Booming licence sales means that Florida may have more bear hunters than bears

The licences for Florida's first bear hunt in 21 years are so popular that the state may wind up with more bear hunters than bears. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which approved the controversial hunt, set no limit on the number of licences that could be sold. Since the licences went on sale last Monday, the agency has sold 1,340 of them.

The sale is supposed to continue until Oct. 23, right before the one-week hunt begins. The state's official estimate of Florida's bear population is 3,000. All hunters will be limited to one bear per person. The agency has limited the total number of bears allowed to be killed during the one-week season to about 320. That means quite a few hunters spending $100 or more for licences are likely to go home empty-handed. The attorney representing a conservation group trying to stop the hunt questioned that assertion.



With so many licences being sold, Christopher Byrd said, "is this a fundraising opportunity or a plan based on science?" Opponents of the hunt argued that the commissioners should have postponed their June vote until a census of the bear population is completed by the agency's biologists next year. But only one commissioner voted to delay the hunt. None of them opposed it. The hunt was spurred by a series of four bear attacks on women, three in the suburbs of Central Florida and one in a rural part of the Panhandle. A review of licences sold so far indicate none of the victims have bought one.

Nearly all of the people who have bought bear hunting licences so far are Florida residents, who were charged $100. Only 20 were out-of-state residents willing to pay the higher price of $300. One of those was Detroit rocker Ted Nugent, now a darling for conservatives and gun rights groups. He was enthusiastic about the hunt. "The reason there hasn't been a bear season until now - even after more than 6,000 nuisance complaints - the reason we've waited so long is because of the scourge of political correctness dispensed by the idiots who claim the defenceless animals need protecting," Nugent said. "Helloooo! It's a [expletive] bear!"