Bear Hunters' Guide to Hunting Black Bears in Maryland 2009

An Overview of the Maryland Black Bear Hunting Seasons: 2004-2008

On October 25th 2004, Maryland DNR conducted Maryland’s first black bear hunting season in 51 years. After decades of research and population monitoring, the decision was made to once again hunt black bears in western Maryland. The hunt was conducted in Garrett County and western Allegany County (from Cumberland west). Two hundred bear hunting permits were awarded. The goal of the hunt was to slow the growth of western Maryland’s growing black bear population.

In 2004, 20 black bears were checked in on the opening day of the hunting season. In October 2005, DNR conducted the second black bear hunt in recent times, continuing to slow the growth of the bear population. In 2005, it took hunters 4 days to harvest 40 bears. This was achieved despite an early-season snowstorm and long-term power outages across most of the hunt area.

In 2006, DNR expanded the hunt area to include all of Garrett and Allegany counties and increased the number of permits awarded to 220. In 2006, hunters harvested 41 bears in 2 days. Hunters harvested 51 bears in 4 days in 2007 and 56 bears in 4 days in 2008. Hunter success rates have consistently been higher than the regional average of 3% to 5% (see Table 1).