OCALA, Fla. — After over three hours of public input, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spent about 30 minutes discussing and asking questions to staff about a bear hunt before voting 4-1 in favor of moving forward for final approval in August.

Dozens of Central Florida residents packed the FWC meeting Wednesday morning in Ocala where commissioners discussed guidelines for the 2025 hunt.

Around 167 people signed up to speak during the open forum portion of the meeting. Each person got one minute to address the commission.

Many people across the state have already expressed their opinions on the controversial hunt — both for and against it. 

FWC initially requested for a proposal on a potential bear hunt in December 2024, and held a series of virtual public meetings this year to gain feedback from Floridians on the topic.

Last week, commissioners released guidelines for the potential bear hunt, including dates, and said it could only happen between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.

The guidelines don’t specify how many bears would be taken, but it said that the number would be based on assessments of the population in various regions. This comes as FWC reported an increase in the black bear population from just several hundred bears in the 1970s to more than 4,000 today.

FWC officials said Florida is one of six states in the country that does not have a bear hunting season.

The next closest state without a hunting season for bears is Connecticut, which has a bear population of about 1,200.

During Wednesday’s meeting, FWC revealed more details on the hunt and the number of permits that will be offered to each area. In Central Florida, 18 permits will be available.

According to the feedback FWC received, a majority of the 13,098 self-selected participants who responded to a survey on the potential hunt said they were against it.

However, 30% of the surveyors self-reported as hunters and said they were in favor of it.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods spoke at Wednesday’s meeting saying he is in favor of a bear hunt, as he has had more than 100 human/bear interactions in the past nine months.

If approved, this would be the first bear hunting season in Florida since 2015.

Some of the proposed rules include the establishment of bear harvest zones and the number of bear harvest permits. A bear harvest zone will only be established within bear management units that have a bear population estimate of more than 200.

To participate in the bear hunt, people will need to apply for a bear harvest permit through the commission’s online licensing system and pay a non-refundable fee.