Computer problems force second bear hunt lottery drawing

Hunters who applied for a 2011 Minnesota bear hunting permit will have to wait a little longer to determine if they were successful in this year's lottery.

That's because the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is rerunning the bear lottery due to a computer-related error.

Though no bear hunting licenses have been issued, the DNR reports some hunters may be under the mistaken impression they have been selected as a winner because they viewed incorrect content on the agency's website before the error was detected.

"The message to bear hunters is that we'll get the word out when correct lottery results are available," said Dennis Simon, DNR wildlife section chief. "We regret any inconvenience this misinformation has caused."

Simon said older data from 2009 rather than the most current data from 2010 was used by the computer to determine hunter preference levels. As a result, many bear hunting permit winners were erroneously selected based on incorrect preference information.

"Our job is to conduct a fair and accurate lottery and that's what we will do," said Simon.

New lottery results will be posted on the DNR website soon and successful hunters will also be notified by mail later in June.