Louisiana Black Bear (photo: Creative Commons)
The 2026 Louisiana black bear hunting season will take place from December 5th to the 20th; and this year, bear hunting will be allowed in all seven of the state’s black bear management areas. LDWF Large Carnivore Program Manager John Hanks says 42 tags will be tentatively issued for the hunt.
“Depending on where you live at and what type of tag you qualify for, any bear area in the state would have, at least, an opportunity for you to apply for a lottery,” Hanks said.
The lottery for the 2026 season will begin in late July.
Louisiana held its first black bear hunting season in more than 35 years in December of 2024. That year, 10 bears were harvested. 16 were harvested last year; and Hanks says with the black bear population continuing to thrive, they’ve decided to open it up even more.
“The first year was just experimental, and it worked really well. So we expanded a little bit more last year, and it continues to work well, so now we’re expanding more,” Hanks explained.
Bear area specific population estimates, and vital rate data are used to determine the number of bear harvest permits to be issued. Cubs and females are not legal to harvest. Hanks says nearly half of the tags that will be issued will be for Bear Management Area 4. Hanks says that’s where they are seeing the most interest in a bear hunting season, in northeast Louisiana.
“Everybody that lives out in the rural areas with the bears and have seen them come along in the last 25 or 30 years, and numbers growing and seeing bears more and seeing large bears, are clearly excited about it,” Hanks said.
A 300-pound+ bear can provide about 200 plates of food. Bear fat can be used for baking, cooking, making candles and waterproofing boots.
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