Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

SHERIDAN — Black bear hunters are alerted that Black Bear Hunt Areas 1 and 2 closed on Tuesday, September 8.  The closed areas are located in the northern Bighorn Mountains. 

 The black bear hunting season closes for each hunt area or group of hunt areas in the black bear management unit when the female mortality limit has been reached or, on the closing day, whichever comes first. The female quotas are used to ensure that over harvest of female bears does not occur.

 Hunters should check the black bear regulations for specific hunt area boundaries. The female bear mortality limit for Black Bear Hunt Areas 1-2 was reached on September 8, 2015 closing the fall season in those hunt areas.

Bear hunters should call the Black Bear Mortality Limit Hotline before going hunting to determine which hunt areas are open for hunting black bear.  It is the hunter’s responsibility to confirm that the black bear hunt area he or she intends to hunt is open. The black bear mortality limit hotline is: 1-800-264-1280. Information on hunt area closures and quotas is updated on a daily basis. Any harvested black bear must be reported to a game warden, biologist, or Game and Fish Regional office within 72 hours.