Florida bear hunt ends; Fort Myers groups debate conservation impact

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation says 52 bears have been killed during the 2025 Florida bear hunt.

“Hunting is an effective tool for managing wildlife populations around the world and is a key part of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation,” said FWC Chief Conservation Officer George Warthen. “It’s about helping bears succeed over the long term in our state and is a way for us to guide an iconic Florida species into the future, for their benefit and ours.”

This year's Black bear hunt began December 6th and ended December 28th. The last hunt was in 2015, but was cut short after 300 bears were killed in just two days.

But this year, there were new guidelines put in place. Only 172 permits were distributed statewide, and only one bear could be killed per permit.

WINK News reporter Zoe Warner spoke with Katrina Shadix, Executive Director of Bear Warriors United, who says these results are a small win.

"This proves that bear hunting is not popular in the state of Florida, and that the FWC made a huge mistake in approving this trophy hunt, with the majority of the public being against it, and with their them going against their own science and population studies. Hopefully, they will get the message that they should never approve another trophy hunt again in the state of Florida," says Shadix.

Shadix's advocacy group initiated a "blunt the hunt" program prior to the hunt, offering $2,000 to hunters who chose not to use their tags to kill a Florida black bear.

Meanwhile, Mark Barton, an ecologist with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, says that each bear harvested is a win for Black bear conservation.

"This hunt generated more than $800,000 that goes directly into bear conservation. If you break that down, that's over $15,000 per bear that was harvested. Now, when you compare that to other ways that bears die in this state, you know, they get hit by cars, we lose money on that. It actually costs, you know, the state funds to send people out to clean those sites up, or, you know, to take care of nuisance bears, you know, that unfortunately, need to be put down. You know, those things cost money. This hunt is the exact opposite of that. It's generating money."

Barton added, "So if you are getting tags and not using them, which is intentionally driving down success rates, then FWC can increase the quota to ensure that the number of bears that they would like to see harvested is actually being met. And so by not using tags, you're really just leading to more tags being available in the future.  If people want to do that, that's totally up to them. I'm not going to tell them not to do it, but in the end, it's not going to have the effect that they think it will."

Shadix tells WINK News she and Bear Warriors United still plan on continuing their lawsuit against FWC, with their next court date set for next August.

For more information on regulated bear hunting, including answers to frequently asked questions, visit MyFWC.com/hunting/bear.

Tips to reduce conflicts and general information about bears are available at MyFWC.com/wildlifehabitats, followed by selecting “Wildlife” and then “Black Bears” and at BearWise.org.