Oklahoma Wildlife Commission approves bear hunting season
BY Ed Godfrey - Outdoors Editor
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40
Published: April 2, 2009
The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 5-2 Wednesday to establish the state’s first black bear hunting season in four southeastern Oklahoma counties.
The hunting season is contingent upon state lawmakers passing a bill to create a black bear hunting license. Both the state Senate and House of Representatives already overwhelmingly passed separate – but identical - measures that would legalize black bear hunting. The Senate bill is waiting action by the full House. The House bill is waiting action by the full Senate. Wildlife commissioners David Riggs of Sand Springs and Mac Maguire voted against creating a black bear hunting season. Both are not convinced that Oklahoma has a large enough population of bears to support hunting. They think young bears are not adequately protected in the hunting regulations passed Wednesday by the state Wildlife Commission. “I think we are too young at it,” Maguire said, noting that Arkansas had a population of 4,000 black bears before allowing them to be hunted. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation would allow only 20 black bears to be killed during the hunting season. Hunting would be by archery and muzzleloader only. The archery season would begin Oct. 1 and run through the Friday before deer muzzleloader season. Bears could be hunted with a muzzleloader - if bow hunters had not killed the limit of 20 – during the same time as deer muzzleloader season, which begins Oct. 25. No cubs or female bears with cubs could be killed. No den hunting would allowed. No one knows for sure how many black bears reside in Oklahoma. Alan Peoples, director of the wildlife division for the state Wildlife Department, said 500 bears would be a very conservative estimate. Oklahoma State University researchers know there are at least 500 bears in Le Flore County alone, Peoples said. “We feel like we’ve got good science (to support a hunting season),” he said. Nuisance complaints about bears continue to increase every year, Peoples said. “They (bears) have actually killed livestock,” he said. If it becomes law, Oklahoma would be the 29th state to allow bear hunting.
Related Topics:
U.S. State Government, U.S. Government, Sports, Archery, U.S. Congressional News, Nature and the Environment, Wildlife, Big-Game Hunting, Hunting, Mammals, Bowhunting, Bears
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They were here first and deserve to be here again. Leave the bears alone!
I have been to Hobia and Octavia several times. Nice country, Weyerhauser property is where I used to hunt years ago.
I have not had a encounter with black bear. I hope that I dont.
Who could kill this?
And Joe you little comment about Guns, sounds like your ignorant on the subject of hunter education.