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News Brief

Nov. 5, 2024Jefferson City, Mo. |  By: Jeremy Werner

MDC releases black bear hunting figures

a black bear

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Missouri hunters killed 15 black bears during the state’s fourth annual bear hunting season from October 21 to 30.

The Missouri Department of Conservation says this year, 5,969 applicants entered for 400 available permits, with 319 hunters ultimately buying permits for one of the three designated Bear Management Zones Missouri.

In the first zone 12 bears were hunted out of a maximum of 20, while Zone 2 saw three bears taken out of a limit of 15. No bears were killed in the third zone, where the maximum was five.

The harvest included ten male bears and five females, with most taken by firearms, one by archery, and one with a crossbow.

MDC officials noted the season's success despite an above-average acorn crop, likely due to dry fall conditions that kept bears on the move in search of water. For more information, visit mdc.mo.gov.