Big Bear Poached

[campboy]

I saw one on Silver Lake WMA while I was turkey hunting back about 7 or 9 years a go. Found sign on Lake Seminole WMA about a mile from my cabin several years ago. Two years ago one crossed Highway 98 in front of us at 2:30 in the afternoon. Maybe 4 miles east of Indian Pass Raw Bar.

Nic I saw a good sized bear cross the road on the cape near the military installation late spring 2008. Man I miss that place!!

 

[C.Killmaster]

FWIW, bears aren’t really a rare occurrence in Decatur, Grady, Thomas, Colquitt, Brooks, or the counties that do allow hunting. IMO there SHOULD be a legal season statewide and if you kill one you kill one. Wildlife management IS NOT the reason for the season being closed in N FL.

@C.Killmaster, what’s the point of such segregated and select hunting areas in GA? Is the state encouraging an increased population or are the regs just reactive to the population where it exists?

I'm not the bear biologist, so you'll have to take what I say with a grain of salt. From what I know, the 3 bear populations (North, Middle, Southeast) are completely independent genetically and each is independently subject to a genetic bottleneck. Even though some bears roam all over the place, there just isn't enough mixture to keep them from being somewhat inbred. That basically means that you can't let the population get too low in any one of the 3 or they will have issues with inbreeding, especially the middle GA population. As to why we don't have bear season in more counties adjacent to good bear populations, I honestly don't know.

 

[Sautee Ridgerunner]

I understand that one on river creek a few years back ate about every bluebird box on the property.
Yeah florida is stuffed with bears. Im not fresh on the numbers but I think their quota for the hunt a few years ago was like 400 animals. They reached that in like a day.

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is actively working to get a bear season back down there.

 

[Nicodemus]

What's the bear population like down there?

If it's low, what is it low?

I always read it's exploding in Florida.

I`m not qualified to answer that. Other than Seminole, Lee, and Early Counties, I`m not on enough other properties any more to know what the bear population is. I do know that the Panhandle has a sizable population of bears, and they have some as big as they grow.

 

[cowhornedspike]

FWIW, bears aren’t really a rare occurrence in Decatur, Grady, Thomas, Colquitt, Brooks, or the counties that do allow hunting. IMO there SHOULD be a legal season statewide and if you kill one you kill one. Wildlife management IS NOT the reason for the season being closed in N FL.

@C.Killmaster, what’s the point of such segregated and select hunting areas in GA? Is the state encouraging an increased population or are the regs just reactive to the population where it exists?

Was told at one of the DNR meetings by John Bowers that it had to do with the long repopulation time and age needed for a bear to breed. I don't remember the details but it was similar to this that I just googled.
Basically, bears don't recover from low populations quickly and it takes a strong population for them to not be overhunted.

"Females generally breed for the first time at 3 to 6 years of age and will give birth every other year. Age of sexual maturity for both males and females is largely dependent on habitat quality. Females come into estrus as early as late May and as late as August with the peak of breeding taking place in July."

 

[buckpasser]

Well, I’m hopeful based on the two state answers here that the long term plan may be more bear hunting in Georgia at some point in the future.

 

[buckpasser]

I'm not the bear biologist, so you'll have to take what I say with a grain of salt. From what I know, the 3 bear populations (North, Middle, Southeast) are completely independent genetically and each is independently subject to a genetic bottleneck. Even though some bears roam all over the place, there just isn't enough mixture to keep them from being somewhat inbred. That basically means that you can't let the population get too low in any one of the 3 or they will have issues with inbreeding, especially the middle GA population. As to why we don't have bear season in more counties adjacent to good bear populations, I honestly don't know.

As usual, your post drips with good information! The only thing puzzling is that it really seems the NGA and SGA populations would be infinitely supplied by the large populations in the neighboring states. I guess the central group could need a little more regulation. My original post just comes from frustration. Bears in my area are killed despite the law. They will always be treated this way by people with broken and raided deer feeders and it would probably be beneficial to just go ahead and embrace the hunting of them here too. I don’t see them being allowed to populate to the point of success anyway.

 

[C.Killmaster]

As usual, your post drips with good information! The only thing puzzling is that it really seems the NGA and SGA populations would be infinitely supplied by the large populations in the neighboring states. I guess the central group could need a little more regulation. My original post just comes from frustration. Bears in my area are killed despite the law. They will always be treated this way by people with broken and raided deer feeders and it would probably be beneficial to just go ahead and embrace the hunting of them here too. I don’t see them being allowed to populate to the point of success anyway.

I think it is that way, the north and south populations span state boundaries. However, I think that the southeast GA population is a different population from the one in the Florida panhandle and those are what show shows up in SOWEGA.

 

[oldways]

I understand that one on river creek a few years back ate about every bluebird box on the property.
Yeah florida is stuffed with bears. Im not fresh on the numbers but I think their quota for the hunt a few years ago was like 400 animals. They reached that in like a day.

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is actively working to get a bear season back down there.

Yes sir I saw a picture of it and know a fellow that during the archery hunt got the cushion chew up and out of his summit but he was using vanilla extract for cover scent and left his stand in the tree over night surprise the next morning...

 

[cracker4112]

We got bears all over FL, from north to south. There is no hunting here simply because of politics. The last bear hunt a few years ago, the week long season was closed after one day since the quota was reached that quickly (meaning we have more bears than they thought IMO). The next year, the FWC staff/biologists recommended another hunt and the commissioners voted against their own staff recommendations because our governor was running for the senate and didn't want to deal with the antis in an election year (our commisioners are appointed by the governor and are political allies).

I walked up on this one while turkey hunting in Glades County.

 

[Para Bellum]

Florida doesn't have an enormous bear population.

They had to close it to hunting for years.

Sad this bear was illegally killed

Take a hike through Tate’s ****. Lots of bears.

 

[Nicodemus]

Take a hike through Tate’s ****. Lots of bears.

Yessir, there`s a pile of em all through there.

 

[Danuwoa]

Just over east of here around The Swamp and Waycross they do, but there`s no season anywhere here around Southwest Georgia.

Sometimes I wish enough of them would come up from Florida that we could have a season here. Then I remember people thinking that about hogs and how that turned out.

 

[Danuwoa]

Found this while I was turkey scouting on Big Lazer Creek WMA about a year ago. Thought it was just a lighting strike when I first saw it but closer examination proved otherwise. No bear season there.