NC went to bear tags recently as well, but those of us who have lifetime licenses can apply for a tag every year free of charge. Anyone else will have to pay for an annual bear tag. You guys are close but not the same, we have seen here on base a certain number of bears can be taking. Most of the bears are killed in car accidents due to the season coinciding with the time change so more drivers are out at dark when they are moving. Last two years only two bears where harvested the rest where killed in a vehicle collision and shut the season down for us. I mention this as sometimes there are more to stock research then hunting statistics and most biologists take into consideration mortality rates from various sources to assess the current condition of a species.