More than 15,000 bear licenses will be issued to Wisconsin hunters this year, a record number according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources. Most of that increase will be for the southern part of the state, with numbers in the northern part about the same as last season. The state’s Natural Resources Board approved the recommendation from DNR biologists.
Hunters saw 13,110 licenses issued via lottery for the 35-day season in 2025. Statewide, hunter success was about 28 percent, slightly below the five-year average hunter success rate of 32 percent. Hunter success rates in individual zones varied from as high as 69 percent in Zone A to less than 10 Percent in Zones E and F.
“Overall, (for) the harvest target this year, what we’re recommending is a slight bump from last year, but the big change here is in the number of licenses,” Randy Johnson, the DNR large carnivore specialist, told the board.
“More than 15,000 licenses would be the most we’ve ever issued. Most of that increase is in the southern part of the state, where there’s low success rates, allowing us to provide this opportunity,” he added. “Hopefully it will result in a little bit higher harvest in some of those zones to help us level off some of that population growth.”
Northern Zones A and B will have roughly the same harvest recommendations and licenses issued as last year. During the 2025 bear season, officials said 3,724 were reported statewide. The overall harvest target was 4,075 bears. Bear seasons for 2026 in northern Zones A, B and D are September 9-15, September 16-October 6 and October 7-13. Season dates are September 9-October 13 for Zones C, E and F in the southern half of the state.
“Each year, we evaluate the outcome and several other important metrics such as agricultural damages and residential bear complaints,” Johnson said. “We use this information to adjust license and harvest levels as needed to affect the population and data trends. This adaptive management strategy is what allows us to strive toward sustainable bear population levels, compatible with the habitat and public preferences.”
