Deron Santiny, an all-around outdoorsman from Lafayette, relaxes behind the 696-pound Louisiana black bear he killed Dec. 17, 2024, during the state's first black bear season since 1988. The lottery period for a chance to participate in this year's bear hunting season begins July 28. THE DAILY IBERIAN FILES

ALEXANDRIA – Big game hunters in Iberia, St. Martin, St. Mary and Vermilion parishes will have a chance, if they’re lucky, to hunt black bears in their own backyard, so to speak, when the special season starts Dec. 6 in Louisiana.

The Teche Area parishes are included in the three Louisiana Black Bear Management Areas open to black bear hunting in December. Area 1, however, is an expansive area along the coast ranging from extreme southeast Plaquemines Parish west to all of Cameron Parish and as far north as Acadia and lower West Baton Rouge parishes (see accompanying map).

Area hunters who have dreamed about killing a black bear can join hundreds of other big game hunters in applying for one of 26 permits through the Louisiana Black Bear Hunting Lottery, which opens July 28 and ends Aug. 28, according to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist manager in charge of operations, David Hayden. Hayden has been overseeing the state’s hunting lotteries, including deer, waterfowl and turkey, since 2018.

Hayden anticipates more applications from licensed resident hunters this year than last year when the state held its first black bear hunting season since 1988. The Auburn University graduate, who marked his 22nd year with LDWF in January, said the department received 973 applications from 814 hopeful hunters last summer to hunt black bears on General, Private Land or Wildlife Management Area (hunters can enter the lottery for either general, private land or WMA but must pay the lottery fee for each entry).

Why does he expect even more applications? Twenty-six permits will be issued for the upcoming season in three areas compared to 11 permits for one area in 2024.

Eight permits are marked for Area 1, three permits for Area 2 (central Louisiana) and 15 permits, including a Secretary’s permit, for Area 4 (upper northeast corner of Louisiana), Hayden said recently from his LDWF office in Alexandria.

Only Area 4, encompassing all of Tensas, Madison, East Carroll and West Carroll parishes, plus portions of Richland, Franklin and Catahoula parishes, was open to black bear hunting in December 2024. Eleven permits were issued for the short season (Dec. 7-22) in which 10 hunters were successful in harvesting a black bear, including a 696-pound brute shot in Tensas Parish by U.S. Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient Deron Santiny of Lafayette.

That there is a black bear season in this state is a tribute to the LDWF, particularly its Large Carnivore Program. Louisiana became the first state to take an endangered species and bring it back to the point it can be hunted safely not once but twice. The first instance was the alligator.

LDWF overcame resistance to resurrecting the black bear season with solid arguments, management practices and decisions.

Bear Area specific population estimates and vital rate data are used to determine the number of bear harvest permits issued for each season, according to an LDWF news release July 17. Cubs, any bear 75 pounds or less, and females with cubs are not legal to harvest.

All successful applicants for this season’s hunt must attend a mandatory LDWF bear hunter training course.

Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission members passed a Notice of Intent in March to authorize the 2025 Louisiana black bear season. To see the NOI, go to www.wlf.louisiana.gov/resources/category/commission-action-items.

Bear harvest categories are Wildlife Management Area, Private Landowner and General. For more information, go to Black Bear Hunting Lottery | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Hayden said lottery applications are available only on the LDWF website at louisianaoutdoors.com/lottery-applications. Interested hunters should update or create their customer details similar to purchasing a license and then submit an application. Possession of a valid black bear hunting license is required.

A $50 nonrefundable application fee will be charged to each applicant.

Applicants will be notified of the results by email as well as at louisianaoutdoors.com/lottery-applications.

All black bear lottery fees and license revenue are reinvested directly into the Louisiana Black Bear Program, which is under the direction of Large Carnivore Program manager, John Hanks. The money helps dedicated biologists conduct bear management operations such as live trapping and attaching radio collars to bears, winter den checks to monitor reproductive rates and non-invasive hair samplings to monitor range expansion.

For more information on the lottery application process, contact Hayden at (318) 487-5353 or dhayden@wlf.la.gov. For more information on the Louisiana black bear and this year’s hunting season, contact Hanks at (318) 343-4044 or jhanks@wlf.la.gov.