Bears, bulls (elk) and blues
Oklahoma is another step closer to opening a black bear hunting season.
In anticipation of lawmakers passing bills that would create a bear hunting license, state wildlife commissioners on Monday approved rules for the possible fall bear season.
Commissioners still must vote next month on establishing a bear season and state lawmakers still must pass bear hunting legislation, but that seems certain.
Last month both the state House of Representatives and state Senate overwhelmingly approved identical bills that would legalize bear hunting.
The Senate bill must now be voted on by the House, and the House bill by the Senate, before being forwarded to Gov. Brad Henry for his signature.
Counties open for bear hunting would be Le Flore, Latimer, Pushmataha and McCurtain. (The above photo of a black bear was caught on a trail cam at a deer feeder in Pittsburg County.)
A proposed archery season for black bears would run from Oct. 1 through the Friday before deer muzzleloader season, which opens Oct. 25.
Only 20 bears could be killed – including no cubs or female with cubs. If bow hunters didn’t get 20, then bears could be hunted with muzzleloaders until the quota is reached. The bear muzzleloader season would be the same as deer muzzleloader season: Oct. 25-Nov. 2.
No dogs could be used when bear hunting. No cubs or sows with cubs could be killed. No den hunting would be allowed and no baiting on public land.
No rifle season would be allowed either. Nels Rodefeld, spokesman for the state Wildlife Department, said officials wanted to take the most conservative approach in the first year of bear hunting.
State wildife officials say the population of black bears has reached a point (perhaps as many as 500 to 800, depending on who is doing the guessing) to justify a hunt. Nuisance complaints about bears increase every year, they said.
Wildlife commissioners voted 6-1 to pass the bear hunting rules. Only Commissioner David Riggs of Sand Springs dissented.
In other news, wildlife commissioners also approved rules for a two-week September archery season for antelope, although they still must officially vote on the season next month.
They also established rules for opening an elk season on private lands in northeastern Oklahoma. Counties included are Adair, Cherokee, Delaware, Mayes, Muskogee and Seqouyah.
The season dates would be the same as they are now for the private land hunts in southwest Oklahoma around the Wichita Mountains: in October, December and January.
Opportunities for elk hunting in northeastern Oklahoma primarily would be around the Cookson, Spavinaw and Cherokee public wildlife management areas, and the Nickel Preserve Nature Conservancy in Cherokee County.
All of the those public lands in northeastern Oklahoma are home to elk herds, and like in the Wichita Mountains, the elk are spilling over onto private land. A legal bull is defined as having at least six points on one side.
All of the new hunting and fishing regulations proposed by the state Wildlife Department at public hearings earlier this year were passed Monday by state wildlife commissioners.
That includes limiting the number of trophy blue cats that can be kept by anglers. Beginning Jan. 1, only one blue cat of 30 or more inches can be kept per day.
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