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 the whole lot” amongst Louisiana’s various searching 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,’’ mentioned 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 circled and grabbed the rifle and the remaining is historical past.’’
Santiny, seated close by in a deer stand, was one among simply 11 folks to obtain a Louisiana searching license for black bears in 2024. It’s the primary state-managed bear hunt in over 35 years, and likewise the first-ever bear hunt for Santiny.
He scored the uncommon searching alternative by the Therapeutic Highway Basis, which supplies out of doors experiences to veterans and their households. Whereas a lot of the 11 tags went to non-public landowners who helped repopulate the bears by a lottery system, a single one went to the Therapeutic Highway Basis. It picked Santiny for the privilege.
“Like Deron, I grew up searching and fishing in Louisiana and I can solely think about the fun he had when he noticed that magnificent bear,’’ Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry mentioned in a assertion. “To reap what may very well be the largest one in state historical past makes his story even higher. And I’d wish to thank the LDWF workforce and Therapeutic Highway Basis for supporting our Louisiana veterans and bringing again this searching custom.”
A File 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 — had been harvested, officers mentioned. Santiny’s bear is probably going in its late teenagers or early 20s.
LDWF Massive Carnivore Program Supervisor John Hanks mentioned 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 car accident. Typically, grownup male black bears typically develop to 450-550 kilos in Louisiana. The bear shall 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 yr’s harvest is one other step in displaying how profitable we’ve been in that,” LDWF Secretary Madison Sheahan mentioned. “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 shall be reinvested straight into the Louisiana Black Bear Program, wildlife officers mentioned. These funds will help biologists in numerous bear administration operations, together with monitoring, habitat restoration, public schooling and inhabitants administration.
Greater than 1,200 black bears at present stay throughout the state’s borders and are managed by the wildlife division, in line with the LDWF. Due to hundreds of acres of restored habitat all through Louisiana, that quantity “grows yearly,” officers mentioned.
