Arkansas/Oklahoma Fall Bear

[okie archer]

Arkansas opener is September 17th Oklahoma opener is October 1st. I picked up a small lease last year that borders 1000's of acres on NF. Illegal to bait on public land in both states. I started hunting Arkansas as well since it's so close to my Oklahoma spot. That means two tags and Arkansas opens sooner.
I put my first bait out on August 25th. Got hit the second night. The first week already have more bears on bait than last year. Was a very hot/dry year this year which means less natural food and baits should be hot, we'll see. Haven't started baits in Oklahoma yet, probably start around September 10th.
I have killed 4 bears but nothing real big. I really want to change that this year. I have two goals in regards to Bear hunting.
1. Kill a Pope & Young Black Bear.
2. Kill a bear with traditional archery.
Would be awesome to accomplish that on the same Bear but may chicken out using the Recurve on a big bear.
I sure hope this bear in pics gives me a shot this year. I believe this is a bear I had pics of last year.
Pics are all the same bear. Sorry for multiple pics.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

He’s definitely got a big coconut, which is where you’ll score anyway.
Probably a 6 footer nose to foot, which isn’t exactly HUGE. Some may disagree! Take him if he presents, but I look forward to seeing different bears on your camera. Regardless, good luck! Very exciting!

 

[okie archer]

Arkansas opener is one week away. Seems the big boar has stopped coming to bait the last 2-3 days. Still have some smaller bears coming to bait in daylight.
Started my first day of baiting today in Oklahoma for the October 1st opener. Bait was hit in about 6 hours.

 

[NEWHunter]

Love bear hunting. Thanks for sharing. Good luck.

 

[pilsner]

Arkansas opener is one week away. Seems the big boar has stopped coming to bait the last 2-3 days. Still have some smaller bears coming to bait in daylight.
Started my first day of baiting today in Oklahoma for the October 1st opener. Bait was hit in about 6 hours.

Acorns started falling here in NW Arkansas on 1 Sept. Sheesh a guy just can't win.
Same thing happened last year.
6 bait sites running.
4 of them had adult bears coming in during daylight until the Wednesday before opener.
Across fell.
Bears were never seen again during the season.
Crossing my fingers that it isn't the same thing this year - hosting 6 veterans for BHA and The Fallen Outdoors.

 

[okie archer]

Acorns started falling here in NW Arkansas on 1 Sept. Sheesh a guy just can't win.
Same thing happened last year.
6 bait sites running.
4 of them had adult bears coming in during daylight until the Wednesday before opener.
Across fell.
Bears were never seen again during the season.
Crossing my fingers that it isn't the same thing this year - hosting 6 veterans for BHA and The Fallen Outdoors.

It's a battle every year. A big boar that had been coming to bait earlier quit about a week ago. He was back yesterday in daytime for over an hour. He no showed today.

 

[sierrahunter]

Hunt the acorns! Since baiting isn’t legal in California, we must find them where natural feed draws them. Look for fresh scat and still hunt their feeding grounds in the evenings and mornings. You can harvest bears this way, but it takes more time and effort.

 

[okie archer]

Put a first time bear hunter on my Arkansas bait opening day. He killed his bear the first half hour of his first bear hunt. He was pretty happy.

 

[Rzrbck918]

What do you use for bait? Not sure if thats kosher to ask but Im always interested in hearing how different people do it.

 

[okie archer]

What do you use for bait? Not sure if thats kosher to ask but Im always interested in hearing how different people do it.

I use donuts, cookies, waffle cones, sardines, candy corn, marshmallows, peanut butter, dirty fryer grease, beaver carcass.
If I run short on donuts and pastries I use bread with powdered sugar and Kool aid powder on it mixed in.

 

[Dwreckers]

I use donuts, cookies, waffle cones, sardines, candy corn, marshmallows, peanut butter, dirty fryer grease, beaver carcass.
If I run short on donuts and pastries I use bread with powdered sugar and Kool aid powder on it mixed in.

Seems like most people’s baits are basically the same with donuts and sweets!

 

[okie archer]

Some people use deer corn and dog food but that just doesn't seem like a good bait to me.
I really believe you need a variety of food with lots of carbs.
You are competing with natural food. Believe it or not, bears prefer natural food like acorns, persimmons, plums, muscadines,etc. On a year with lots of natural mast it's harder to keep bears coming. It's a fun challenge.

 

[okie archer]

Hope I didn't make a mistake by not trying to kill this smallish bear that came in this morning on opening day. Really wanting to get a bear with traditional archery but was hoping for something bigger.
This bear came to my tree and stood up on its back feet to get a better look at me. Then walked to base of tree and stood up on the tree.

 

[okie archer]

Mission accomplished!
I was fortunate to fill my Oklahoma resident bear tag on opening day. Between Arkansas and Oklahoma I have been baiting for about the last 5 weeks. Finally opening day arrived in Oklahoma. I have two active baits. Both baits were being hit hard in daylight all week leading up to opening day. Unfortunately the few real big bears had gone nocturnal for over a week which is common. The baits are over a mile apart. Bait #1 makes for about a 13-15 yard shot. Bait #2 is 20 yards. I have killed 4 whitetails with traditional but never a bear. I have killed 3 bear with a compound and 1 with a crossbow. I have been wanting to kill a bear with traditional archery for a long time but this year I pretty much committed to it. I shot 100's if not 1000's of time this summer preparing. I decided to hunt bait #1. Both baits had about the same activity but I like the idea of a shorter shot. 20 yards is really about my max range all though I shoot some at 25 yards. After passing on the bear I posted in earlier post I took a lunch break and rebaited barrel. I climbed back in the stand for the evening hunt. Around 4:45 pm 2 bears were suddenly at the bait. I shot at the biggest bear but grazed hair off of his back not drawing any blood. Both bears ran away but the biggest bear immediately came back in popping his teeth. When he turned broadside I shot again. This time he ran away and did not come back. The bear ran over the edge of the mountain. I went back to the truck and unloaded the 4 wheeler. The mountain edge was to steep to drive the 4 wheeler down to the bear so I wanted to get to within about 50' of the bear and use ripe, chains, straps, etc. to pull the bear up to less vertical ground. I slowly back the 4 wheeler down the slope but that was a mistake. The slope was to steep and the loose dirt caused the tires to just spin. I was stuck on the side of the mountain with about an hour before dark. There was nothing I could do about the ATV so I decided to get to work skinning and quartering the bear to pack out and would come back another day for the ATV. In my pack I had 3 skinning knives, scapel blades, extra bottles of water, extra flashlight and extra batteries, gloves, game bags, etc. I began skinning the bear. Soon I had the front shoulders of and in a game bag. Before I could get the hind quarters off it was getting dark. So by flashlight I finished skinning and cutting up the bear. I got it all in game bags and began packing out stopping every few yards to catch my breath. I finally made it to my truck with the bear. I got up that morning at 3:00 am and on my way home I only had an hour to go but just couldn't stay awake. I called my wife to tell her I was sleeping in the truck and would see her in the morning. The 4 wheeler is still there. Hopefully go get it tomorrow using a come along and chains. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get very good pics. I was by myself and with it getting dark I just wanted to get the bear taken care of and get out of there.

One more thing I want to post about this story. There is a member on here that gifted me the Black Widow bow. I have never met him in person but he sent the bow and some accessories from Montana to Oklahoma free of charge including shipping. He asked to remain anonymous but after some consideration I have decided not to.
Sorry @longbow51 but I just wanted to mention how generous you were to a complete stranger.
Thank you so much for the slick bow. I was able to kill my first black bear with traditional archery with this bow! Not first bear but first bear with trad gear. Now I'm hoping to put down a whitetail soon with it.

 

[BoulderBulls]

Very cool story. Grew up in ne Oklahoma have hunted a handful of times down in that neck of the woods, would love a crack at an Oklahoma bear with any method but this is next level

 

[Buckskinbob]

Mission accomplished!
I was fortunate to fill my Oklahoma resident bear tag on opening day. Between Arkansas and Oklahoma I have been baiting for about the last 5 weeks. Finally opening day arrived in Oklahoma. I have two active baits. Both baits were being hit hard in daylight all week leading up to opening day. Unfortunately the few real big bears had gone nocturnal for over a week which is common. The baits are over a mile apart. Bait #1 makes for about a 13-15 yard shot. Bait #2 is 20 yards. I have killed 4 whitetails with traditional but never a bear. I have killed 3 bear with a compound and 1 with a crossbow. I have been wanting to kill a bear with traditional archery for a long time but this year I pretty much committed to it. I shot 100's if not 1000's of time this summer preparing. I decided to hunt bait #1. Both baits had about the same activity but I like the idea of a shorter shot. 20 yards is really about my max range all though I shoot some at 25 yards. After passing on the bear I posted in earlier post I took a lunch break and rebaited barrel. I climbed back in the stand for the evening hunt. Around 4:45 pm 2 bears were suddenly at the bait. I shot at the biggest bear but grazed hair off of his back not drawing any blood. Both bears ran away but the biggest bear immediately came back in popping his teeth. When he turned broadside I shot again. This time he ran away and did not come back. The bear ran over the edge of the mountain. I went back to the truck and unloaded the 4 wheeler. The mountain edge was to steep to drive the 4 wheeler down to the bear so I wanted to get to within about 50' of the bear and use ripe, chains, straps, etc. to pull the bear up to less vertical ground. I slowly back the 4 wheeler down the slope but that was a mistake. The slope was to steep and the loose dirt caused the tires to just spin. I was stuck on the side of the mountain with about an hour before dark. There was nothing I could do about the ATV so I decided to get to work skinning and quartering the bear to pack out and would come back another day for the ATV. In my pack I had 3 skinning knives, scapel blades, extra bottles of water, extra flashlight and extra batteries, gloves, game bags, etc. I began skinning the bear. Soon I had the front shoulders of and in a game bag. Before I could get the hind quarters off it was getting dark. So by flashlight I finished skinning and cutting up the bear. I got it all in game bags and began packing out stopping every few yards to catch my breath. I finally made it to my truck with the bear. I got up that morning at 3:00 am and on my way home I only had an hour to go but just couldn't stay awake. I called my wife to tell her I was sleeping in the truck and would see her in the morning. The 4 wheeler is still there. Hopefully go get it tomorrow using a come along and chains. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get very good pics. I was by myself and with it getting dark I just wanted to get the bear taken care of and get out of there.

One more thing I want to post about this story. There is a member on here that gifted me the Black Widow bow. I have never met him in person but he sent the bow and some accessories from Montana to Oklahoma free of charge including shipping. He asked to remain anonymous but after some consideration I have decided not to.
Sorry @longbow51 but I just wanted to mention how generous you were to a complete stranger.
Thank you so much for the slick bow. I was able to kill my first black bear with traditional archery with this bow! Not first bear but first bear with trad gear. Now I'm hoping to put down a whitetail soon with it.
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Awesome!!