SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Florida is gearing up for its first bear hunt in ten years, scheduled to kick off next week. This has sparked a flurry of activity from both hunting enthusiasts and wildlife advocates.

Activists, determined to prevent the hunt, took their case to court on Monday. In an inventive twist, some have also attempted to safeguard the bears by purchasing as many hunting licenses as they could, effectively reducing the number available for actual hunters.

In an effort to uncover the extent of interest in the hunt, our News 6 team filed a public records request with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. This inquiry aimed to reveal the number of applicants, the volume of entries submitted, and the identities of those who secured a coveted permit.

The commission provided a comprehensive list, showing thousands of applicants from across the state. By comparing these figures, we found that out of 318,533 individuals with established hunting licenses in Florida, 19,040 had applied specifically for the bear hunt.

[WATCH: Florida bear hunt approved. Here’s what’s next]

For the 2025 season, FWC only sold 172 permits — the total number of bears that could be harvested in one of the four zones across the state from Dec. 6 through Dec. 28.

Applicants were allowed to submit as many entries as they wanted for $5 each to increase their chances of getting selected through a lottery system.

Our team discovered 44 people who were selected for the bear hunt likely have permits that will go unused.

Chuck O’Neal, President of Speak Up For Wildlife, estimates more than 50 people have snagged permits and don’t plan to hunt a bear.

“By the time it’s all over with, we’ve got at least 52 of the 172, which will reduce the number of bears killed down to about 120 or less,” said O’Neal.

[WATCH: Conservation group sues Florida over bear hunt plan, says it limits public input]

Advocates against the bear hunt tried to flood the lottery system with applications in order to obtain permits this season, one of their strategies to protest the hunt. O’Neal said he bought about 251 — at $5 each — but was not personally selected.

“There are people who bought one ticket, and there are people who bought two tickets, five tickets,” said O’Neal. “You can improve your odds, but you can never outwit Lady Luck.”

Records obtained by News 6 show that out of all the applicants, four people each bought 400 entries — the most out of the entire list. It appears three out of those four top applicants did, in fact, get selected for the 2025 bear hunt season.

Meanwhile, in Tallahassee on Monday, Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey heard arguments from attorneys for Bear Warriors United and from the FWC in the bear hunt lawsuit.

Bear Warriors United argues the hunt is not based on sound science, using outdated population data and models.

“If this hunt is allowed to go forward before there is a full hearing concerning the FWC’s actions, it will cause irreparable harm to the bear populations,” said attorney Thomas Crapps.

FWC, however, disagrees. Their attorneys argue the bear hunt is necessary to slow the population growth.

“It’s the same science that they rely on. They come to a different conclusion than we do, but that doesn’t change the fact that the underlying science is still valid science,” said FWC attorney Rhonda Parnell.

The FWC estimates there are 4,050 black bears in Florida, which is based on data from 2014 to 2015.

Scientists are working on a new population study, but results will not be available until 2029.

To learn more about the Florida bear hunt, head to the FWC website.