| Baiting for bears legal but only on private land |
 LITTLE
ROCK - To bait or not to bait? It’s a question for hunting bears in
Arkansas.An exceptionally large bear killed in western Saline County attracted news coverage recently. The hunter had put out dog food for several days before shooting the bear with a bow and arrow on private land. The answer is relatively simple. You can put out bait for bear hunting purposes on private land but not on public land. And you can do it only in the weeks before hunting begins and during the bear hunting seasons. Bears can be easier to draw within shooting range when bait is used, and baiting for hunting was banned in Arkansas until recent years. The state’s bear numbers were growing after a restoration program that imported 254 bears in the 1950s and 1960s. Arkansas now has about 3,500 bears, according to Rick Eastridge, the bear program coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. These include about 500 bears in southeast Arkansas that are descendants of the estimated three dozen original Arkansas black bears that survived along the lower White River. Baiting and the use of dogs were banned when Arkansas opened bear hunting in 1981 after it was closed for a half-century. Dogs still cannot be used for bear hunting in the state. On private lands, some landowners have problems with bears, often young dispersing males. By the use of bait, a landowner can have a better chance of eliminating a problem bear or he or she can give permission for other hunters to go after bears on their land. Bear hunters must have permission to bait bears on another person's private land. On public land -- state, federal or other - bear numbers are not excessive, and baiting continues to be prohibited. Timber company land is private land. The largest numbers of bears in Arkansas are on the Ozark National Forest, the Ouachita National Forest and the White River National Wildlife Refuge. AGFC rules allow baiting on private land from 30 days before the opening of bear season until the end of bear seasons - archery, muzzle-loader and modern gun. The ending dates vary by bear zones, and since all zones have quotas, hunting ends if these quotas are reached. Outside these periods, no bait can be put out for bears for any purpose on private or public land. Hunters must call 1-800-440-1477 to check the status of the bear zone quotas and to ensure that it is legal to continue hunting bears in their zone. Arkansas regulations also prohibit the taking of a denned bear or one being pursued by dogs, even if the hunter is not using dogs. |
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