Tennessee hunters killed a near record number of black bears in the hunting season that wrapped up Jan. 2.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says 550 bears were killed during the 2015-16 hunting season. The most ever hunted was in 2011, when 589 bears were harvested.
Fewer bears were killed last year, only 348, because the hard mast crop, which is their primary food source, was good. Since they didn't have to move around so much looking for food, they were harder to hunt.
In addition, more cubs were born last winter, leading to a higher population of bears for this hunting season.
The combination of more bears and a poor hard mast crop this year led to increased bear movements and higher harvest numbers.
“We are seeing a trend over the last decade of a good harvest one year followed by a lower harvest the following year,” says TWRA Bear Program Coordinator Dan Gibbs. “This is indicative of a healthy bear population and a fluctuation in food availability.”
Bear numbers have grown steadily since the late 1980s when the annual harvest was well under 100 bears. Every season since 2005, hunters have taken over 300 bears and the record harvest was set in 2011 when 589 black bears were reported through TWRA’s checking system.
"If we didn't have bear hunting seasons, there would be bears running rampant all over the place," Matt Cameron, TWRA public information officer, said. "It would be very bad for the bears themselves. It would be bad for humans."