Shreveport Times
- Louisiana is increasing black bear hunting permits from 11 to 26 for the 2026 season.
- The decision is based on population data and vital rates, with cubs and mothers with cubs off-limits.
- Hunting licenses and a $50 application fee are required, and a training course is mandatory for successful applicants.
- The Louisiana black bear population has rebounded to about 1,500 after near extinction in the mid-20th century.
Louisiana is more than doubling the number of permits to hunt the state’s iconic Teddy Bear after the first black bear season in two generations yielded a record specimen in 2024.
The Louisiana Black Bear Hunting Lottery is open now through Aug. 28, with 26 permits to be issued, up from the 11 permits issued during the inaugural hunt in 2024.
Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials said the bear population estimates and vital rate data were used to determine the number of bear harvest permits to be issued in each area. It will be illegal to kill cubs and females with cubs.
Deron Santiny of Lafayette landed the 696-pound trophy bear in Tensas Parish that was believed to be a record during last year’s inaugural hunt.
Though there are still some objections to creating a bear hunting season, LDWF’s John Hanks said the population supports the limited permits.
“We can certainly have a conservative harvest in limited areas,” said Hanks, manager of the large carnivore program, said in a previous interview with USA Today Network. “There are bears all over the state.”
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Louisiana’s black bear population all but disappeared in the 1950s and 1960s, but has recovered to include about 1,500 today. The bear was removed from the Endangered Species List in 2016.
Louisiana’s fabled black bear became part of American culture in 1902 after President Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot one that had been trapped and tied to a tree by members of his hunting party.
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The episode was featured in a cartoon in The Washington Post, sparking the idea for a Brooklyn candy store owner to create the “Teddy” bear.
Today black bears roam the deep woods of the Tensas National Wildlife Refuge, Upper Atchafalaya Basin and other connecting corridors such as Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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The bear’s Louisiana recovery was celebrated in 2015 during an event at the Governor’s Mansion that Theodore Roosevelt IV attended and the following year during a ceremony at the Tensas National Wildlife Refuge that then U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewel attended.
“I like to think this is partially a result of one of the greatest hunting stories in American history,” Roosevelt told USA Today Network in 2015.
Hunts will be restricted to properly licensed Louisiana residents by lottery. All successful applicants for the hunt will be required to attend a LDWF bear hunter training course.
Lottery applications are available only on the LDWF website at https://louisianaoutdoors.com/lottery-applications. Those interested in applying should update or create their customer details similar to buying a license and then submit an application. Possession of a valid black bear hunting license is required prior to applying for the WMA and the general Black Bear Lotteries. A $50 non-refundable application fee will be charged to each applicant. All applicants will be notified of their results via email.
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Exposing the Big Game 