Black Bear Season Proposals 2019-2020 - Southwest Region Black Bears Units 32 and 22

Black Bear Proposal 

For over 25 years, bear hunting in GMUs 22, 31, 32 and 32A has been managed through controlled hunts. These hunts are highly valued by hunters, with draw odds of 5%-8% on spring hunts and 10% to 14% on fall hunts. This is largely because good bear habitat combined with conservative management has resulted in high bear numbers and good numbers of mature bears in these units.

One unintended consequence of these high bear numbers is a high rate of bear problems on private lands, particularly in units 22 and 32. In GMU 32, most reports of bear problems occur in the spring. Many of these involve beehives operated by agricultural producers. In GMU 22, problems typically occur during late summer and early fall, and are more diverse. These include nuisance bears (getting into trash or unsecured freezers), persistent bears (bears more or less living on private lands to eat natural foods such as apples), and true depredations (bears getting into domestic livestock such as goats or chickens). Generally, in GMU 22 land parcels are small (under 100 acres) while in GMU 32 parcels are larger. Landowner tolerance of bears is growing thin, and we hear often at public meetings, on facebook, and via online comment opportunities that “IDFG needs to do something about out-of-control bears in these units.” As an example, during the 2017 season setting process the only bear proposal submitted by the McCall office was to extend bear season in a portion of unit 24. We received 31 comments on bear proposals online; 14 of these requested expanding opportunity in GMUs 22, 31, 32 or 32A and did not mention unit 24 at all.

During the past several years, IDFG has made several changes intended to address private land conflicts. In 2014, the fall hunt was opened 2 weeks earlier on private land only in an effort to increase harvest on private land during the time (late summer) when most bear conflicts occurred. In 2015, a youth hunt was added to further increase harvest and provide a unique youth opportunity. When landowners have reported bear problems, we have offered several potential solutions, including connecting landowners with hunters, issuing kill permits, and trapping by IDFG personnel.

These efforts have often worked to solve individual problems, but the frequency of problems remains high and increasing. In addition, some solutions have created unanticipated problems. For example, use of dogs on private lands in August has resulted in unintentional trespass problems on small properties where dogs cannot easily be restricted to certain parcels. Hunters who have waited years to draw a coveted tag are often reluctant to use their tag on a small, young bear that is causing problems. Trapping bears is effective, but is not our preferred method of managing bears – our goal is to manage through hunting and harvest.

The goals of the current proposals are three-fold:

• Increase bear harvest by hunters on private lands where most bear conflicts occur
• Increase tolerance of high bear populations among local residents by creating additional opportunity to harvest bears and manage conflicts
• Maintain controlled hunt structures where possible, to continue offering unique and desirable bear hunting opportunities in this area

Give feedback on the options for units 32 and 22 black bear