Florida’s wildlife agency took in more than 160,000 requests to participate in its upcoming black bear hunt, the state’s first in a decade, but many appear to have been submitted by conservationists who plan to sit out the event.

With the hunt capped at 172 animals, an application’s chance of winning a tag to bag a bear is about 1 in 1,000, according to totals released Tuesday.

Partial records from the Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission show that both sportsmen and foes of the hunt were buying the $5 chances for the state’s lottery. Those who luck out would secure one of the 172 tags entitling them to “take” or “harvest” one bear, FWC’s terms for a kill, and every tag nabbed by a hunt foe would mean one less bear killed.

FWC said it received 163,459 applications from Sept. 12 throu

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