Shot the bear in winter (9)
I believe the answer is:
hibernate
'winter' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'shot the bear in' is the wordplay.
'shot' indicates anagramming the letters.
'the'+'bear'+'in'='thebearin'
'thebearin' is an anagram of 'HIBERNATE'.
(Other definitions for hibernate that I've seen before include "Pass the winter in a dormant state" , "Breathe in for long winter sleep" , "Become dormant" , "go out in the snow?" , "remain inactive for months" .)