As the gates to the 2025 bear hunting season swing open tomorrow, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is beckoning hunters to partake in what is poised to be yet another robust season of bear hunting. According to a news release from the DNR, the upcoming season, set against the backdrop of Wisconsin’s extensive woodlands, will run until October 7, offering hunters various methods and zone-specific regulations for securing their prize.
This year's hunting fervor peaks with a record-breaking number—more than 146,000 individuals applied for either a bear license or purchased preference points, in the pursuit to improve future lottery odds; the total applicants have exceeded past years, with a stark 32,000 applications received for the 13,110 available licenses, nearly 114,000 applicants chose instead to purchase a preference point.
Diligence in scouting and preparation is advised by the DNR for hunters, who will navigate six bear management zones—designated A, B, C, D, E, and F—each with distinct rules tailored to their ecological requirements. The early part of the season, as detailed by the DNR, zones A, B, and D will entertain hunting with dogs from tomorrow to next Tuesday, followed by a combination of dogs, bait, or other legal hunting methods through September 30; the final week shifts to bait and other legal methods, dog exclusion implied. Zones C, E, and F are where the land speaks a different tune, as hunting with dogs is not allowed, leaving hunters to lean on the aid of bait or other legal methods for the entirety of the season.
With an estimated 24,000 bears meandering through more than half of the state's territory, primarily concentrated in the forested zeal of northern and central Wisconsin, not to mention their paw prints slowly pressing southward, regulated hunting emerges as a key element in the grand schema of wildlife bear population control, this quest for balance is not only about the fruition of a hunter’s skill but also serves the larger purpose of research and bear management, for the DNR underscores that each bear taken by hunters, must be registered within a strict timeframe—by 5 p.m.
