Bear hunt foes use hunting license list to email individuals

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida officials say opponents to the state’s upcoming bear hunt are emailing individual hunters who have bought bear hunting licenses ahead of the start of the weeklong season Saturday.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission executive director Nick Wiley told the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday that some of the 2,920 people who have bought bear hunting licenses so far have been receiving emails by activists who are against the hunt – the state’s first in 21 years.

Wiley says he has received multiple complaints from would-be hunters who say they didn’t realize that hunting permits are a public record in Florida.

The hunt is scheduled to begin Oct. 24 and hunters are allowed to kill up to 320 bears. The state estimates there are 3,500 Florida black bears.