Bountiful berry season will play a factor in upcoming 2022 bear hunting season

Berry season is in full swing in Cook County as residents and visitors take to the woods for some berry-picking fun.

While individuals scour the backcountry in search of a sizeable blueberry to enter into the Gunflint Trail’s Biggest Blueberry Contest, there is another species on the search for a bountiful harvest of blueberries: bears.

Compared to previous years, this summer has already shown to be a bountiful berry season. Along the North Shore, drought conditions in 2020 and in particular, historic drought conditions in 2021, contributed to reduced berry and natural food sources for bears. As a result, in 2021, Cook County experienced an increased number of bear and human conflicts as bears ventured out in search of new food sources to gain weight for the long hibernation months ahead.

“So last year, we had, as everyone’s aware, especially with the wildfires, we had an awful year with natural food for bears,” said Kylan Hill, conservation officer with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The reduced natural food sources paired with rampant wildfires during the summer contributed to a successful fall 2021 bear hunting season. “The reason for that was that bears were hitting bear bait piles placed by hunters. And they were hitting them with force. It was dry in the woods. Bears were hungry,” said Hill.

Hill explains that this summer has been a different story. With the wet spring and abundant natural food sources, bear and human conflicts have been nearly nonexistent. In contrast, Hill said last summer, the DNR and other agencies were experiencing one nuisance bear complaint every couple of days, whereas this summer, he has had a total of two.

Due to continual years of successful bear hunting seasons, the DNR has reduced the number of permits for zone 31. Previously, zone 31, which stretches from Duluth to the Canadian border, was allotted 500 to 550 permits. This year however, the DNR has reduced the number of permits to 425 for the upcoming bear hunting season.

With the increased supply of berries and natural foods, Hill anticipates it will significantly impact the upcoming bear hunting season. “I think it’s going to make a huge impact. Not necessarily a good impact for the hunters,” he said.

Despite the reduced permit numbers and bountiful berry season, Hill predicted the bear hunting season will still have successful harvest numbers. However, hunters may not fill their permits as quickly as in previous years.

“Up here on the North Shore, the unofficial start to fall, I would say, is the bear hunting season,” Hill said. Hunters can begin baiting bears on August 12. The official start to the 2022 bear hunting season begins on September 1.

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with Kylan Hill, conservation officer with the Minnesota DNR, about the upcoming bear hunting season. Audio from the interview is below.

Kalli Hawkins August 11, 2022