Missouri proposes black bear hunting season.

[MO Betta]

March 26th beginning at 8 AM, MDC will be having an open meeting. One of the agenda items will be discussing the forthcoming black bear season:

"Recommendations for 2021 black bear season quotas with presentation by Laura Conlee, Furbearer Biologist, and action item by Mike Hubbard, Deputy Director and Chair, Regulations Committee"

The live stream and previous meetings can be accessed here.

 

[MO Betta]

MDC will be offering 400 permits for the state’s first black-bear hunting season this coming fall, Oct. 18–27. The maximum total harvest for the season will be 40 bears.

Bear hunting in Missouri is limited to Missouri residents and restricts bear hunting to three designated areas of southern Missouri called Black Bear Management Zones (BMZ). Hunters must apply for a specific Black Bear Management Zone. Permit and harvest quotas for the upcoming Oct. 18–27 bear season will be:

• BMZ 1: Permit quota of 200 issued with a harvest quota of 20 bears.
• BMZ 2: Permit quota of 150 issued with a harvest quota of 15 bears.
• BMZ 3: Permit quota of 50 issued with a harvest quota of 5 bears.

Each permit will be for a specific BMZ and may be used on public or private property within the BMZ. At least 10% of the zone-specific black bear hunting permits will be for approved area landowners with qualifying property and the remainder for the general public.

To be considered for the bear-hunting permits allocated to approved area landowners, applicants must have at least 20 contiguous acres in the BMZ for which they applied and have their property information approved through MDC’s Landowner Permit Application before applying for a bear-hunting permit. Details can be found at mdc.mo.gov/permits/landowner-permits.

Hunters who are issued permits must call MDC prior to hunting each day to determine if the BMZ-specific harvest quota has been met. Quota information will be updated no later than midnight on each day of the black bear hunting season. If a BMZ-specific harvest quota is met, the season for that BMZ will be closed. If harvest quotas are not reached, the season will close at the end of the 10 designated hunting days.

For more information on black bear hunting in Missouri, including MDC’s new online Black Bear Hunting Digest, visit mdc.mo.gov/bearhunting.

 

[7mm08mo]

I’m in the draw!! This was spotted Monday 2 miles from my house.