Article Info
Wisconsin Bear Season Opens Sept. 9
| Scope | |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Wisconsin |
| Impact | state |
| Key Entities | |
| State agency managing bear season and licensing | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |
| DNR Large Carnivore Specialist | Randy Johnson |
| What It Means | |
| |
| Timeline | |
| September 9, 2026 | 2026 bear hunting season opens statewide |
| October 13, 2026 | 2026 bear hunting season closes |
Wisconsin Bear Season Opens Sept. 9
Zone rules and dog-hunting windows shift through October as 15,245 lucky tag holders gear up
From The Boise Gun Club Handbook
Wisconsin's 2026 bear season kicks off Sept. 9 and runs through Oct. 13, with the fine print on dogs, bait and timing depending entirely on which zone you drew.
State of play: The DNR issued 15,245 bear licenses this year out of more than 34,000 applicants — long odds that pushed another 106,000 hunters to buy preference points just to improve their shot in future drawings. That's the reality of Wisconsin bear hunting: demand for tags far outstrips supply, and the wait can run years.
The zone breakdown: Regulations split hunters into two groups depending on whether hounds are legal in their zone.
- Zones A, B, D (dogs allowed): Sept. 9-15 is bait and other non-dog methods only. Sept. 16-Oct. 6 opens up dogs, bait and everything else together. Oct. 7-13 closes out with dogs only — no bait, no still-hunting.
- Zones C, E, F (no dogs): The entire Sept. 9-Oct. 13 season runs on bait and other legal non-dog methods.
Hunters need to know their specific zone cold before they ever step into the woods — running a hound in the wrong window, or baiting during a dogs-only stretch, is how a legal hunt turns into a citation.
By the numbers: Wisconsin's bear population sits around 24,000 animals, covering more than half the state and continuing a slow creep southward out of the traditional northern and central forest strongholds. Regulated hunting remains the DNR's primary lever for keeping that population in check with available habitat, and it's also the backbone of the state's bear research program — every harvested bear feeds data back into management decisions.
What hunters must do: Registration isn't optional and it isn't slow-walked. Every bear taken has to be registered with the DNR by 5 p.m. the day after recovery, and hunters must submit two upper premolar teeth to the department. Those teeth get aged and analyzed, feeding the population health data the DNR uses to set future quotas and zone rules.
The bottom line: If you drew a tag this year, the zone map is your bible — memorize your dates, know your legal methods, and don't miss the registration deadline. Full regulations and the registration process are posted on the DNR's Bear Hunting webpage.
- Phils Custom Handloads(Swartz Creek, MI)
- Gls Guns(Sumner, IA)
- J & L Gunsmithing(Chesapeake, VA)
- Oliver Firearms(Spartanburg, SC)
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