Arkansas bear hunters killed 765 bears during the 2023 hunting season, topping the record by a margin of 100 bears, according to a presentation given by Myron Means at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's March meeting held at the lodge at Mount Magazine State Park.
Means, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission large carnivore program coordinator, said hunters took 665 black bears during archery, muzzle-loader and modern gun seasons in 2020. The number killed remained in the high 400s the next two years.
Last year's record is likely attributed to an earlier opening day of the bear archery season in bear zones 1 and 2. Recent seasons opened on the third week in September to be concurrent with deer archery season, but bear hunters in 2023 were able to get out on Sept. 13, a week and a half earlier.
"You see a lot more bears at bait stations before the acorns drop, then the bears will go to the woods and then start denning," Means said. "Quite frankly, we're getting bear harvest in the state about where we need bears to be harvested."
Means said the early season does come with one caveat. That's an increased chance of killing a female bear before they begin their fall denning cycle.
"We saw an increase in female bear harvest, but it's not something that I'm going to say the sky is falling over," Means said. "We do need to pay some attention to it because the females are the future of our bear population. Two years of high female harvest in a row may trigger a need to look at changes in season structure."
"This has really been the case since baiting was allowed on private land for bears in 2001," Means said. Ninety percent of the bear zone 1 harvest was by archery, and the 400-bear quota was met within seven days up there."
Muzzleloader hunters killed 36 bears (5%), and bear hunters using modern guns took 86 bears (11%). The bear harvest in zones 4, 5 and 5A all came by way of modern gun.