DeBary Man Cited During Florida Bear Hunt

Wildlife authorities check a dead bear during Florida's bear hunt. Photo by Amy Green
A DeBary man faces a misdemeanor citation after Florida’s bear hunt last month.
Wildlife authorities say the man tried to bait the bears using two honey buns, a chocolate éclair, a doughnut, a fish filet and a piece of cherry pie.
James Louis Ryan received a citation for hunting bear within 100 yards of bait, a practice banned by hunt rules.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says authorities received an anonymous complaint on the hunt’s first day about bait on a wooded lot in Deland.
When they arrived to investigate no one was there, but when they returned the following day Ryan was there with Shaun Patrick Murray, who said he only was observing.
Authorities say Ryan admitted to hunting bear but told them he didn’t know the hunt had ended in central Florida after the first day. He received a warning for hunting a day after the season had ended.
He received one of the two misdemeanor citations issued during the bear hunt, Florida’s first in more than two decades.
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