A coalition of animal rights and environmental organizations in Oregon is mounting opposition to spring bear hunting in the Beaver State—and the groups say they want to see the two month-long hunting season shut down altogether.
Oregon's spring bear season runs from April 1 to May 31. On Friday, September 13, the ODFW Commission will review recommended changes to the state's 2025 big game regulations. With the upcoming regs, staff biologists are suggesting some routine tweaks to spring black bear quotas—along with a new youth season for spring bears in a unit on the western side of the state.
"[Anti-hunting groups] are using these small, staff-recommended increases as a jumping off point to oppose our spring bear season," Amy Patrick, Policy Director for the Oregon Hunters Association tells Field & Stream. "What they've chosen to do is submit a letter as part of public comment, and they have activated all of their folks so that there are hundreds and hundreds of form letters being flooded into the Commission with the same message."
Patrick shared copies of the opposition letters sent to the ODFW Commission in recent days with Field & Stream. One of the lengthiest was issued by an Oregon representative of the Humane Society and co-signed by such groups as Predator Defense, Project Coyote, and Humane Voters of Oregon. It calls spring bear hunting "exceedingly cruel" and claims that such seasons lead to orphaned cubs, environmental damage, and increased conflict between humans and bears. It also calls for changes to trapping regulations around black bears and other game animals.
Echos of Washington's Recent Spring Bear Hunting Ban
The claims should be familiar to anyone who followed a successful bid to ban spring bear hunting in Washington State back in 2021. "It's the same thing they did in Washington," says Charles Whitwam, founder of Howl for Wildlife, a group that mobilizes sportsmen and women against attempts to curtail hunting opportunities in states across the country.
As Whitwam states, similar groups followed a similar playbook in Washington in 2021, calling out spring bear hunting as cruel and inhumane while making claims of orphaned cubs and lethargic bears they say are easy to hunt in the springtime. Those efforts ultimately prompted the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's Game Commission to end spring bear season—a ban that remains in effect today despite concerted efforts by hunters to get it reversed. And it all started with opposition letters like those currently flooding the ODFW Commission.
"Our goal is to match the amount of letters they've sent or do better," Whitwam says. "And the Oregon Commission is already hearing from a lot of hunters who support spring bear." As of this writing, Howl has funneled more than 1,800 emails from hunters in support of Oregon's spring bear to the ODFW Commission ahead of tomorrow's meeting. Howl's website also has instructions on how to attend the meeting and provide testimony, either in person or virtually.
Howl is also one of 17 pro-hunting organizations that signed on to a letter (submitted to the ODFW Commission today) that outlines support for Oregon's spring bear hunt—and its impacts on conservation efforts in the state. Other signees listed on that letter include the Oregon Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the Boone and Crockett Club, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, the American Bear Foundation, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the Oregon Hunters Association.
"With the bear population growing from an estimated 34,000 in 2020 to 44,000 in 2024, the data confirms that the population is healthy and expanding," the letter states. "The mandatory check-ins of harvested bears provide biologists with critical data that ensures hunting opportunities align with sustainable population growth. Despite the 28% increase in the bear population, the proposed increase in tag numbers has remained conservative, further underscoring the department’s commitment to maintaining a balanced and thriving bear population."
Patrick says the ODFW Commission will be asked to approve the 2025 big game regulations—including the new youth spring bear hunt and the slight increase to black bear quotas—toward the end of tomorrow's meeting. While she's confident that current commission members will adopt the rules, she says it's important for the hunting community to remain vigilant, given recent threats to hunting opportunity in Oregon and elsewhere.
"This is something we've been anticipating after what happened in Washington, and our sportsmens community is really responding in a positive way," she says. "Luckily, I think our commission respects all parties a little better than what our neighbors to the north had to deal with."
If you'd like to watch the upcoming ODFW Commission meeting , you can stream it live on Youtube here.
