Arkansas, 2026-27 season year

Arkansas Bear Season 2026-27

Q: When does bear season open in Arkansas in 2026-27?

Modern Gun: November 14, 2026 to December 25, 2026, varying by zone across 6 rows in the agency table. Archery: September 9, 2026 to November 30, 2026. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission publishes these dates and the full zone tables on this page were read from its own page on September 19, 2026.

Q: Does Arkansas have a spring bear season in 2027?

No. Arkansas holds no spring bear season. The AGFC's Bear Seasons and Limits page dates only fall archery, alternative firearms, youth and modern gun windows, all falling between September and December. Spring bear seasons are mostly a western pattern, and the national page lists the states that hold one in 2027.

Q: Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Arkansas?

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, on its page titled Avoid an un-bear-able situation this spring, AGFC, which is linked from the agency notice on this page. That page is the agency's own guidance for Arkansas residents on attractants, encounters and who to call, and its sentence on fall activity is quoted verbatim beside the link, read on September 19, 2026.

Q: Where are the rest of the Arkansas bear hunting rules?

At Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, whose regulations page is linked on this page. Those rules are legally binding, change annually and vary by zone and land ownership; the permit and tag system, zone maps, methods and reporting requirements are all published there. This page carries the season windows themselves, with the source page and read date attached.

They don't have a rut during the fall like deer, but are about to go into their den cycle so they're focused on one thing – eating." Means will help hunters use this knowledge to increase their chances of harvesting a bear, with tactics developed for private and public land hunters. "We'll cover baiting sites and how to pattern bears on private land," Means said. "But we'll also cover public land hunting, where baiting is not allowed." Finding bears on public land still revolves around finding food sources, but it requires much more work in scouting. Means says if acorns and other foods are plentiful, the bears will not need to move much to eat. During low mast years, they'll move more and focus harder on particular trees that may still be producing acorns.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

Modern Gun: November 14, 2026 to December 25, 2026. People report black bears in Arkansas most in July, and 37 percent of all reports fall in September, October and November. Everything below is Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s own words and dates, read on September 19, 2026, beside the record of what people reported.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 19, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.

November 14, 2026 to December 25, 2026

Modern Gun

published

September 9, 2026 to November 30, 2026

Archery

published

No season

Spring bear season

no season

July

Busiest reported month

1,623 reports on record

Fall activity

When black bears are most active in Arkansas

The AGFC says Arkansas is home to the American black bear, the only bear species that lives in the state, and that there are over 5,000 bears today thanks to the Black Bear Restoration Program of 1958 to 1968, after black bears were almost hunted completely out of the state by the 1930s.

The bars count research grade American black bear observations people uploaded to iNaturalist for Arkansas, by calendar month, across every year the platform holds. The busiest month in the record is July, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by November. The drop into winter reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency’s sentences below, not the curve, carry the timing.

1,623 research grade American black bear observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Arkansas across every year the platform holds, and 37 percent of them fall in the three shaded fall months. The busiest month in the record is July, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by November. These are counts of what people reported, so they measure observers as well as bears; they are not a population, not a survey and not a statement about this autumn. See the records on iNaturalist.

Research grade black bear reports uploaded for Arkansas by year, 2016 to 2025: 12 in 2016 and 61 in 2025. Most of the climb is the platform itself growing, and every species on it shows the same shape, so this is a record of reporting rather than a population trend.

What Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says

Fall feeding

They don't have a rut during the fall like deer, but are about to go into their den cycle so they're focused on one thing – eating." Means will help hunters use this knowledge to increase their chances of harvesting a bear, with tactics developed for private and public land hunters. "We'll cover baiting sites and how to pattern bears on private land," Means said. "But we'll also cover public land hunting, where baiting is not allowed." Finding bears on public land still revolves around finding food sources, but it requires much more work in scouting. Means says if acorns and other foods are plentiful, the bears will not need to move much to eat. During low mast years, they'll move more and focus harder on particular trees that may still be producing acorns.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Denning

Black bears emerge from their winter dens beginning in late March in Arkansas. When they do, they do what bears do best: look for food.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

When conflicts and sightings rise

"Most of the calls we get about bears getting too close to towns and cities come during a few months in summer and they're almost always young males," Myron Means, large carnivore program coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said. "They've overwintered with their mother twice and now it's time for them to find new homes."

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

What Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says about bears in Arkansas

Avoid an un-bear-able situation this spring, AGFC is the agency’s own page for Arkansas residents and visitors: attractants, encounters, and who to call about a bear.

They don't have a rut during the fall like deer, but are about to go into their den cycle so they're focused on one thing – eating." Means will help hunters use this knowledge to increase their chances of harvesting a bear, with tactics developed for private and public land hunters. "We'll cover baiting sites and how to pattern bears on private land," Means said. "But we'll also cover public land hunting, where baiting is not allowed." Finding bears on public land still revolves around finding food sources, but it requires much more work in scouting. Means says if acorns and other foods are plentiful, the bears will not need to move much to eat. During low mast years, they'll move more and focus harder on particular trees that may still be producing acorns.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source.

A young black bear resting its chin on a bare dead branch in a green hardwood forest, ears forward, looking at the camera — A young black bear on a dead limb in the hardwoods. In the eastern forests the fall feeding season runs on acorns and beechnuts, which is why the agency sentences quoted on these pages talk about hard mast and mast years. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear (20083897724)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Hunting dates

Arkansas bear seasons, 2026-27

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission dates American black bear seasons under its own names, and each is below under that name with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them, the source page linked beside each table, and the date it was read.

Modern Gun

published

Modern Gun opens in 35 days, on November 14, 2026 (Bear Zone 1).

Arkansas modern gun, as published by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Bear Zone 1	November 14, 2026	November 30, 2026	Can close before the printed end date; the AGFC posts the closure on its seasons page
Bear Zone 2	November 14, 2026	November 30, 2026
Bear Zone 3	December 19, 2026	December 25, 2026	Can close before the printed end date; the AGFC posts the closure on its seasons page
Bear Zone 4	December 19, 2026	December 25, 2026	Can close before the printed end date; the AGFC posts the closure on its seasons page
Bear Zone 5	December 19, 2026	December 25, 2026	Can close before the printed end date; the AGFC posts the closure on its seasons page
Bear Zone 5A	December 19, 2026	December 25, 2026	Can close before the printed end date; the AGFC posts the closure on its seasons page

Dates read from Bear Seasons and Limits, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, accessed 2026-09-19.

Arkansas dates bear seasons by Bear Zone. Zones 1 and 2 carry the full archery, alternative firearms, youth and modern gun sequence from September into November; Zones 3, 4, 5 and 5A hold a single week of modern gun bear season in late December; Zones 6 and 7 are closed to bear hunting.

Archery

published

Archery is OPEN now in the Bear Zone 1, through November 30, 2026, with 2 zone segments open.

Arkansas archery, as published by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Bear Zone 1	September 9, 2026	November 30, 2026	Can close before the printed end date; the AGFC posts the closure on its seasons page
Bear Zone 2	September 9, 2026	November 30, 2026

Dates read from Bear Seasons and Limits, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, accessed 2026-09-19.

Archery bear season runs only in Bear Zones 1 and 2 and is closed in Zones 3, 4, 5 and 5A. New for 2026-27, the AGFC set the Zone 1 and 2 archery opener to the Wednesday closest to Sept. 11 each year, which falls on Sep 9 in 2026.

Spring bear season

no season

Arkansas holds no spring bear season. Arkansas holds no spring bear season. The AGFC's Bear Seasons and Limits page dates only fall archery, alternative firearms, youth and modern gun windows, all falling between September and December. Source: Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Other Arkansas bear seasons the agency names

Alternative Firearms

published

Alternative Firearms opens in 7 days, on October 17, 2026 (Bear Zone 1).

Arkansas alternative firearms, as published by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Bear Zone 1	October 17, 2026	October 25, 2026	Can close before the printed end date; the AGFC posts the closure on its seasons page
Bear Zone 2	October 17, 2026	October 25, 2026

Dates read from Bear Seasons and Limits, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, accessed 2026-09-19.

A nine day alternative firearms bear window in Bear Zones 1 and 2 only; the AGFC lists it as closed in Zones 3, 4, 5 and 5A.

Special Youth Modern Gun Bear Hunt

published

Special Youth Modern Gun Bear Hunt opens in 28 days, on November 7, 2026 (Bear Zone 1).

Arkansas special youth modern gun bear hunt, as published by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Bear Zone 1	November 7, 2026	November 8, 2026
Bear Zone 2	November 7, 2026	November 8, 2026

Dates read from Bear Seasons and Limits, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, accessed 2026-09-19.

A two day youth bear weekend in Bear Zones 1 and 2 the weekend before the modern gun opener; the AGFC lists it as closed in Zones 3, 4, 5 and 5A.

The agency's own season sentence

2026 Bear Season Dates Archery: Sept. 9-Nov. 30, 2026 Alternative Firearms: Oct. 17-25, 2026 Special Youth Modern Gun Bear Hunt: Nov. 7-8, 2026 Modern Gun: Nov. 14-30, 2026

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Current Arkansas regulations

Permit and tag requirements, zone maps, permitted methods, tagging and reporting, and everything else a bear hunter is bound by for Arkansas are set by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission: current regulations

A black bear track pressed into wet grey mud, five rounded toes in an arc above a broad pad, with a second fainter print beside it — A black bear track in mud in Shenandoah National Park. Tracks, scat, turned over logs and claw marks on smooth beech bark are the sign most people meet in the fall woods, weeks before they meet the bear. Photo: M. Punches, NPS. “Black Bear Track in Mud (44654784885)”, ShenandoahNPS, Public domain

Bear season in other states

Arkansas deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Arkansas small game seasonPheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel openers, read from the same agency.Arkansas foraging calendarThe acorns, beechnuts and berries the agency names as fall bear food are the same mast a forager follows.

An adult black bear standing on a broken limb high in a hardwood tree above two small cubs, all three looking down — A mother black bear and two cubs of the year in a hardwood tree. The denning sentences quoted on the state pages describe when family groups like this one go to ground, and it moves by weeks between a Gulf Coast winter and a northern one. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear Family (20083894064)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Arkansas bear season questions

When are black bears most active in Arkansas in the fall?

In the observation record for Arkansas, research grade black bear reports peak in July and 37 percent of all 1,623 reports fall in September, October and November. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission describes the fall feeding period in its own words, quoted on this page with a link to the page it came from. Reports count people as well as bears, so the shape of the curve is the useful part and the exact numbers are not.

When does bear season open in Arkansas in 2026-27?

Does Arkansas have a spring bear season in 2027?

When do black bears go into dens in Arkansas?

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission describes the denning timing for Arkansas in the sentence quoted on this page, read on September 19, 2026 from the page linked beside it. In the observation record, reports fall below 40 percent of the July peak by November and reach their low in February. That drop reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency's sentence, not the curve, is the denning answer.

Are black bear sightings in Arkansas increasing?

The number of research grade black bear reports uploaded for Arkansas went from 12 in 2016 to 61 in 2025. Most of that rise is the platform itself growing, since every species on iNaturalist shows the same climb, so the year bars on this page are a record of reporting rather than a population trend. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission describes when sightings and conflicts rise in Arkansas in the sentence quoted on this page.

Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Arkansas?

Where are the rest of the Arkansas bear hunting rules?

A brown wooden Bear Country sign with a white bear pictogram and a red band, on two posts at the edge of a lodgepole pine campground in low sun — A Bear Country sign at Indian Creek Campground, Yellowstone. The land manager writes the rules on the board, and they change by campground and by season: food storage orders, closed drainages, and whether a soft sided tent is allowed at all. “Bear Country Sign for Indian Creek (14457698423)”, Yellowstone National Park from Yellowstone NP, USA, Public domain

A snow covered track running between pines bent low under heavy snow, with a strip of blue sky above — Midwinter at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Maine. This is denning season in the north; each agency's own sentence on when its bears enter and leave their dens is quoted on the state pages, and the month bars show the reports thinning to match. “Winter at Moosehorn (11714166893)”, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region, Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with agency data read on September 19, 2026 and an iNaturalist record to September 19, 2026. Every sentence about bear behaviour is Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s own, quoted exactly with a link to its page; every season window is republished from the agency page linked beside it, and windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. The month bars count what members of the public reported and are not a population. See also the national bear season guide.