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Oklahoma › Hunting › Bear Hunting Seasons

Bear Hunting Seasons

Bear — Archery & Muzzleloader

For rules on hunter orange, legal hunting methods, public lands, shooting hours, carcass disposal, multiple methods of take, tracking with dogs, and tagging/checking, see Big Game Regulations.

Combined Season Limit

One: either sex. This includes bear archery and bear muzzleloader seasons.

Prohibited Activities

  • Baiting on wildlife management areas
  • Shooting cubs or females with cubs
  • Shooting a collared bear
  • Pursuing denned bears
  • Pursuing bears with dogs

Muzzleloader Bear Quota

The Wildlife Department has set the 2025 muzzleloader harvest quota at 20 bears. The muzzleloader season will be open until 20 bears have been harvested or the season ends. Hunters must check via telephone whether the quota has been reached before going hunting each day. Once the quota has been reached, the season will close.

To check the status of the harvest quota:

Call (888) 901-3256.

License Requirements

Hunters must be in possession of all appropriate licenses before hunting bears.

Resident Youth (unless exempt):

  • Resident: Youth Annual Super Hunting License

Resident (unless exempt):

  • Resident Annual Hunting License, and
  • Resident Bear License for that particular season.

Nonresident Youth (unless exempt):

  • Nonresident Youth 5-day Super Hunting or
  • Nonresident Youth Annual Super Hunting License

Nonresident (unless exempt):

  • Nonresident Annual Hunting License, and
  • Nonresident Bear License for that particular season.

The adult nonresident 5-day hunting license is not valid for hunting bears.

  • License Purchasing Deadlines:
    • Bear licenses for the archery season must be purchased prior to the first day of archery season. No bear archery licenses will be sold on or after the first day for the archery season.
    • Bear licenses for the muzzleloader season must be purchased prior to the first day of muzzleloader season. No bear licenses will be sold on or after the first day of muzzleloader season. An unfilled bear archery license is valid for the bear muzzleloader season.

Season Dates & Open Areas

  • Archery: Oct. 1-19; Only in Choctaw, Haskell, Latimer, Le Flore, McCurtain and Pushmataha counties; and that portion of McIntosh, Muskogee and Sequoyah counties south of Interstate 40; and that portion of Atoka, Bryan, McIntosh and Pittsburg counties east of U.S. Highway 69. There is no harvest quota for bear archery season.
  • Muzzleloader: Oct. 25 - Nov. 2 (unless quota is met earlier). Only in Choctaw, Haskell, Latimer, Le Flore, McCurtain and Pushmataha counties; and that portion of McIntosh, Muskogee and Sequoyah counties south of Interstate 40; and that portion of Atoka, Bryan, McIntosh and Pittsburg counties east of U.S. Highway 69.
Oklahoma
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