Natural Resources Board adopts 2025 bear harvest recommendations after extended briefing

The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board on Jan. 22 approved the Department of Natural Resources' recommended 2025 bear harvest targets and license recommendations for the state's six bear management zones following a presentation and discussion about population trends, hunter success and conflict response.

DNR large-carnivore specialist Randy Johnson presented the department's recommendation after reviewing last year's harvest and conflict data. He said 4,301 bears were taken by state-licensed hunters in 2024 and that hunter success rates — which vary with natural food availability — drove harvest above the department's 2024 target of 3,850 bears. He described the department's zone-by-zone approach that sets an objective (maintain, increase or reduce population) and then recommends harvest targets and license levels to meet those objectives.

Board members questioned the program's drivers and data. Douglas Scott highlighted technological changes and dog-hunting methods as possible contributors to higher hunter success in some northern units. Rachel Barresa asked about changes in hunter effort after zone boundary adjustments. Johnson said some northern areas now have longer draw wait times after the 2019 boundary changes; those behavioral changes likely affected where hunters choose to hunt and contributed to local effort shifts.

The department recommended maintaining or adjusting targets by zone: Zone A maintain at 1,075 bears (slight license reduction due to rising success), Zone B increase to 900 bears, Zone C increase to 750 bears, Zone D continue a reduction objective with a harvest target of 1,100 bears (3,570 tags), Zone E hold near 200 bears, and Zone F allow local control with a small target (50 bears) and 500 tags to meet demand. Johnson summarized that the statewide harvest target would be about 4,075 bears — roughly a 6% increase from the prior year — and recommended a combined license pool slightly over 13,000 tags.

Rob Bowman, chairman of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, told the board the WCC's bear committee reviewed and supported the quotas. Board members cited the program's adaptive management framework and emphasized the department's coordination with USDA Wildlife Services for conflict response — technical advice, trapping and relocation, and lethal abatement when warranted.

After discussion the board voted to adopt the department's 2025 bear harvest recommendations. Motion to approve: Douglas Scott; second: Patty Schaffner. The motion carried by voice vote.

The board also heard public and written comments submitted with the public record: the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association supported the recommendations; Wisconsin Animal Policy Society opposed them.