On December 8th the California bear quota of 1700 black bears was reached and the season was closed.  If you have an unfilled tag, mail it into Fish and Game at  DFG Wildlife Branch, 812 Ninth St., Sacramento, California, 95814, by Feb.1, 2009.

Ed Fanchin killed this bear on the left with his Bow on December 4th. 

DFG will mail notices to all bear tag holders that the season is closed.

Hunters must submit skulls of the bear they harvested to DFG for extraction of a tooth within 10 days of taking the bear. The teeth are aged and the data are used to help Fish and Game determine the health of the state’s bear population.

The black bear hunting season was scheduled to run through the last Sunday in December. This is the second year the reported kill shut down the season before the calendar date closure since 2001. In 2002, the triggering figure for season closure was increased from 1,500 to 1,700 bears based on the health and expansion of the bear population. The state’s bear population which is estimated at approximately 30,000 animals.