Bear hunt approved, but a Seminole County group is suing to stop it

An Oviedo-based bear conservation group is planning to sue the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in an attempt to block an upcoming bear hunt. 

Katrina Shadix, executive director of Oviedo-based Bear Warriors United, said she’s planning to file a lawsuit Wednesday to block the approved hunt, arguing that the bears should never have been taken off the list of threatened species in 2012. 

“We think we’re gonna be able to nail the FWC on this, and not only stop the bear hunt, but get long-term protections for Florida black bears,” Shadix said to a gathered crowd after the vote, eliciting cheers. 

On Wednesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission unanimously approved an annual bear hunt in Florida. And starting in 2027, rules would allow hunters to set out bait traps for bears, and allow up to six dogs per hunting permit to chase and tree the bears. Hunters would also be allowed to use bow and arrows. 

The morning meeting featured more than 150 speakers during public comment, limited to just one minute. It featured a mix of residents, mostly wearing orange, in favor of the hunt. Many of those opposed wore black Stop the Hunt shirts against it. 

Many of the hunters in support argued that dogs have historically been used to hunt bears. By chasing and treeing a bear, hunters would be able to make sure the bear is a male; killing female bears is key to growing and maintaining the population.

“This is not like a run-and-gun (decision),” Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Chairman Rodney Barreto said at the meeting. “We make decisions based upon science.”

Staff is recommending 187 permits be issued in the first year to kill bears through a lottery system, including 18 in the region including Seminole County. The proposed first season would run from Dec. 7 to Dec. 28., with future season dates established annually between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. 

The number of bear permits issued would be determined annually based on hunter success rates as well as known population and mortality data, the FWC said. 

Another change with the rules: It also allows “a private lands bear harvest program for landowners with greater than 5,000 contiguous acres of land.” The bear hunt first was mentioned in December 2024, with commissioners asking FWC staff to examine doing a bear hunt. 

“But if the facts weren’t there to present this with options, you would not be presenting us with an option of hunting if it wasn’t there, correct?” Barreto asked. 

“That’s correct,” said George Warthen, FWC’s Chief Conservation Officer. “We are very confident in the sustainability of this hunt.”

Soon after, commissioners voted on the item with little discussion. “It passes unanimously,” Barreto said. “Anybody surprised?”

You can watch the video of the meeting here, and you can watch Shadix’s press conference here. You can read FWC’s full proposal here, and contact FWC commissioners here. 

Florida allowed a bear hunt in 2015. The bear hunt was called off after two days when the maximum number of bears were killed. A key difference between then and now is that these rules allow for an annual bear hunting season, with a limited number of permits issued by zone each year, without commission approval or public comment. 

“When we conserve water, we save it, we don’t kill it,” Shadix said to commissioners during the meeting. “So true bear conservation is about saving bears and their habitats.”

Shadix’s group has sued to stop development to preserve bear habitats, and has raised more than $100,000 to make and distribute bear straps for trash cans and educational literature for homeowners. She said Seminole County is a model of how to reduce bear-human conflicts without a hunt. 

“We do not need blood money to save the bears,” Shadix said during the meeting. “We need programs like this, and we hope you vote no on this.”

Oviedo Community News reached out to multiple hunting groups seeking an interview. 

The rules would also allow hunters to use a bow and arrow to kill a bear, which many argued would be “cruel” for the bears. Joe Humphrey, a Seminole County resident, hunter and a lifelong NRA member, made the trip to Tallahassee to speak to commissioners against the bear hunt. 

“My dad would say don’t hunt anything you won’t eat,” Humphrey said. 

Humphrey lives in the “heart” of the Ocala to Wekiva wildlife corridor, and regularly sees bears at his house. He called the vote “Kabuki theater,” saying the commissioners were going to approve the hunt no matter what because the idea for the hunt originated from commissioners. 

His big issues with the hunt: That it will allow hunters to bait traps to attract the bears, and then use dogs to chase and tree the bears. He said the bear hunt also requires hunters to self-report, and doesn’t have check in stations like the last hunt. 

He said allowing hunters to bait traps would encourage bear-human interactions – the very thing the hunt is trying to prevent by managing the population. 

“I know the crap people pull in the woods when no one’s watching,” Humphrey said.

Ten years ago, Seminole County was often the county in Florida with the most human-bear conflicts, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission data. Since enacting ordinances to encourage bear-proof trash cans and dumpsters, Seminole County’s calls for bear-human interactions have dropped, despite the increase in population.

Humphreys called on the governor to overrule the bear hunt decision.

“What did Donald Trump talk about in his State of the Union Address? Unelected bureaucrats making decisions,” Humphreys said. “That’s who we have making these decisions.”

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps members.