So I live in South Arkansas/North Louisiana area. We have a pretty good sized chunk of land called Casey Jones that's open for public hunts. My house actually backs up to Casey Jones so I'm planning on walking out in the woods with my .270 and killing a deer this year (lived here four years and haven't hunted since I left Texas).

Anyway, Black Bears were reintroduced to this area awhile ago. Normally this wouldn't give me pause, but the other day I was heading to a wedding and had to slam on my breaks because of this rather large (well large for most of the other critters in this area) black bear came running out across the road. My friends had shown me pictures of them getting into their deer feed but I always thought it they doctored the pictures because they (my friends) have been known to go out of the way to pull a decent prank (I wish I was kidding).

Every single person I've talked to about it since then says you can get in big trouble for shooting those guys because they are protected. I do not want to shoot a bear. The only sidearm I own in a Ruger .380 and I'm sure that'd just tick the bear off.

Next year I was planning on getting out there with a crossbow so I could get an early start, so then I'd be out there without the protection of a rifle.

If what I am saying sounds extremely ignorant, it's because I am extremely ignorant, that's why I'm reaching out to you guys. I'm not too proud to ask questions. I don't want to get in trouble and I also don't want to be bear food.

So, if there is a chance encounter with a black bear while I'm walking out to my spot, what the heck are you suppose to do? Are they skittish to a lot of noise? I don't want to scare the deer off too. Are black bears fairly non-confrontational? Do I just go all Davy Crockett and tackle him into a bush with a knife between my teeth?
What do I do if the worst actually happens?

Just yell at them 9 times out of 10 they will run off. I have bears in my yard on a monthly basis. Think of them as oversized raccoons. I know Ursus will come by and correct me but that's really how I see their behavior. They aren't looking for a fight and honestly, don't want any part of you (unless you leave your trash out).

I've hunted Tensas Parish Louisiana and there are Bear there. Like you mentioned they are federally protected. From what my brother in law and his dad have said its better to be attached by the bear and hope you survive rather than try to shoot one in self defense.

From theirs and my experience the bears are not confrontational as long as you arent affecting their cubs or kill. They run from noise for the most part. Best advice is to just try to avoid at all possible. if you see one, go another direction

Make a big racket. 9 times out of 10, they're more scared of you. I'm sure ursus will be along directly to tell you about the other 1 time out of 10.

AgySkeet06 said:

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From what my brother in law and his dad have said its better to be attacked by the bear and hope you survive

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I really do not like this answer.

If I recall the story correctly a guy got arresting for supposedly shooting a bear "in self defense". Supposedly they took his gun and had had some substantial state and federal fines.

Another story on a related yet unrelated note. A farmer called fish and game cause one was attacking his calves. Said they couldnt do anything about and he had to watch a bear kill the calf. They use to attempt relocating the bear but apparently a couple traveled back to the area.

AggieChemist said:

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Make a big racket. 9 times out of 10, they're more scared of you. I'm sure ursus will be along directly to tell you about the other 1 time out of 10.

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I think it usually involves raking of gentials....

Nope, I agree. People tend to worry about them more than need be.

Arkansas is not exactly known for bear attacks....like most of the rest of the Eastern US.

Mace to the face

AgySkeet06 said:

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If I recall the story correctly a guy got arresting for supposedly shooting a bear "in self defense". Supposedly they took his gun and had had some substantial state and federal fines.

Another story on a related yet unrelated note. A farmer called fish and game cause one was attacking his calves. Said they couldnt do anything about and he had to watch a bear kill the calf. They use to attempt relocating the bear but apparently a couple traveled back to the area.

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See I've heard all kinds of different stories. I don't know if Mountain Lions are protected, but they had one in here in South Arkansas that was giving hunters some trouble. Now there are Mountain Lions in North Arkansas, but they do not often trek this far south. Apparently there'd been some instances where some hunting dogs were attacked right in front of their owner and the owners were harmed when trying to assist their dogs. This happened more than once.

My friends cousin was walking out of the woods after deer hunting, making his way to his truck. He gets a little animated about his story, but he said that he could feel something following him. Said sure enough, something bolted towards him and he shot at it with his .30-30 and downed it. It was that mountain lion. Called the AG&F, reported himself. They told him to stay put. They brought out the federal guys and a few others (I can't remember who all he said came to examine it). They took the body and did a full fledged autopsy on that thing. Game and Fish said that it was an older mountain line who was starving and likely the one that was attacking those hunting dogs. Told him his story checked out and he wasn't in any kind of trouble. Then they asked him if he wanted to keep the body, which I'm sure you can guess what his answer was.

AgySkeet06 said:

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If I recall the story correctly a guy got arresting for supposedly shooting a bear "in self defense". Supposedly they took his gun and had had some substantial state and federal fines.

Another story on a related yet unrelated note. A farmer called fish and game cause one was attacking his calves. Said they couldnt do anything about and he had to watch a bear kill the calf. They use to attempt relocating the bear but apparently a couple traveled back to the area.

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Can thank the government for that. Nobody wanted them reintroduced and I mean nobody. They did it anyway.

Calf losses to black bears is fairly negligible. I was at some of the Northern Lousiana meetings in the early 2000's and there was local support.

I was also on the East Texas Black Bear Committee for a couple years.

The good news is those Ruger .380's don't have any sights or other sharp edges.

Just to be clear, Skeet and Seanzy are talking about two completely different populations. Anything in Tensas Parish is within the legal range to Louisiana Black bears, and yes those are legally protected. Bears in southeast Arkansas are not covered under the the same ESA rules.

I believe Ursus left off the normal response of "black bears are *******!". I'm pretty sure I heard him tell his cousin that if he couldn't beat a black bears ass he deserved to be a statistic.

On a serious note, if you're worried buy a can of bear spray. Cheap piece of mind and it works (assuming they don't drag you out of your tent by the head in the middle of the night).

Sweet dreams and happy Hunting!

Yes, I did tell my cousin something to that effect....multiple times.

ursusguy said:

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Just to be clear, Skeet and Seanzy are talking about two completely different populations. Anything in Tensas Parish is within the legal range to Louisiana Black bears, and yes those are legally protected. Bears in southeast Arkansas are not covered under the the same ESA rules.

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Tensas Parish is more mid state, little closer to the Mississippi border.

We live closer to Morehouse Parish near Bastrop, LA.

Everyone I've spoken with said that the bears here in Ashley County (Arkansas) and in Morehouse Parish (Northern Louisiana) are protected.

I've heard some North Arkansas counties you can get tags. I have no interest in doing so, just thought it was interesting.

I'm sure everyone on the body on the East Texas Black Bear Committee were in support of the bears. A lot of farmers, both cattle and produce farmers, I know were opposed to it or at least that's the song they are singing now.

Carry bear spray and you'll be fine. Especially if you can't really defend yourself in a bad situation

Oh there were plenty of folks that showed up and were negative against bears, but the reality was their fears were based on misinformation. Some of the biggest antagonists are now the biggeat supporters.

The bears you are talking about are only protected in the sense that they don't have a season. If they take off like the other 3 Arkansas populations, they will likely get a season pretty fast.

I just noticed Tensas, and assumed you meant around Tensas Parish, in that case they are federally protected.

Arkansas' reintroduction is the case study on reintroducing a carnivore.

http://www.magnoliareporter.com/sports/individual_team_sports/article_5341f0e6-3190-11e4-8b3d-001a4bcf887a.html

Solid post.

I actually live about a mile from Felsenthal.

Been trying to get some of the locals who've grown up here to take me out there but most of them aren't interested because a) they are too consumed with their own land and b) it isn't all that interesting to them because they've grown up with it.

Spooked one up while backpacking in Virginia a while back. She stood up on her hind legs to get a better look at us and I crapped my pants. We stood our ground and she crapped hers too and peeled off out of there. Neat experience.