Bruin numbers topped out in the late 1990s
and early 2000s, then fell dramatically as the
Department of
Natural Resources issued
more permits to hunters.
“Our bear population was increasing quite fast
during the 1980s and ’90s, and the only way to
control it was to increase the number of hunters,’’
said Karen Noyce, DNR bear research biologist
in Grand Rapids.
To do that, the DNR made more hunting permits
available, and the number of bear hunters increased
from 3,700 in 1985 to nearly 17,000 in 2000.
“The goal was to level off the bear
population growth,’’ she said.
It worked. Maybe too well.
In 1985, those 3,700 hunters killed 1,340 bears,
but in 1995, the number of hunters had jumped to
11,600, and they harvested nearly 5,000 bears.
Over the next 10 years, hunters averaged 3,500
bears yearly.
The bear population dropped.
By 2008, the DNR estimated bear numbers had
fallen about 30 percent to 15,000 to 20,000.
“We accomplished what we wanted to do,’’ Noyce
said. But it appeared the population continued to
fall even though the number of bear permits
available to hunters was slashed.
“It was a trend we didn’t like,’’ Noyce
said. “We decreased hunter numbers
dramatically because we wanted to
be sure to stop the population from
declining further.’’
Last year and this fall, the DNR offered just
3,750 permits, the fewest in 30 years. (Hunters
don’t need those permits in some areas.)
Hunters killed just 1,618 bears this fall, the
lowest in 26 years. About 6,200 people hunted
bears, the lowest since 1989. The season
ended Oct. 12.
Fewer bear hunters in the woods is OK,
officials say. When hunter numbers were
at a peak, Noyce said, hunters complained
the woods were too crowded and the quality
of the hunt fell. Though bear hunter numbers
have fallen because of the reduced availability
of permits, interest remains high: More than
18,000 people applied for permits last year.
These days officials believe the bear population
is between 10,000 and 15,000.
“We’d like to see it come back up a ways,’’
Noyce said. The DNR has no population target.
“We’d be pretty happy with 15,000 to 20,000
bears,’’ Noyce said.
Estimating the population of bears — and
managing that population — is tricky business.
The DNR puts out baits laced with tetracycline,
an antibiotic. The chemical is deposited in the
teeth and bones, and can be detected later
in bears killed by hunters.
Successful bear hunters are required to
submit two teeth from their animals to the
DNR. The percentage of those bears with
tetracycline allows researchers to estimate
the population. The DNR also uses the teeth
to age bears, which also provides a way to
estimate the population.
The amount of natural food in the woods can
vary dramatically, and that has a big impact
on whether bears will be lured to hunters’ baits
and killed.
“The harvest fluctuates a lot each year for
reasons other than how many bears there
are and how many hunters are out there,’’
Noyce said.
“In 1995, we shot nearly 5,000 bears. The
very next year we shot less than 2,000 bears
with similar number of hunters.’’ The difference
was the availability of food. Lack of natural food
in the woods also triggers more nuisance bear
complaints as bruins seek out food at bird
feeders or garbage cans.
Noyce said neither hunters nor wildlife watchers
need to be concerned about the bear population.
“With the level of harvest, we’ll be coming back
up very soon, if we’re not already,’’ she said.
“We have a good, robust population. With
any [wildlife] population, there are going to be
ebbs and flows.
“I don’t have any concerns about the bear
population.’’
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