Bear registration
Please familiarize yourself with any changes before the start of the season. Carcass tag requirements are explained below. In addition, resources on this page detail these changes and the steps needed to successfully register your bear and submit a tooth to the department. Successful hunters should have received a letter containing the necessary materials before the start of the season.
Bear registration remains mandatory in Wisconsin and is the responsibility of the individual hunter. It is not optional.
What is electronic registration?
Electronic registration allows hunters to fulfill the requirements of registering their bear using the phone or internet, making this task fast, easy and convenient for hunters while providing the department with timely access to valuable harvest data. Wisconsin has already successfully implemented electronic registration for turkey and goose hunters and has now moved to accomplish the same for the big game hunting seasons.
How to register a bear electronically
After immediately validating your harvest, hunters will have several options for registering their bear.
- Online (most straightforward and fastest): On a computer or mobile device, go to gamereg.wi.gov and enter your harvest information.
- Phone: Dial 1-844-426-3734 (1-844-GAME-REG) and follow the prompts to provide harvest information.
- In-person: Visit a designated in-person station that offers a phone or computer to hunters to register your bear—search businesses offering in-person registration options.
Information required to register a bear
The following information will be required to register your bear.
- 10-digit bear carcass tag number (printed on the carcass tag)
- Date of kill
- Did you harvest this animal with agricultural damage or nuisance permit (yes or no)
- County of kill
- Bear zone and game management unit of harvest [PDF]
- Type of animal harvested (Male or female)
- Harvest method (bait/scent only, dogs and bait and scent, dogs only or another method)
- Weapon (gun, vertical bow or crossbow)
Bear registration confirmation number and carcass tag regulations
- Hunters will receive a 10-character confirmation number after registration. This will indicate to a conservation warden, wildlife biologist or meat processor that the animal has been appropriately registered. Carcass tags must only be attached to the animal IF you leave it. The carcass tag can remain in your possession if you do not leave the animal. If you leave it, tag it!
- To prevent the destruction of the paper carcass tag, placing it in a plastic bag is advisable.
- The hunter must retain the carcass tag until the meat is consumed.
- All bears must be registered by 5 p.m. the day after the animal was recovered and tagged.
- Although all registration is electronic, the department still requires the submission of a bear tooth.
Bear tooth collection instructions
The collection of bear teeth is critical to the DNR bear management program. Each successful hunter is required to extract one upper premolar tooth and submit it to the DNR (NR 10.106(2)(e)2) [exit DNR]. Hunters will be notified of their bear's age by mail. Analysis of all samples will take 12-14 months following the end of the bear season.
To collect the tooth:
- Remove the tooth by cutting the gum tissue around the 1st premolar behind the upper canine, and then use a small screwdriver to loosen the tooth and pliers to pry the tooth out, root intact gently.
- If you break the root, remove the other upper premolar.
- Fill in all the information, including the registration confirmation number, DNR customer ID number, hunter's first and last name and bear management zone on the front of the manila envelope marked "Bear Tooth Envelope."
- Put the tooth into the manila "Bear Tooth Envelope" and tape or close the envelope.
- Put the manila "Bear Tooth Envelope" in the white pre-paid return envelope and mail it to the DNR by October 15.
- Do not store the tooth or "Bear Tooth Envelope" in any plastic to allow the sample to dry.
Instructions for removing a bear tooth
Bear teeth collection instructions
The collection of bear teeth is critical to the DNR bear management program. For the 2022 bear season, each successful hunter will be required to extract two upper premolar teeth and submit them to the DNR (NR 10.106(2)(e)2) [exit DNR]. Hunters will be notified of their bear's age by mail. Analysis of all samples will take 12-14 months following the end of the bear season. Tooth submission is not a substitute for registration.
To collect the teeth:
- Remove each tooth by cutting the gum tissue around the 1st premolar behind the upper canine, and then use a small screwdriver to loosen the tooth and pliers to pry the tooth out gently. Take care not to damage the root. If the root is damaged, the lab may not be able to determine the age of your bear.
- If you break the root, remove the 2nd upper premolar, found just behind the 1st premolar.
- Fill in all the information, including the registration confirmation number, DNR customer ID number, hunter's first and last name and bear management zone on the front of the envelope marked "Bear Tooth Envelope."
- Remove any tissue or blood from the teeth.
- Place one clean and dry tooth into each "Bear Tooth" envelope and tape or staple the envelopes closed.
- Put the "Bear Tooth Envelope" in the pre-paid return envelope and mail it to the DNR by October 15.
- Do not store the teeth or "Bear Tooth Envelopes" in any plastic to allow the sample to dry.
Instructions for removing a bear tooth
Submitting teeth directly to the department
Hunters who successfully drew a Class A bear harvest permit should have received the materials required to submit teeth to the department before the bear season. If you did not receive these materials, you may submit your teeth directly to the department by folding them into a piece of paper, placing the folded paper with teeth in a paper envelope, and mailing them directly to the department. Please, include the 10-digit registration confirmation number, DNR customer ID number, hunter's first and last name and bear management zone of harvest with the teeth. Do not store or mail the teeth in plastic, as this prohibits them from drying.
Attn: Bear Tooth
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
107 Sutliff Avenue
Rhinelander WI, 54501
General information on electronic registration for bear and deer