[DrakeHunter]

State wildlife officials are probably going to seek to have a limited bear hunting season in southeastern Oklahoma in the fall of 2009.

At the request of state wildlife officials, the House Sub-Committee on Wildlife Monday voted unanimously to pass HB 3077, which will allow the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation to sell a special black bear hunting license.The cost would be $100 for residents and $500 for non-residents. The measure now goes to the full committee for a vote.But state wildlife officials are considering proposing a limited season where no more than 20 bears could be killed, he said. Once the quota is reached, no more hunting would be allowed, he said.

The black bear population is increasing in southeastern Oklahoma and state wildlife officials say the number of nuisance complaints from bears keeps rising.

"We are getting more complaints on them, calls about damage, bears tearing into a side of camper or trailer,” Hatcher said. "We are getting some anecdotal evidence that they are reaching at least their social carrying capacity.”

Students at Oklahoma State University have been researching the black bear population in southeastern Oklahoma for several years.

At least 200 and as maybe as many as 500 black bears are believed to reside in the forests of southeastern Oklahoma.

State Rep. Joe Dorman filed HB 3077 and hopes a hunting season would reduce the risk of human-bear interaction.