TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Permit applications are now officially open for the 2025 black bear hunt.

Applications opened this morning and will remain open through September 22.

Each application costs $5 and you can apply as many times as you want. The state will select 187 people at random to buy permits.

The hunt is controversial as groups like Bear Warriors and Bear Defenders tried to stop it from happening.

Some members are buying lots of applications hoping to snag a permit and keep it out of the hands of a hunter.

One bear activist is doing just that.

“I can save one bear or two bears. I’ve never bought a hunting license in my life. I’ve now bought 20 tokens or tickets in the lottery and it probably won’t be my last,” Kathy Register said. “I’m a widowed woman, 78 years olf, on a

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