DNR Releases Preliminary Results of 2024 Bear Season

Thursday, November 21st, 2024 -- 8:00 AM

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced preliminary results for the 2024 bear season.

This fall, bear hunters harvested 4,285 bears during the five-week season, a rebound from the below-average harvest of 2,922 bears taken during last fall's bear season.

"Several factors likely led to this season's increase in harvest," said Randy Johnson, DNR large carnivore specialist. "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. 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."

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, hunter success rates were generally higher than expected, leading to meeting or exceeding harvest targets in most management zones.

Statewide, hunter success was about 37%, up from the five-year average of 31%. Hunter success rates in individual zones varied from a high of 71% in Zone A to less than 10% in Zones E and F.

"On average, we expect to see about half of the total bear harvest within the first five days of the season," Johnson said. "This year, nearly 57% of the total harvest occurred in those first five days, with over 1,000 bears taken on opening day alone."

"Although the harvest rate returned closer to average during the rest of the season, this strong first week set the stage to meet or exceed harvest targets by season's end."

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