I'm new to the forum, and new to hunting, and one thing I can't figure out is how so many states are able to hold non-draw black bear hunts.

http://www.marylandbears.com/about/statepopulations.cfm

Georgia, for example, holds a non-draw hunt, with a two and a half week long season. Georgia had a population of about 2,000 12 years ago. I can't imagine it's anymore than 4,000 or 5,000 today. Are bears just very unpopular game animals? Is it the difficulty involved in hunting them? Do they breed that prodigiously?