TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida's much talked about bear hunt lasted only two days after a surprising amount of animals were taken down during the first 48 hours. State fish and wildlife officials are releasing more specific numbers about the bears that were killed, and they have animal rights activists calling it a slaughter.
The largest bears killed were 547 pounds in Volusia County and 524 pounds in Collier County. There was a 487-pound bear taken down in the panhandle's Franklin County.
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The state's first bear hunt in more than 20 years was supposed to last a week with a target goal of 320 bears harvested.
After just two days, the hunt was capped, with 304 bears being taken down in just 48 hours.
New data from state fish and wildlife officials released Thursday gives a closer look at the hunt, which is being called a major success.
"The reason we say it was successful is because the goal of the hunt was to begin to stabilize bear populations at their current levels," said Dr. Thomas Eason, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
A majority of the bears killed -- 59 percent -- were female. And 78 percent of the 304 bears harvested were done so on private land. aura Bevan, with the Humane Society, said that points to one thing.
"I believe there was a lot of baiting going on," Bevan said. "That's when people put out food to draw animals in, then they shoot them, and under the rules, they could shoot them within 100 yards of the bait anyway."
But FWC officials said baiting cases were minimal.
"We had one citation for an individual trying to (kill) a bear over bait in Volusia County," said FWC's Division of Law Enforcement Maj. Craig Duval.
FWC officials said it's too early to determine if there will be a hunt next year. They said they're currently doing a hunter survey along with analyzing the data in order to come to a final decision.