Hundreds of Florida bear hunt permits sold on first day

[d_legendary1]

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission started selling permits for bear hunting Monday, despite a legal challenge to the hunt.

The permits, which cost $100 for Florida residents and $300 for nonresidents, are valid during the last week in October and can be purchased online, in tax collector offices or in some sporting goods stores.

Wildlife officials said the goal of the hunt is to help manage the state's bear population.

Dane Shaffer, of Sorrento, has been hunting deer and hogs all his life, but never a bear.

"To hunt bears would be a new challenge for me," he said.

Shaffer is one of the many across the state who signed up for the special bear hunting permit.

After 20 years, the FWC is allowing about 200 bears to be hunted in order to stabilize the bear population in Florida.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/florida-starts-selling-bear-hunt-permits-despite-c/nnB6h/

[Fred Sanders]

1. If the bear-killing with guns crowd wanted to "manage" the bear population, how about giving

the bears some of their land back so they could just manage things in their own?

How is this much different than killing Cecile for pleasure and profit?

Just because America has so completely encroached on wildlife habitat that there barely is any left, and that is even being attacked by the RW, still does not make it right.

[d_legendary1]

3. You're correct on the land the state took from the bears

and gave it to the development barons who are building condos left and right. Now we're seeing more bears walking into people's yards and being destroyed for becoming a "nuisance". Its pretty fucked up how we treat wildlife down here.

[HappyinLA]

2. This isn't going to end well

Just what they need, a bunch of folks who've never hunted a bear before running through the woods. I fully expect to see a lovely batch of "bear attacks hunter" stories that week.