SPRINGFIELD, Vt. -
Saturday marks the start of bear
hunting season in Vermont. And it's also the first time in 20 years the Vt.
Fish and Wildlife Department is hoping more hunters take aim at the animal.
Fish and wildlife has been working for two decades to grow the black bear
population in the state, but now it's larger than they expected, topping out at
around 6,000, which explains a lot of bear-bird feeder interaction Vermonters
reported in their backyards earlier this spring.
"Probably the number
that we've got is as many as we need. And so the department took steps to
actually curb the population growth. And so starting next year, in the 2013
season, we'll actually have a longer hunting season," said Forrest Hammond
of the Vt. Fish and Wildlife Department.
Hammond says hunters will
have the best luck finding bears if they head toward wild blackberry bushes, a
favorite treat of the bears as they fuel up for their winter hibernation.
