John: We’ve had this property,
it’s been in my family for close to 20 years now.
And for the last 9 or 10 years we’ve had numerous bears coming in.
We’ve had game cameras all over our property here.
We hunt; turkey hunt, deer hunt, and they started showing up.
It was one, then it was two,
then I mean we’ve been up to 9 to 12 different bears,
coming on to our property.
Laura: Yeah, so black bears were historically present
in the state of Missouri, prior to European settlement.
But over time, overharvest, and huge scale habitat changes
drove bear numbers very, very low.
So driven locally extinct.
That all changed in the 1950’s and 60’s when Arkansas Game and Fish
began a series of reintroductions
in the Washita and Ozark Mountains.
And as that Arkansas bear population grew,
bears began expanding into the state of Missouri and over time,
Missouri had its own bear population that began growing as well.
And when we look at the genetics of bears in Missouri
it does seem that we had some remnant bears that hung on
in the most remote parts of the state.
But, by and large, that population really began growing and expanding
in the last several decades.
John: We enjoy seeing them, never had any bad encounters,
never had any problems on our property.
It’s really just neat seeing them.
It is really neat to just go out in the woods and see a bear.
Laura: So, bear sightings and reports of bears
from the 60’s all the way up through the 80’s
began increasing in numbers.
In 2008 the Department developed a bear management plan
that identified some key research questions;
where were bears in the state,
what did bear numbers look like, and things like that.
So, within the 2008 Black Bear Management Plan,
they had talked about the opportunity to provide a hunting season
when the population was able to sustain that.
So, with the extensive research that we had done,
we were able to look at the updated black bear management plan,
the population levels at the time,
and determine that our population in fact had reached levels
where it could sustain a limited and highly regulated harvest.
John: I actually had people call me,
I mean once they found out that I had actually drawn a tag,
wanting for me to come onto their property and take a bear.
Laura: We knew going into this hunting season
that this was going to be challenging for hunters.
So, we took a conservative approach at how folks were able to hunt.
So, we did not allow the use of bait or dogs.
We had a harvest quota that was in place,
so that if the harvest quota was reached
the season would come to an end
for that particular bear management zone.
Looking at the restrictive methods,
the limited harvest quota
and the limited number of permits that were available,
by and large this was going to be a challenging undertaking
for anybody participating in that season.
John: The first morning, uh, pretty excited because,
you know, they had the quota.
I was worried about the quota, not a lot of time to hunt with my job.
So, it was just, the hunt of a lifetime.
So, this is where it took place, there is the stand, obviously.
The bear come around the side over here,
on the other side of this hill out of that holler.
All I could see was kind of a black blob over there;
just kind of come up through the brush, moving real slow.
You know, just taking his time.
Got up there and just stopped looked around and come out into the open.
And he presented a good opportunity for a shot,
and I took it and he fell right there.
(Rifle shot)
John: Oh, it was absolute.
Heart racing, just excitement thinking, you know,
what’s the chances of this?
Well, it was pretty amazing.
One of the best hunts I’ve ever been on.
Laura: Meeting with Mr. Day was super exciting.
He was the first successful hunter
in this very first black bear season.
So completely history in the making right there.
Mr. Day took that bear on his own property in a stand
I believe was his son’s favorite deer stand.
And so really exciting for him to be able to
have that opportunity on his own property.
And now to look at this season and down the road in the future.
This is something his kids can participate in.
Generations to come can participate in.
John: I will put in every year.
Yeah, me and my family, we’ll put in every year, every year.
Yeah. Looking forward to it.
Can’t wait.
Ready for it to be here again.