MISSOURI – Hunters harvested a new-state-record 15 black bears during Missouri’s fourth black bear hunting season, the Missouri Department of Conservation announced Thursday.

Missouri’s fourth such season began Oct. 21 and ended Wednesday. This year’s total increased from three black bears harvested last year. Hunters harvested 10 male and five female bears, according to MDC officials.

Missouri conservation officials say the relatively-new seasonal black bear hunts intended for conservation and population management purposes.


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The Missouri Department of Conservations says the state’s population has been growing around 9 percent each year for a consistent period of time, almost doubling in size from a decade ago. It’s believed that nearly 1,000 black bears inhabit Missouri in the present day.

The state’s black bear population has rebounded throughout the last several decades after it was once believed to be nearly extinct in the mid-1900s. The population resurgence has allowed the state to establish a regulated hunting season.

“We had another successful black bear hunting season this year,” said MDC Furbearer Biologist Nate Bowersock via a news release. “Despite the acorn crop potentially being above average, hunters were able to harvest a record number of bears. This could be due to the dryer fall conditions, which likely caused bears to move more often in search of water.”

Since the inaugural hunt in 2021, the state has allowed a select group of applicants to hunt up to 40 bears each year. In total, hunters have harvested 47 black bears over the first four hunting seasons.

Bear hunting in Missouri is limited to state residents and restricted to three designated bear management zones in southern Missouri. Thousands of hunters applied for 400 permits in the spring, and hunters were selected through a random drawing. Hunters are only allowed to harvest lone black bears and are not allowed to use a den.

For more information on Missouri’s black bear hunting seasons and conservation efforts, click here.