A 54-year-old Military veteran simply harvested one of many greatest black bears in Louisiana state historical past. Born and raised within the Sportsman’s Paradise, Deron Santiny thought he’d seen “nearly all the things” amongst Louisiana’s diverse looking and fishing alternatives. However then got here Dec. 17, when Santiny watched a 696-pound black bear saunter out of the Tensas Parish woods and into the road of sight of his rifle.
“He got here out, he seemed like a Volkswagen Beetle popping out of the woods he was so massive,’’ stated Santiny, a Purple Coronary heart recipient for accidents he endured whereas serving in Iraq in 2005. “I simply sat there. When he put his head down, I rotated and grabbed the rifle and the remainder is historical past.’’
Santiny, seated close by in a deer stand, was one in all simply 11 folks to obtain a Louisiana looking license for black bears in 2024. It’s the primary state-managed bear hunt in over 35 years, and in addition the first-ever bear hunt for Santiny.
He scored the uncommon looking alternative by way of the Therapeutic Highway Basis, which supplies outside experiences to veterans and their households. Whereas many of the 11 tags went to non-public landowners who helped repopulate the bears by way of a lottery system, a single one went to the Therapeutic Highway Basis. It picked Santiny for the privilege.
“Like Deron, I grew up looking and fishing in Louisiana and I can solely think about the fun he had when he noticed that magnificent bear,’’ Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry stated in a assertion. “To reap what could possibly be the largest one in state historical past makes his story even higher. And I’d prefer to thank the LDWF crew and Therapeutic Highway Basis for supporting our Louisiana veterans and bringing again this looking custom.”
A Document Black Bear?
Santiny, who grew up in Grand Isle and now lives in Lafayette, could have landed the largest recorded black bear within the historical past of official state hunts.
The hunt, administered by the Louisiana Division of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), ran from Dec. 7 to 22, 2024. A complete of 10 bears — eight males and two females — have been harvested, officers stated. Santiny’s bear is probably going in its late teenagers or early 20s.
LDWF Giant Carnivore Program Supervisor John Hanks stated it’s the biggest bear he’s ever seen in Louisiana. It’s even bigger than a 608-pound bear that was killed in a automobile accident. Basically, grownup male black bears usually develop to 450-550 kilos in Louisiana. The bear will probably be measured after the 60-day ready interval for Boone and Crockett scoring.
“We started the method of bringing again the Louisiana black bear from close to extinction greater than 30 years in the past, and this 12 months’s harvest is one other step in exhibiting how profitable we’ve been in that,” LDWF Secretary Madison Sheahan stated. “We’re proud to offer hunters and future hunters an opportunity to reap a species as soon as loved by those that got here earlier than us. It’s a real testomony to the significance of collaborative conservation.”
All black bear lottery charges and license income will probably be reinvested instantly into the Louisiana Black Bear Program, wildlife officers stated. These funds will help biologists in varied bear administration operations, together with monitoring, habitat restoration, public training and inhabitants administration.
Greater than 1,200 black bears at present stay throughout the state’s borders and are managed by way of the wildlife division, in line with the LDWF. Because of 1000’s of acres of restored habitat all through Louisiana, that quantity “grows yearly,” officers stated.
