State wildlife officials voted 5-0 in August to sanction a limited bear hunt in December, but it hasn’t been unanimously welcomed by the public.

Bears are wandering into neighborhoods and becoming pests and threats, officials in five Panhandle counties complained to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission before it agreed to the licensed hunt in December.

Some enjoy having furry neighbors, however, like Art and Kelly Ayris, who live on Bay Forest Lane in unincorporated Fruitland Park near a lush, 500-acre wildlife haven on Lake Griffin.

“Black bears are not much of a menace,” Art says. “There is usually only a problem at feeding time or if someone is doing something stupid. We give them a wide berth so they can live their lives”

It’s not that bears are encroaching on human territory, Art believes, but just the reverse.

“We just think that’s not equitable,” Art says. “Development is out of control. We need more responsible laws.”

It’s not just what’s happening on the ground, but there are water quality and water availability issues at stake, too.

If anything, the state should buy more land to preserve the natural environment, he says.

The 500-acre site near the Ayris’ is for sale. Efforts to get the state or county to buy Lake Griffin Farm LLC so far, has been unsuccessful.  “I haven’t checked lately,” Kelly says.

FWC officials say the decision to issue 187 permits for one bear each was not based solely on reducing the number of bears – an estimated 4,000 — to keep them from bumping into humans. There are an estimated 1,200 in the central region, which includes Lake and Sumter counties. It is a 17 percent increase from a survey 10 years ago.

“We start seeing underweight bears and other health issues,” according to FWC chief conservation officer George Warthen.

There is also the issue of allowing hunting, a popular pastime for many in the state.

In the 1970s, Florida wildlife officials estimated there were as few as 500 and listed the black bear as a threatened species.

Hunting will only be allowed in certain areas across the state and FWC officials must be notified within 24 hours of each bear harvested.

The decision sparked hot debate at the overflow crowded meeting in Havana, with some conservation groups questioning population statistics and decrying rules, including the use of dogs and bait sites, according to the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper.

 “For example, for every Charles Travis Porter who thanked the commissioners for doing the work to create regulations for a bear hunt, there was a Morgan Sorbo who chided them for adopting rules that Teddy Roosevelt would have found unsportsmanlike.”

Roosevelt refused to shoot an exhausted and sick bear in Mississippi that someone had tied to a tree, saying it would be not be a sporting thing to do. An editorial cartoonist captured the moment for the Washington Post, and the Teddy bear legend and stuffed toy craze was born.

FWC said the hunt will not solve the problem of bear encounters.

It has listed 42 such encounters from 2006 to 2025, including six in Lake County. Not surprisingly, all but one was in or near the Ocala National Forest.

All but 14 incidents involve the presence of a dog.

Many involve a mother perceiving threats to her cubs. According to the FWC:

      • If a bear feels threatened, they may click their teeth, moan, blow, huff, or stomp the ground. They may bluff charge.

      • If you see a bear from a distance, do not move toward the bear.

     • At close range, remain standing upright.

• Speak to the bear in a calm, assertive voice
• Back up slowly toward a secure area, be sure you are leaving the bear a clear escape route
• Avoid direct eye contact. Stop and hold your ground if your movement away seems to irritate instead of calm the bear

      •  Do not make sudden movements or run. Bears can sprint up to 35 mph.

      •  Do not play dead. “Black bears eat things that play dead or are dead.”

       • Do not climb a tree. They can climb 100 feet in 30 seconds.

       •  If attacked, fight back aggressively.

Photos shared from FWC