Black bear (Credit: Wisconsin DNR)
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday announced preliminary results for the 2024 bear season.
This fall, bear hunters harvested 4,285 bears during the five-week season – a rebound, the DNR said, from the below-average harvest of 2,922 bears taken during last fall's bear season.
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"In 2023, we saw an incredible amount of acorns and other natural food production. This reduced the effectiveness of baits and translated to a historically low harvest," Randy Johnson, DNR large carnivore specialist, said in a statement. "This year, anecdotes from bear hunters and harvest data suggest less natural food availability than last year.
"Additionally, last year's low harvest, coupled with bears entering dens in excellent body condition last fall, likely contributed to an increase in the number of bears on the landscape this fall."
Wisconsin DNR Department of Natural Resources
The 2024 bear season ran from Sept. 4 to Oct. 8. A total of 11,501 bear hunting licenses were awarded to hunters through the license lottery system.
Although the number of licenses was reduced slightly this year, the DNR said hunter success rates were generally higher than expected, leading to meeting or exceeding harvest targets in most management zones.
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Statewide, hunter success was about 37%, up from the five-year average of 31%, according to the DNR. Hunter success rates in individual zones varied from a high of 71% in Zone A to less than 10% in Zones E and F.
Harvest targets are set to manage the bear population in Wisconsin and are readjusted each year to increase, decrease or stabilize population trends. This means that even when harvest targets are exceeded in a given year, there is little long-term biological risk to bear populations. Population and harvest data are evaluated annually and can be adjusted to meet long-term population management objectives.
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Bear hunting benefits
According to the DNR, Wisconsin has a thriving bear population – estimated at around 23,000 bears with a range that covers more than half the state. While bears have tremendous cultural and ecological value, they can also conflict with human interests, such as damaging agricultural crops or raiding residential trash and bird feeders.
Hunters provide critical data from every harvested bear, which informs population monitoring efforts to ensure a healthy and sustainable bear population. Bear hunter license fees also supply key funding for bear management and research activities.
Reminders For Next Year
Hunters who want a license or preference point for the 2025 season must apply in Go Wild before the Dec. 10 deadline. State law requires bear permit applicants to apply at least once during any period of three consecutive years to retain their accumulated preference points; otherwise, all accumulated preference points will be lost.
Nearly 135,000 people applied for a bear hunting license or preference point for the 2024 season. To help hunters make hunting plans, a full breakdown of the 2024 bear license drawing results and license wait times is available online.
Visit the DNR's Bear Hunting webpage to learn more about black bear hunting, ecology and management in Wisconsin.