Maryland’s annual black bear hunt started Monday and will run through Saturday or until hunters have reached the quota in the state’s two westernmost counties.
Harry Spiker, a bear biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, spoke to The Examiner about the hunt.
The quota is 55 to 75 bears. Why that many?
We have a formula worked out: We are looking for a 20 percent mortality overall. That includes incidental kills like road kills. Then, we calculate about an 8 percent harvest mortality [from the hunt].
This is the highest quota. Last year, it was 50 to 70, and our population is growing. The year before, it was 35 to 55, and before that, it was 40 to 55.
How many bears are there?
Statewide we are looking at over 600, but the calculations are just in the hunt area, which are Garrett and Allegany counties. This is where our core bear population is. This is where it’s been the highest.
It’s possible to expand it or make it smaller, whatever fits the circumstances.
How long does it usually take to reach that quota?
Last year, we went four days, and we have the same number of hunters out there. We authorize 220 permits, and we have 205 permits out there. Each permit can have multiple hunters on it, and most of them have two.
We usually have a little more than 400 hunters total.
Why is an annual hunt necessary?
It’s a really important management tool. We have a healthy, growing black bear population.
As it expands, so does the human population in the area, and we have to strike the balance.
Bears typically aren’t aggressive, but it’s the same as with deer, which we also manage with hunting.
There have been a couple reports recently of black bears wandering into residential areas. What’s happening there?
The population is expanding. As the young ones seek out new territory, they are finding places where they won’t be competing with each other for space, so the potential for the range to expand is there.
Now we have bears as far east as Frederick, although we have had bears sighted in 14 of the 23 counties.
