Bear hunting with a bow was over nearly before it started this season in the Ozarks
The 250-bear quota in zone 1 was met by bowhunters in three days. Myron Means, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission large carnivore program coordinator, said it's not due to a huge spike in the black bear population or harvest-checking hi-jinks.
"I wanted another couple of days, too," Means said. "I had bears on my bait barrel, but they left Friday when that last round of wind and rain knocked some acorns to the ground. When the bears come back, I won't have a shot at them until muzzle-loader season."
Acorns, or the lack thereof, have a large part to do with the fast action this bear season in zone 1. This year, the Ozarks' mast crop is sparse compared to years past. That makes bear hunting much easier for people using bait.
"When Mother Nature provides, you can't hardly pull bears away from the acorns, just like we saw last year when we barely met the quota," Means said. "But when she's stingy, bears go to bait."
Means said the relationship between hunter success and mast is directly linked in zone 1.
The popularity of bear hunting in Arkansas also has increased, particularly in the Ozarks. Means said the abundance of private land bordering the Ozark National Forest offers the ideal place to bait and draw bears.
"You don't see it in bear zone 2 because it's mostly public land where baiting is not allowed," Means said.
He added studies indicate the bear population is roughly the same, with a slight increase over the last decade. Biologists increased the bear quota in zone 1 this year, adding 50 bears to the archery quota. The lack of acorns still made for an unusually fast season.
Each hunter who harvests a bear is required to pull a premolar and mail it to Game and Fish after he has checked his bear to verify that all bears checked actually were taken and to get biological information about the bear population.
"Ever since we made that a requirement, we receive about 95 percent of those teeth," Means said. "If someone checks a bear, but does not submit a tooth, we will contact them. They can face a pretty hefty fine for not properly checking the animal if we can't get that tooth."
Sports on 10/02/2018