Anti-Hunters Planning to Flood Florida Bear Hunt Lottery in Protest

In addition to joining state wildlife boards or just straight up trying to create their own, the anti-hunting crowd’s insatiable appetite for ruining what we hold dear seems to know no bounds. 

In an if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em kind of move, a group of anti-hunters down in Florida is mobilizing in an effort to disrupt the state’s upcoming bear hunt. In the event you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard that the Sunshine State is planning on chasing black bears this December for the first time in about a decade. As anyone can imagine, those with an undying appreciation for anything fluffy and cuddly are doing everything they can to change that.

After spending their days on street corners scattered throughout the state in protest, one group has publicly announced their plans to foil, or at least disrupt the bear hunt practice. According to the group, known as Speak Up Wekiva, the ant-bear-hunting crowd is mobilizing in an attempt to buy up the available bear tags by flooding the state’s lottery system. 

“Never in my life did I think I’d be a hunter,” Chuck O’Neal, president of Speak Up Wekiva, told Naples Daily News. “Now that we have a constitutional right to hunt, I might as well take advantage of that.”

Referring sarcastically to Florida’s recently enacted Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to hunt and fish for anyone with a proper license. Anti-hunters argue this allows them to legally buy licenses and enter the lottery, even with no intent to hunt. For those that draw tags, the strategy mirrors that of the great investor Warren Buffet; buy and hold.

By flooding the state’s lottery system, the group is hopeful that their followers can and will acquire a decent amount of the 187 available tags without ever planning to tag an animal with one. 

“We’ll put in a few times or a few hundred times. It’s an equal opportunity to enter this. I must admit, I’m not a good marksman. I may kill a bear with kindness,” O’Neal said. 

And while there is nothing illegal about employing such a dirty tactic to thwart a possible bear hunt, it does do a great job of robbing others of their constitutional rights, leaving state officials with a tricky situation to wade through.

That said, despite their genius intentions, the anti-hunting crowd will likely face a few speed bumps along their way to hunting tag domination. Where FWC may find themselves with their hands tied in preventing the flood of ill-intentioned applications, hopefully the application process itself will slow some down.

Here in Florida, the state requires that everyone complete a hunter education course ahead of purchasing a license. So, unless all of these folks are willing to take it all the way, even if they draw a tag, they will not be able to purchase the permit without a registered course on the books. 

Time will ultimately be the judge as to whether or not these folks go all the way with their plans to disrupt the upcoming hunt, which is still up for one final vote in August.