Oklahoma's Third Black Bear Season a Success

Oklahoma’s third black bear archery season opened Oct. 1 and closed the next day after the season quota of 20 bears was reached.

The season was open in Latimer, LeFlore, Pushmataha and McCurtain counties, and hunters harvested a total of 31 bears with archery equipment. Last year hunters harvested 32 bears on opening day, and in 2009 hunters harvested only 19 bears over the course of 28 days.

According to Joe Hemphill, southeast region wildlife supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, the quota of 20 bears is very conservative.

“When we planned the regulations for the season, we took into account the possibility of exceeding the...