Arkansas bear hunt?? Anyone interested?
Contributors to this thread:Bears
From: Little mac
30-Dec-16
Looking into a bear hunt in Arkansas. Any been down there? Tips or want to join?
From: stealthycat
30-Dec-16
baiting on private land only
From: stealthycat
30-Dec-16
oh and a 205 bear limit that usually fills in 4 days
so you spend all those weeks/months preparing and it ends in 4 days .... its a tough thing IMO unless you pay someone to do most of the work for you
From: Little mac
30-Dec-16
I didn't think it filled that quick. I would rather hunt Ozarks, but if it fills that fast I could go down to the Ouachitas. They don't have a quota. And for as bad as would like to know someone down there that would let me hunt on private land I don't have that connection.
From: drycreek
30-Dec-16
I've always wanted to hunt bear, but never wanted to go to Canada. The Arkansas thing would be a short drive for me. The problem of where is a big one though.
From: Little mac
30-Dec-16
Same here dry creek. But is 100 lb bigger bear really worth driving an extra 1000 miles?It will be interesting to see what happens
From: drycreek
30-Dec-16
Mac, I was referring of where to hunt in Arkansas, not to the size of the bear. Sorry my brevity was misleading. A 200 lb. bear would be a big one to me ! :)
From: flyingbrass
31-Dec-16
Myron Means is the Arkansas bear biologist, he is very smart and doing a good job with the resource. There are some good bear in Arkansas. Bad news is that that opening day is around Sept 26 or so. Around the 3rd week of October we usually have enough wind to start really knocking down acorns from the trees. You can start baiting Aug 1 I think for bear. As a life long Arkie I think there are better places to spend your time and money. I had 5 bears on my place. One was a shooter at about 325lbs I would guess. I just want people to realize the Sept 15th opening date is no longer an option. When we had that it was a different game all together. Bears hit the baits hard and you could kill them. Late September they get scattered from hard mast falling.
From: flyingbrass
31-Dec-16
Also, I only know of one bear guide in Arkansas and they do a good job for the money so I'm assuming that is who you are going with. I just think Canada has so much to offer as far as bears seen every day vs how much it cost. Part of AR is closed to bear hunts, part is quota and much of it is open with no quota which is most likely where you are going.
From: Salagi
31-Dec-16
Flyingbrass is right. the last year or 2 the season opens the Saturday before Oct 1 and in my neck of the woods about 1 day after the acorns fall it seems. When the 205 bear quota for our zone is hit, they shut the season off until the first of November for the rifle season. It closed in less than a week this year with 217 killed if I remember the numbers correct. Last year it was either 3 or 4 days and the quota was filled. When it reopened in November, it was only about a week before the remaining 45 met their demise. Baiting is private land only beginning 30 days before the start of the season. I believe one zone (in the Ouachita Mountains) had no quota this year.
Last year we had 4 bears hitting our bait until ONE WEEK before season. After that, they thumbed their nose at us and left. This year we had one coming through in the middle of the night every couple of weeks. At least until season opened, then nothing. If I were going to sink much money and time into a bear hunt (and I would if I could), Arkansas isn't where I'd go. It is beautiful though.
From: KJC
31-Dec-16
KJC's Link
Bear Hunting Magazines' Clay Newcomb lives and bear hunts in Arkansas. Check out this link.
From: flyingbrass
31-Dec-16
go to Canada!
From: t-roy
01-Jan-17
Is hunting them with hounds legal?
Also, probably a dumb question, but do they hibernate that far south? I'm guessing no.
From: greg simon
01-Jan-17
Hounds not legal, and yes bears in Arkansas do hibernate.
From: flyingbrass
02-Jan-17
Here is a pic with my best Arkansas bear.
From: drycreek
02-Jan-17
^^^^^ That's a nice one ! Might not make a rug, maybe a wash cloth :)
From: The last savage
02-Jan-17
Dry creek..That was fantastic!!!! Lmao... What's the story on that cub??
From: canepole
02-Jan-17
Huh..... where's the momma bear? Obviously not close by. (yes I know the big one is not a black bear)
From: flyingbrass
02-Jan-17
my wife made a donation for a women shelter so we were able to go on a bear den visit with the game and fish. it was a cool way to help people and get to see bears up close.
From: Master_Splinter
12-Mar-17
im reviving a dead thread looks like but ... I am in Springfield MO... you can count me in for sure if you are hunting AK bears.
From: pop-r
14-Mar-17
Acorns are on the ground LONG before the third week in October in Arkansas. Maybe you meant to say the third week in September.
From: stealthycat
14-Mar-17
AK = Alaska AR = Arkansas
Last year we had several small bears coming to bait, never a big one. Tough hunting, lots of work, season closes in 4-5 days ..... its a challenge, its hard
From: flyingbrass
14-Mar-17
From: flyingbrass
14-Mar-17
YES I meant third week in Sept.
From: hunt forever
05-Apr-17
The word is alot of Animal rights people are buying the tags and than callIng in reporting bears harvested. For the life of me I can't understand why the game and fish don't require bears harvested to be checked by the game and fish!!!
