad that my fiancé refused to ever step foot on that property ever again,” a hunter named Mason who testified Wednesday said.
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The last hunt in 2015 ended after nearly 300 bears were killed over a two-day span.
Hunting and Game Management Director Morgan Richardson argued that was because hunters were incentivized to harvest bears as quickly as possible, as 3,000 permits were issued, but far fewer bears were permitted to be taken.
Morgan explained elements of the new proposal, like the use of a lottery system to issue hard tags, aim to prevent that from happening again.
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“We have provided options for what we believe are more selective harvest methods and we designed a longer season with hard tags, all of that to be more conservative and to allow for a more selective hunt,” Morgan said.
Commissioners will meet again in August to vote on a final rule.
If they decide to make any changes at that point, it would have to go back before the commission one more time at a later date for a final vote.
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