Vermont Bear Hunting Starts in September

By Vermont Fish And Wildlife
Montpelier, Vt. — Bear hunting season starts in September, and Vermont Fish and Wildlife reminds hunters about bear hunting regulations.

Vermont has two bear hunting seasons; the early season, requiring a special bear tag, starting September 1 and continuing through November 10 with one exception.

Nonresident hunters using dogs cannot start bear hunting until September 15. Late bear season begins November 11 and continues through November 19. Hunters may only take one bear during the year.

In addition to a hunting license, bear hunters using a bow or crossbow must have a prior or current bow license or a certificate proving completion of a bow hunter education course.

The hunter must field dress the bear before taking it to a reporting station. Skinning a bear and cutting it up to carry it out of the woods is legal, although the bear must be reported within 48 hours.

Fish and Wildlife urges doing so quickly to cool the meat. Hunters must also collect and submit a pre-molar tooth from the bear at the time the bear is reported or within 30 days. The tooth provides important data on the age structure and size of the bear population.

Upon the request of a game warden, persons harvesting a bear are required to return to the kill site with a game warden.

“Bears will be feeding along power lines and in forest openings and old fields where berries and apples can be found as well as in forested beech and oak stands,” Vermont’s Director of Wildlife Mark Scott said. “They also are likely to be feeding on standing corn.”

Scott says Vermont’s regulated legal bear hunting seasons help manage the state’s population and that bears are now abundant statewide except in Grand Isle County.

Scott says that bears being so abundant, it’s a great opportunity for hunters who have never hunted bears to do so.

Properly prepared bear meat is highly nutritious. The key to securing good meat is to skin the bear as soon as possible and process it immediately if you do not have access to a large cooler.

Scott recommends hunters refrain from shooting a bear with cubs and bears observed in groups usually made up of sows with cubs.

“Black bear cubs are dependent on their mother through the following spring. It is important to maintain these family groups,” Scott added.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife urges hunters to download and read the 2023 Black Bear Hunting Guide from vtfishandwilflife.com.