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2w ago

Florida Bear Hunt Lottery Draws 163,459 Applications for 172 Tags

Legal challenges from conservation groups could still derail the December season.

Animal Rights Foundation of Florida protest against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s proposal to hunt the Florida black bear in Orlando, Fla., Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)
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Overview

  • FWC says it received 163,459 applications from Sept. 12–22 for a $5 lottery that will award 172 permits, generating $817,295 in fees, with the drawing expected this week.
  • An application’s overall chance of drawing a tag is roughly 1 in 1,000, and each permit authorizes the harvest of one bear.
  • Opponents mounted a coordinated effort to win tags they do not intend to use, with activists citing a list of about 75,000 applications from their campaign and urging supporters to “bag a tag, spare a bear.”
  • Interest and odds vary by zone: 50,724 applications for 55 tags in southwest Florida; 49,649 for 18 tags in central Florida (about 1 in 2,750); and about 29,000 for 68 tags in the Tallahassee-area zone (about 1 in 425).
  • Lawsuits, including a suit by Bear Warriors United, remain active as the hunt is slated for Dec. 6–28 under rules that prohibit taking cubs or females with cubs and limit one bear per permit.