Black Bear Harvest Surpasses 300 for Sixth Consecutive Year

NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency reports that the black bear harvest is 301 for 2010. It marks the sixth consecutive year that the black bear harvest has reached at least 300 in the state.

 

This year’s harvest is the seventh highest state harvest on record. The record of 566 was set in 2009 surpassing the previous record of 446 set during 2008.

 

Harvest by county and equipment type for this year: Blount (1 archery, 11 gun), Carter (2 archery, 34 gun), Cocke (3 archery, 35 gun), Greene (4 archery, 18 gun), Johnson (5 archery, 9 gun), Monroe (51 gun), Polk (1 archery, 48 gun), Sevier (4 archery, 37 gun), Sullivan (5 archery, 5 gun), Unicoi (3 archery, 16 gun), and Washington (3 archery, 6 gun).

 

The exceptional mast crop this year had the bears scattered throughout their range and limited their movements during the hunting seasons.

 

Tennessee’s black bear population has been steadily increasing over the past 40 years due to several management practices put in place by TWRA. These practices include: establishment of a series of bear reserves throughout the bear habitat, protection of females and cubs, and setting the majority of the bear hunting season later in the year when most females have gone to the den.

 

---TWRA---