As Florida moves forward with plans to reinstate a regulated black bear hunt for the first time since 2015, opponents of the hunt from around the world are mobilizing an unconventional tactic — applying for the lottery hunt en masse. If these anti-hunters draw a tag, they’ll hold onto it, effectively preventing a legal, well-intended bear hunter from drawing. Their goal is to flood the lottery and, theoretically, reduce the number of bears harvested.
“Never in my life did I think I’d be a hunter,” Chuck O’Neal, president of Speak Up Wekiva, a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the Wekiva River and its watershed, told Naples Daily News. “Now that we have a constitutional right to hunt, I might as well take advantage of that.”
O’Neal was sarcastically referring to Amendment 2, Florida’s new constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to hunt and fish for anyone with a proper license. Passed in 2024 with more than 67 percent support from the Florida electorate, the amendment protects individual participation in hunting and fishing. Also, it identifies these activities as the “preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife.”
O’Neal and other opponents of the bear hunt argue that Amendment 2 makes it possible for them to purchase a license and apply for one of the black bear permits, which are likely to be allocated this year.
“We’ll put in a few times or a few hundred times. It’s an equal opportunity to enter this. I must admit, I’m not a good marksman. I may kill a bear with kindness,” O’Neal said.
However, the specific language of the amendment could complicate the protest effort. It may not be illegal to purchase a tag and stay home, but the coordinated effort to obstruct legal hunting access seems to run afoul of the spirit of Amendment 2, which was intended to guarantee Floridians the right to hunt, not just to purchase a license. If anti-hunters snatch up a large quantity of the state’s available bear permits, it would rob others of their constitutionally protected right. It also strips the state of the management tool that the amendment prioritizes.
It’s unclear how FWC would prevent anti-hunters from applying or if there would be any punishment for drawing with the intention of limiting hunting opportunity for others.
Adding to the complexity of the issue is Florida’s application process. The state requires individuals to complete a hunter safety course before purchasing a license. If non-hunters apply for the black bear lottery without completing the required course, they won’t be able to buy a permit, even if they are drawn in the lottery. This could limit the protest’s potential impact (unless, of course, those applicants are willing to complete hunter education).
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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission maintains the hunt is necessary to manage the state’s growing black bear population and to mitigate rising human-bear conflicts, including a recent fatal attack on an 88-year-old man in Collier County. The FWC voted 4-1 to give preliminary approval for the hunt on May 15. A final vote on the proposed hunt, which would allot 187 black bear tags, is scheduled for August. The FWC was not immediately available for comment on whether the state has a plan to address protester-driven lottery entries.
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