BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana black bear hunting lottery will open on July 28 and remain open for a month before the season begins in December. 

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will issue 26 hunting licenses, more than doubling the 11 licenses issued in 2024. Eight of those permits will be in Area 1, three in Area 2 and 15 in Area 4. 

You can submit a lottery application for one of the licenses at the LDWF website here. 

License winners must attend a bear hunting training course in October.