Bear Management in Maine
The harvest of black bears in Maine is a highly regulated and managed activity. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife uses a variety of data and public involvement to inform management and regulatory decisions. Maine game wardens enforce Maine’s hunting and trapping regulations, wildlife biologists collect data to inform management decisions including setting hunting and trapping regulations, and our Information and Education Division develops programs to inform the public, hunters, and trappers about these regulations and management activities.
Regulations governing the hunting of Maine’s black bears have ranged from year-round bounties to hunting only during the fall. Since 1990, Maine’s bear season framework has remained fairly consistent, with a three-month fall hunting season that begins the last week in August and ends in November. Most bears have headed to winter dens by that time.
Currently, legal methods to harvest bears includes hunting with trained bear dogs, hunting over bait, spot and stalk, still hunting, or trapping. Hunting over bait occurs during the first four weeks of the season, with trained bear dogs for a six-week period that overlaps the last two weeks of the bait season, and by still hunting and stalking throughout the entire season. Bear trapping occurs in September and October and licensed bear trappers are allowed to set a single cage style trap or cable restraining device designed to hold the animal by the foot.
Beginning in 1990, a bear hunting permit has been required to hunt bears in September and October, but in 2008 the Maine Legislature established a permit system that required a permit to trap bears as well as a permit for non-resident deer hunters who want to hunt bears while hunting deer during the November firearm season. Resident deer hunters do not need a bear permit to harvest a bear during the November firearm season on deer. Fees from these new permits are dedicated to fund bear research in Maine and provide additional information on participation and success rates of trappers and deer hunters.
