When life gives you bear tags… don’t use them. That is the strategy from anti-wildlife management activists and anti-hunters around the globe, who are scooping up Florida hunting licenses with one goal: stop the hunt by playing the game. For just $151.50 (if they’re out-of-staters), these self-proclaimed “non-hunters” are entering Florida’s bear permit lottery. If they get drawn, they hold the tag, skip the hunt, and keep one less bear in the crosshairs. The kind of game that has been played already in Montana and other states.
Leading the charge is Chuck O’Neal — attorney, activist, and now (technically) a hunter. “Never in my life did I think I’d be a hunter,” he said. “But hey, if it’s a constitutional right, I might as well use it.” He and others are using Florida’s newly passed constitutional Amendment 2 — which guarantees the right to hunt and fish — to outmaneuver the system from within. They will probably never even go in the woods much less even make it to Florida, but O’Neal’s ready to “kill a bear with kindness” and a valid permit. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is targeting 187 bears, but if most of those tags go to people who prefer hugs over hunts, the bear count — and the protest — might make history that could be bad for Florida’s wildlife population.
Just a reminder that people who don’t understand wildlife management are everywhere.
