Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Looking to do a Bear Hunt in Arkansas

Its not Africa or Alaska but something easy to do this Fall as we could drive up from South Louisiana ..Stand over bait preferred ...2 hunters min 4 max if available ..Thank You🐻

I hunt for game other than bear in Arkansas so I'm not knowledgeable about it. But the vast majority of the bears taken in Arkansas come from Zone 1 in the northern part of the state near Missouri. There's a 400-bear quota for archery, a 50-bear quota for muzzleloader & then a 50-bear quota for modern gun. If for any reason, the archery & muzzleloader hunters overshoot their quota, then the modern gun season closes early to compensate for that. The night before you hunt there's a 1-800 number to call to see if the quotas have been reached & if it's legal to continue hunting the next day. As you can see from the 2020 chart below, success is skewed towards the archery hunters. I didn't know if this would make any difference with your plans or not but I thought it wouldn't hurt to mention it.

Wow! Had no idea..Very informative and interesting! Thank You! Tom
ps.I my research of hunting for bears I notice ALOT of duck and goose hunting in the state (used to be good here years ago but not worth it now) so do you also hunt Waterfowl ? We are considering moving to the Fayetville area in the next year or less...Want some mountains 4 seasons and alot less crime than here in the New Orleans area...Less humidity and hurricanes also!!👍😉

Mostly, I hunt deer & small game. Deer hunting is very popular & a lot of them get harvested each year. Here’s a picture of a hunting buddy with a deer he took near Morrilton in the middle of the state this past season.



I have an old friend who really likes to hunt for squirrels & rabbits with pneumatics so every fall we go out in the woods plinking at them. Here I am wandering through the Ozark National Forest with my Weihrauch HW77. Spent hours out there & never saw another person all day.


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Part of the enjoyment is just hiking through the woods.



I am not an avid waterfowl hunter but a couple of my coworkers love to duck hunt in the state. The area around Stuttgart is well known as a waterfowl hotspot. There’s a lot of good hunting in the delta. This past February some of us went goose hunting for 2.5 days near Cash, AR in the NE corner of the state. Here I’m getting to enjoy sitting in freezing water on a comfy 5-gallon bucket.





We managed to get 126 geese in 2.5 days.



If you’re thinking of moving to the Fayetteville area then upland bird hunting in Oklahoma is something you might want to look at if that interests you. I’ve had friends hog hunt over there too.

Wow..I love all of the above! Great photos and wow on the geese!! Walking through some nice hardwoods in the hills with my weapon and enjoying the fresh air sounds like what the doctor ordered! lol
Thanks so much for the replies and wonderful photos!!
We getting excited about the possible move ..was also looking at NE Tenn but this area in NW Ark is looking better and better..More bang for your buck in the housing market too! ...and yes Oklahoma has its hunting possibilities too!! Again Thanks 👍🤠

You’re welcome. I grew up in Houma so I still go down to south Louisiana a lot. It’s interesting how two states that are so close to one another can be so different. I find it nice to be able to spend time in both places.

In Arkansas, I often do day trips from home to go hunting. Other times, I camp either from a car or out of a backpack. At least once a year we rent an AirBnb cabin on the edge of a WMA and hunt from there for a week to 10 days. Occasionally we’ll break out the canoes & do a long weekend. There are a lot of options.

Here's a cabin we rented near Sand Gap in the middle of the state a couple of years ago:



Usually we spend a couple of days just sitting around punching holes in paper before heading out to the woods:



In this photo, we have some 2" swinging metal targets at the edge of the field by the grass we're shooting:



A couple of electronic Daystate rifles in .177 & .22 caliber with a refill tank:



Here's a warden outside of Mena in the SW corner of the state getting a kick out of what we're hunting with. Shortly after this photo was taken, John managed a really nice head shot on a squirrel from 55 yards. It's a challenge when there's still a lot of foliage on the trees:



A lot of my time during the fall is spent in a rickety stand looking left, middle & right. It's always nice just to be out there :



While I do as much hunting as I can, I probably spend more time outdoors camping & rock climbing with my daughter. Arkansas has a lot of good places to pitch a tent:



Regardless of whether you choose Arkansas or Tennessee, good luck with the move & I hope you find a good spot to land!

Check this place out in northern Arkansas. My son and I went there for a short deer hunt. At one point had a sow bear with her cub sniffing the back of our ground blind. I have video of the sow and cub. The owner, Mike, is a great guy and will work hard for you. My son is on his website with one of the deer he shot. He is the handsome young man in the International hat.

https://prairiefarmhomestead.com/

Very nice for sure! All looks good and I am digging deeper..Looks like alot of fun and love the Hreat Ourdoors..but will pass on the rock climbing! lol
Thank You again!!🤠🤠

Thank You..Looks pretty good and waiting for a reply from them too!!👍🤠🤠

Safarikid, I grew up in north central Arkansas, in a small town named "Mountain Home." Lots of woods, creeks, rivers and lakes, etc., and a few Black bears. That was some time ago. I know there are more now. A good friend of mine of many years, just sent me a picture of a 275/300 pounds Black bear that showed up in a woman' back yard near Yellville, Ark. That is about 20 miles from where I lived.

There are plenty of dense forests around there where Black bears hang out. My cousin who lives outside of M.H. sees Black bears from her deck as they come out of the woods to drink from the White River. You might check out that area but I have no idea if there are any "bear guides" around there.

Good luck.

L.W.

What a great thread! My wife and I moved to Arkansas last October and we are enjoying being here, although summer has just started and dang is it hot already.

By the way, this state is quite good for bird watching as well. That has become my main hobby these days. I did a lot of big game hunting when I lived in Walla Walla Washington and may do more in the future but birding is good clean fun.

I don't know anything about Arkansas bear hunting, but interestingly Clay Newcomb, owner/publisher of Bear Hunting Magazine, lives near Fayetteville, AR. I do enjoy watching his hunting videos.

http://www.bear-hunting.com/

I grew up in C. Arkansas and still have family there. My dad who died in 1993, used to tell us he would see a black bear every now and then on the edge of town. Most people never believed him, and now I know many have seen black bears 30 years later in the area. We used to deer hunt near Hamburg and no one ever saw a bear there, now they have a hunting season for them. I will admit, I do miss the whitetail hunting there. My cousin has been trying to get me there the past few deer seasons to hunt. I think next year I am finally going to take him up on the offer.

NW Arkansas offers the 4 seasons. The whole state has a ton of hunting opportunities.
You can always hit the white river area or south Arkansas to camp and deer hunt. Lots of small game, squirrels, dove, hogs in south Arkansas also.
Deer are everywhere.
It’s a good state for hunting and fishing. Humidity is bad in the summer but it’s the south.
I’m in SE Arkansas, drew county and we have bear here with a growing population.