Louisiana, 2026-27 season year

Louisiana Bear Season 2026-27

Q: Does Louisiana have a spring bear season in 2027?

No. Louisiana holds no spring bear season. Title 76 Section 109 dates only the December Bear Hunting Season, and the lottery page describes no other bear window. Spring bear seasons are mostly a western pattern, and the national page lists the states that hold one in 2027.

Q: Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Louisiana?

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, on its page titled Louisiana BearWise, which is linked from the agency notice on this page. That page is the agency's own guidance for Louisiana residents on attractants, encounters and who to call, and its sentence on fall activity is quoted verbatim beside the link, read on September 19, 2026.

Q: Where are the rest of the Louisiana bear hunting rules?

At Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, whose regulations page is linked on this page. Those rules are legally binding, change annually and vary by zone and land ownership; the permit and tag system, zone maps, methods and reporting requirements are all published there. This page carries the season windows themselves, with the source page and read date attached.

During autumn (September–November), black bears enter a period of hyperphagia, often quadrupling their caloric intake to create a fat reserve in preparation for winter when food is scarce.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Black Bear Hunting Season: December 5, 2026 to December 20, 2026. People report black bears in Louisiana most in September, and 41 percent of all reports fall in September, October and November. Everything below is Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’s own words and dates, read on September 19, 2026, beside the record of what people reported.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 19, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.

December 5, 2026 to December 20, 2026

Black Bear Hunting Season

published

No season

Archery bear season

no season

No season

Spring bear season

no season

September

Busiest reported month

98 reports on record

Fall activity

When black bears are most active in Louisiana

LDWF describes the Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus), the official state mammal and one of 16 subspecies of the American black bear, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1992 and removed from the list in 2016. The department's fact sheet says the bear occurs primarily in the forested wetlands of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, has been sighted in almost every parish, and is expanding into upland areas west and east of the Mississippi River.

The bars count research grade American black bear observations people uploaded to iNaturalist for Louisiana, by calendar month, across every year the platform holds. The busiest month in the record is September, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by January. The drop into winter reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency’s sentences below, not the curve, carry the timing.

98 research grade American black bear observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Louisiana across every year the platform holds, and 41 percent of them fall in the three shaded fall months. The busiest month in the record is September, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by January. These are counts of what people reported, so they measure observers as well as bears; they are not a population, not a survey and not a statement about this autumn. See the records on iNaturalist.

Research grade black bear reports uploaded for Louisiana by year, 2016 to 2025: 1 in 2016 and 10 in 2025. Most of the climb is the platform itself growing, and every species on it shows the same shape, so this is a record of reporting rather than a population trend.

What Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says

Fall feeding

During autumn (September–November), black bears enter a period of hyperphagia, often quadrupling their caloric intake to create a fat reserve in preparation for winter when food is scarce.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Denning

Louisiana black bears enter dens between November and early January, depending on latitude, food availability, gender, age, reproductive status, and climatic conditions (Weaver 1990, Hightower et al. 2002). Adult female bears that are expected to give birth to cubs generally enter dens first, followed by adult females with yearlings, female subadults, male subadults, and finally adult males (Pelton 2003).

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

When conflicts and sightings rise

Property damage, for instance, is reported annually with peak damage reports occurring during the fall when bears exhibit wide-ranging movements in search of food (U.S. Geological Survey et al. 2014). The majority of damage complaints have been by hunters that use game feeders or ATVs.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

A young black bear resting its chin on a bare dead branch in a green hardwood forest, ears forward, looking at the camera — A young black bear on a dead limb in the hardwoods. In the eastern forests the fall feeding season runs on acorns and beechnuts, which is why the agency sentences quoted on these pages talk about hard mast and mast years. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear (20083897724)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Hunting dates

Louisiana bear seasons, 2026-27

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries dates American black bear seasons under its own names, and each is below under that name with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them, the source page linked beside each table, and the date it was read.

Black Bear Hunting Season

published

Black Bear Hunting Season opens in 56 days, on December 5, 2026 (Bear Area 1).

Louisiana black bear hunting season, as published by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Bear Area 1	December 5, 2026	December 20, 2026	Private landowner and general lottery permits
Bear Area 2	December 5, 2026	December 20, 2026	Private landowner and general lottery permits
Bear Area 3	December 5, 2026	December 20, 2026	Also a WMA permit window on J.C. Sonny Gilbert, Grassy Lake, Richard K. Yancey and Spring Bayou WMAs
Bear Area 4	December 5, 2026	December 20, 2026	Also a WMA permit window on Bayou Macon, Big Lake and Buckhorn WMAs
Bear Area 5	December 5, 2026	December 20, 2026	General lottery permits
Bear Area 6	December 5, 2026	December 20, 2026	General lottery permits
Bear Area 7	December 5, 2026	December 20, 2026	General lottery permits

Dates read from Black Bear Hunting Lottery, LDWF, accessed 2026-09-19.

Louisiana's bear season is a lottery permit hunt administered by LDWF. The 2026 season, the state's third since the first in December 2024, opens the first Saturday in December and runs through the Sunday after the third Saturday, Dec 5 to 20, 2026, in all seven Bear Areas under Title 76 Section 109 as amended in June 2026. Permit types are private landowner, general and WMA, with the WMA permits covering named WMAs in Bear Areas 3 and 4.

Archery bear season

no season

Louisiana holds no separately dated archery bear season. LDWF dates a single December Black Bear Hunting Season and no separately dated archery bear season. What a permitted hunter may carry inside that window is a rules question for the department's Title 76 Section 109 rather than a date. Source: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Spring bear season

no season

Louisiana holds no spring bear season. Louisiana holds no spring bear season. Title 76 Section 109 dates only the December Bear Hunting Season, and the lottery page describes no other bear window. Source: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

The agency's own season sentence

Black bear season opens the first Saturday in December and remains open through Sunday following the third Saturday in December. Black bear season is open in Bear Areas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Current Louisiana regulations

Permit and tag requirements, zone maps, permitted methods, tagging and reporting, and everything else a bear hunter is bound by for Louisiana are set by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries: current regulations

A black bear track pressed into wet grey mud, five rounded toes in an arc above a broad pad, with a second fainter print beside it — A black bear track in mud in Shenandoah National Park. Tracks, scat, turned over logs and claw marks on smooth beech bark are the sign most people meet in the fall woods, weeks before they meet the bear. Photo: M. Punches, NPS. “Black Bear Track in Mud (44654784885)”, ShenandoahNPS, Public domain

Bear season in other states

Louisiana deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Louisiana small game seasonPheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel openers, read from the same agency.Louisiana foraging calendarThe acorns, beechnuts and berries the agency names as fall bear food are the same mast a forager follows.

An adult black bear standing on a broken limb high in a hardwood tree above two small cubs, all three looking down — A mother black bear and two cubs of the year in a hardwood tree. The denning sentences quoted on the state pages describe when family groups like this one go to ground, and it moves by weeks between a Gulf Coast winter and a northern one. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear Family (20083894064)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Louisiana bear season questions

When are black bears most active in Louisiana in the fall?

In the observation record for Louisiana, research grade black bear reports peak in September and 41 percent of all 98 reports fall in September, October and November. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries describes the fall feeding period in its own words, quoted on this page with a link to the page it came from. Reports count people as well as bears, so the shape of the curve is the useful part and the exact numbers are not.

When does bear season open in Louisiana in 2026-27?

Does Louisiana have a spring bear season in 2027?

When do black bears go into dens in Louisiana?

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries describes the denning timing for Louisiana in the sentence quoted on this page, read on September 19, 2026 from the page linked beside it. In the observation record, reports fall below 40 percent of the September peak by January and reach their low in February. That drop reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency's sentence, not the curve, is the denning answer.

Are black bear sightings in Louisiana increasing?

The number of research grade black bear reports uploaded for Louisiana went from 1 in 2016 to 10 in 2025. Most of that rise is the platform itself growing, since every species on iNaturalist shows the same climb, so the year bars on this page are a record of reporting rather than a population trend. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries describes when sightings and conflicts rise in Louisiana in the sentence quoted on this page.

Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Louisiana?

Where are the rest of the Louisiana bear hunting rules?

A brown wooden Bear Country sign with a white bear pictogram and a red band, on two posts at the edge of a lodgepole pine campground in low sun — A Bear Country sign at Indian Creek Campground, Yellowstone. The land manager writes the rules on the board, and they change by campground and by season: food storage orders, closed drainages, and whether a soft sided tent is allowed at all. “Bear Country Sign for Indian Creek (14457698423)”, Yellowstone National Park from Yellowstone NP, USA, Public domain

A snow covered track running between pines bent low under heavy snow, with a strip of blue sky above — Midwinter at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Maine. This is denning season in the north; each agency's own sentence on when its bears enter and leave their dens is quoted on the state pages, and the month bars show the reports thinning to match. “Winter at Moosehorn (11714166893)”, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region, Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with agency data read on September 19, 2026 and an iNaturalist record to September 19, 2026. Every sentence about bear behaviour is Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’s own, quoted exactly with a link to its page; every season window is republished from the agency page linked beside it, and windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. The month bars count what members of the public reported and are not a population. See also the national bear season guide.