Florida kicks off first black bear hunt in a decade, despite pushback

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — For the first time in a decade , hunters armed with rifles and crossbows are fanning out across Florida's swamps and flatwoods to legally hunt the Florida black bear, over the vocal opposition of critics.

The state-sanctioned hunt began Saturday, after drawing more than 160,000 applications for a far more limited number of hunting permits, including from opponents who are trying to reduce the number of bears killed in this year's hunt , the state's first since 2015 .