A total of 1,330 applications from 1,119 applicants were entered into the 2025 Louisiana Black Bear Hunting Lottery, which concluded Aug. 28, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) said.
The hunt, administered by LDWF, will be held in Louisiana Black Bear Management Areas 1, 2 and 4 from Dec. 6-Dec. 21 with 26 permits issued, an increase from the 11 permits issued in 2024. The 2024 hunt drew 973 applications and 814 individual applicants entering.
The applications for the 2025 lottery included 554 for the private landowner lottery, 212 for the LDWF Wildlife Management Area (WMA) lottery in Bear Area 4 and 564 for the general lottery.
Bear Area specific population estimates and vital rate data were used to determine the number of bear harvest permits to be issued. There will be eight permits issued in Bear Management Area 1, three permits in Bear Management Area 2 and 15 permits, including a Secretary’s permit, in Bear Management Area 4. LDWF would like to remind hunters that bear areas are different from Louisiana’s deer areas. Cubs and females with cubs are not legal to harvest. A cub is defined as any bear less than or equal to 75 pounds.
Applicants not selected will be given a preference point for each subsequent year in which they apply. Each preference point serves as an additional lottery opportunity and the points are capped at five. Successful lottery applicants are not eligible to be selected for another bear permit for two years after being drawn.
All black bear lottery fees and license revenue will be reinvested into the Louisiana black bear program. These funds will assist LDWF biologists in continuing to conduct bear management operations such as annual live trapping and radio collaring of bears, winter den checks to monitor reproductive rates and non-invasive hair sampling to monitor range expansion.
The Louisiana black bear is one of the state’s most recent conservation success stories. The animal was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1992. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of many stakeholders to monitor black bear population numbers, restore habitat and protect the bear for the long term, it was removed from the list in 2016.
For more information on the Louisiana black bear, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/subhome/louisiana-black-bear. And for more information on the black bear hunting lottery, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/black-bear-hunting-lottery.