Two bears killed on opening weekend of Nevada hunt

RENO -- Two female bears were killed during the opening weekend of the first bear hunting season in Nevada history, state wildlife officials said Sunday.

One was shot in the Carson Range near Verdi west of Reno, and the other was taken in the Pine Nut Mountains near Minden south of Reno, said Chris Healy, spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

The hunter who bagged the bear in the Carson Range used a pack of dogs to track the animal, Healy said.

Under regulations approved by state wildlife commissioners, hunters are prohibited from shooting female bears with cubs.

"We made it clear to hunters that ignorance is not a defense here," Healy said. "Before you make an attempt to harvest a bear, you better know what kind of bear it is."

Healy said he thinks the killing of the two female bears will prompt some hunters to join the hunt sooner than they wanted.

The agency has issued 41 bear hunting tags for the season, which runs through the end of December. Regulations allow 20 bears to be killed, and of those, no more than six can be female. The season will end once four more female bears are killed.

"With only four female bears left in the harvest, it would be certainly logical to anticipate that we're going to have an increase in activity of remaining bear hunters," Healy said.

Wardens said at least 15 to 20 hunters were in the field on the opening weekend, and no problems were reported.

The state has an estimated 300 to 400 black bears, with most living in the Carson Range on Lake Tahoe's east shore.