Black Bear Meeting

[sam03]

Anyone going? I'm thinking of going to the Gainesville one.

March 20 - Palatka, Ravine Gardens State Park, 1600 Twigg St.
March 25 - Gainesville, City Hall, 200 E. University Ave.

[swissk31]

Jay and I are going to try to attend the Gainesville one on Tuesday.

[OldCrab]

let us know how it goes please

[ArcheoGator]

I would, but I'll be sitting under a tree that day. I do wonder if they will hold a meeting here in Ocala, since we are known for that rather large forest that happens to be full of bear.

[ArcheoGator]

I'll take back the comment about Ocala meetings; they have already been held. I never heard any word on them. I am curious what the future holds for bear; it seems that many here are resisting hunting as an option.

[sam03]

I didn't make it... Did anyone go?

[blackpowderscout]

My friend went. Sounded like the same ol b.s. the guys in brown and green always say. Just stringing us along. They said they want to count them before they make any decisions. WTF have they BEEN doing?

[swissk31]

We went, and there were about 15 people other then staff there. Surprisingly most were hunters not save the bears type. Here's the basic run down. They have not counted bear since 2002 and bear were delisted in 2012. They will be starting in June of this year another count using hair samples with dna testing to get an up to date count. This will take 2-3 years to complete and will include more private land then the last count because of more timber land involvement(cooperation). They spoke about the populations and traffic deaths, last couple years over 100 each year. Bear calls are at an all time high and about 60 a year are trapped, because of that. There were lease managers and a small assortment of hunters and land owners with bear populations. Only a couple save the bear people and one of them left mid-meeting. The bear savers mainly keep asking for more money to be spent buying land and one asked about why all Florida bear where delisted when the population is low in some places. I guess she wants a bear in every corner. I thought it was not a complete waste of time, because now I know where FWC is on the subject. I didn't expect much and even before going I thought it would be 5 or more years before limited hunting was even considered. Maybe, and it's a big maybe they would consider bear depredation permits for bad problem areas.

[sam03]

Well that is good news.