Hunter’s bear kill is the first in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA OPENS historic season
By Ed Godfrey
Comments 
193
Published: October 2, 2009
CLAYTON – The first bear fell at 8:46 a.m.
History will show that Joe Russell, a 34-year-old lifelong hunter from the tiny community of Nashoba in Pushmataha County, killed the first black bear in Oklahoma’s first black bear hunting season. Before nightfall Thursday, three more bears had fallen in Le Flore County, bringing the total to four on the opening day of the black bear archery season. That leaves 16 more bears to reach the state Wildlife Department’s limit of 20 bears that can be killed in the inaugural hunting season. The black bear season is closed when hunters have bagged that number. The number of black bears taken on opening day was far short of what some hunters were predicting. Many in the southeastern Oklahoma counties of Le Flore, Latimer, McCurtain and Pushmataha — the only counties in the state open to black bear hunting — thought the season would open and close on the same day. Hunters on private land who had been baiting black bears for weeks were seeing numerous black bears on trail cameras before opening day. Russell, hunting on a 30,000-acre lease in Pushmataha County just north of Nashoba, said two bears even larger than the 200-plus pound sow (170 pounds field dressed) that he arrowed Thursday had been visiting his baited barrel of sardines, cooked grease and corn for the past month. But Thursday he decided to shoot the first bear that walked under his 12-foot-high ladder stand. "Everybody had me talked into shooting the first one that came in, if it was big enough, because they said they would all be taken today, as many bears as we got,” Russell said. Wildlife biologists estimated the age of Russell’s bear at 6 or 7 years old. It and a male bear taken in Le Flore County that weighed the same were the largest bears claimed by hunters Thursday. Joe Hemphill, southeast region supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, still thinks muzzleloader hunters will get their shots at Oklahoma’s black bears. If bow hunters don’t kill 20 by Oct. 24, then bears can be hunted with muzzleloaders until the season ends on Nov. 1 or until the limit of 20 is reached. For Russell, like many Oklahoma hunters Thursday, it was his first chance to hunt black bears. His wife let him buy a new Hoyt compound bow just for the bear hunt. "I’ve hunted since I could crawl,” Russell said. "I’ve killed a lot of big bucks with my bows, a lot of big deer all my life, but I have never been so excited as when I let go of that arrow. I went to shaking all over like it was my first deer.” State wildlife officials say the population of black bears in southeastern Oklahoma has grown large enough to justify a limited hunting season. They respond to more complaints about bears every year. Black bears have broken into cabins, trailers and campsites when they smell food. Some bears are trapped and relocated by the state Wildlife Department because they have become such a nuisance. "I see (bear) signs everywhere,” Russell said. "I camp up there in the mountains every chance I get, and every time I leave my camping area, they tear it all to pieces.” Unlike what many predicted, bear season remained open after Thursday, but Russell doesn’t think it will for long. He thinks 20 bears will be killed by bow hunters before the weekend ends. "If the wind hadn’t been blowing, I imagine it would have been over today,” he said Thursday. "There are bears everywhere.”
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I'll just start talking "dimwit okie" to him/her, and it'll take 'em at least a month to figger out if I insulted them or not, and if that doesn't werk, I'll make sure I tells 'em I "throwed" out some corn meal and grease and they'll go "bar" huntin'.....
I hope Joe Russell hits you in the mouth for disrespecting his wife with your comments following her post.
You dont get anything other than trying to degrade someone for speaking differnt than you! Im done!
You don't like "outsiders" slamming okies for their hypocrisy and stupidity, but you feel it's perfectly acceptable for okies to slam okies.
Got it. Thanks for proving my point about how hypocritic and immoral okies are....
Okie a good thing! Thanks for the compliment!
Plus, I notice how you avoided EVERYTHING in my last 2 posts EXCEPT my comment on hypocrisy. How typically okie of you.....
Paul
No need for me to look in the mirror. Hypocrisy! What I see each day is big and ugly. Never thought I was good looking or better than anyone else. So no need for me to look at myself. Just an average Joe that loves life/family and the people I meet along the way.
Im sure you go look everday in the mirror and say man I get better looking everday and then come hit the interenet to dissrespect someone to make yourself feel better about yourself. Yet you critisize others for doing the same.
Im no better than anyone else on this earth. I make a choice to live in Oklahoma and darn proud of Oklahoma. Paul you keep looking for that peace you seek! Your not going to find it dissrespecting others as much as you try. Joe Russell here seems to have found his peace hunting in the woods/family and the simple life that many of us here in Oklahoma enjoy. Been all over the US and one thing I tell folks is we are behind times here in Oklahoma but thats a good thing. Paul you should hope and wish one day you find the peace Joe and his family has done in his life. I doubt very seriously if anyone would come defend you here anytime. Joe wife showed me he is a good man and OKIE! But hey I knew it just from watching his video. Sad you could not see that in Joe's smile. God bless you Paul, I have said a prayer and ask God to touch you and give you some peace in your life.
Thats all we all can ask for in life.
Really?
Dan go back and read my comments on Sally, and for that matter, the okies who get on here and cry foul over immigrants, gays, and anybody else who doesn't embrace the okie mantra if you want to see "respect"...
Okies spew more bile and hatred about people who "ain't from 'round here" more than I ever could. Just look at how okies spew about religion on here, anybody that doesn't gulp down "the misconstrued okie view of Christianity" is flagged as a heathen (or worse). How about okies who blast science and the theory of evolution and only want "creationism" taught in okie schools? Is that the "education" you refer to?
Isn't that hypocrisy, Dan?? Go look in the mirror, eh??
If being smart is what you think you are? It seems an education has taught you nothing about respect for others! Your a spoiled person that has no regard for others feelings and there right to live life how they want to live it. Oklahoma doing just fine! Great people with great pride.
"Indeed, conservatism simply recognizes that differences exist."---Somebody better pass this wealth of info on to okies like Sally and the rest of the so called "conservatives in okieland"...
"The name calling, belittling, and other various personal attacks on a man and woman"---Once again, somebody better inform Sally and her ilk.
Karl, I watch the video of this guy and he exemplifies just why okieland is in the dumpster in quality of life rankings, education, and most all socio-economic maladies that affect this state.
You wonder why America is getting their heads handed to them on a global scale education wise? Look no further than this "prime" example on the tape.
THIS is the "conservative ideal"? A person who can barely string together a complete sentence and speaks with a backwoods mentality approaching that of "ebonics"?
"None of these feelings align with the conservative ideal."---Show me in the "conservative ideal" where it states that a person can be as dumb, or act as dumb as they feel like, just so long as they hide under their umbrella of "whatever does the trick" Isn't THAT in itself more of a liberal mindset versus a conservative one?? Isn't it the liberals who rant about "do your own thing, be what you want, express yourself in any manner that fits you, and we'll fire up the ACLU if somebody doesn't like it or challenge it"??
Spare me your comments about "elitism" and "unpatriotic", ok? If elitism is characterized by making comment about somebody who can barely speak English and does a wonderful job of dumbing down the language by "making up" words ("throwed") and uttering phrases such as "my wife let me buy me", then so be it. However, it does prove a majority of okies to be hypocritical in your eyes (I would guess) as there has been a large outcry in okieland about the immigrants who can't speak English by the okies who post on here.
You've got to be a transplanted okie.
I eagerly await your response, Karl.....
I presumed you were a liberal. The inability to embrace differences in culture, education level, personal afflatus, socio-economic level, etc... is a tendency of the liberal left. Conservatives don't use these unique differences to attack an individual. Indeed, conservatism simply recognizes that differences exist. You may feel the man depicted in the video fails to accommodate your desired level of education. You may feel he is far less refined than yourself.
None of these feelings align with the conservative ideal. There is no reason to believe this man and his wife are utilizing taxpayer benefits. In fact, there would be some evidence to the contrary, as the man makes yearly contributions beyond those required(in the form of licensing fees). It seems odd that a conservative would judge the man and his wife for living a life they feel comfortable living, a life that has little impact on you and I. The name calling, belittling, and other various personal attacks on a man and woman(and indeed a collective state of Oklahoma residents) appears to be in stark contrast to the announced conservatism you acknowledge guides your decision making.
The simple acknowledgment of conservative values in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary speaks heavily to a character of elitism. It is clear you believe this couple, and a fair portion of the residents of Oklahoma, are inadequate in several ways. Elitism does not align with any conservative value. Moreover, barring the residents enrolled in welfare programs and other government subsidies, none of these people are infringing on your pursuit of life and liberty. To judge them for living a life different than your own is disgusting and fully unpatriotic.
-Karl, Muenster Texas
Are you conservative or liberal?
Hyuk, hyuk, Mah wife, hyuk, hyuk, done let me buy me, hyuk, hyuk, a new bow, just fer this, hyuk, hyuk......Ah dun went and hyuk , hyuk throwed me down some, hyuk, hyuk, some sardines, and grease and corn, hyuk hyuk, and then the bar just dun come up on and got agin' my 1st 2 tree stand steps, hyuk, hyuk.....
I watched the video. Understood everthing entirely. He has loving wife that supports him and his passion for hunting. Just because someone talks different from you doesnt make them pathetic. Hey if it makes you feel better to find something wrong about someone, go for it. It does make you pathetic!
(By the way, Dan, it's "you're".....not your.)
"Your" refers to a possession..."your" boat, car, etc.
"You're" refers to anything that might mean "you are"...
See the difference???
Hey Paul your pretty pathethic!
Proud Okie/redneck and hunter. Your comment shows ignorance.
When he went out and "throwed" down the sardines and cornmeal and grease, did he raid the kitchen coffers in order to do so?
What a pathetic mouth breather you okies are...
I'm sure that if some of the things that you like to do was posted in an article there would be people that would disagree with how or why you are doing it too.
If you are having a problem with this article it shouldn't be him that you are calling names, cause you know nothing at all about him. All you know is that you have something against what he loves to do. So bad mouth the sport not him personally. He is a very good husband, father and person in general. He is one of the most caring people that you will find. He would give you the shirt off of his back or do anything to help someone else.
You should find some way to talk to your local wildlife departments about your concerns on this issue.
I know there are some people out there that don't understand about hunting. But he does this has been his way of life for years and there was many of times that it was the only way to put food on the table for a lot of people around southeast oklahoma. I can assure you that the meat is for putting food on the table and that its not just for the sport. As a matter of fact we just ate some of it for super, and it was very good. The food will not go to waste.
The reason that I know this information is because I am his wife.
The question that I have is what did our ancestors do for food?? The exact same thing that my husband does.Have we forgotten where we came from the pilgrams and indians we didn't have walmarts back then.
But it is not for me or anyone else to decide who is right or wrong or to judge someone for what they are doing. It is only up to one person to judge us in the end and that is no one person here on earth.
On the questions about baiting, baiting is aloud on private property and i agree with some of the others about deer hunting we are always trying to put ourselves around where we know that the deer are going to be at whether that is a food plot, feeders, or where they are scraping at. So if you do this for deer season you are no different from him.
I do have to say that I am very proud of my husband for his accomplishment to him it is a very big thing he didn't realize that there would be any publicity on it. He just thought that it was going to be another hunt to bring food home and I stand by his side on this issue. (A southeast oklahoma country girl stands by her man.)
And just to kind of defend him a little he does have his own buisness which does okay and he is a redneck from southeast oklahoma or country boy whatever you want to call him and no we don't do drugs and we still have our teeth see our dentist regularly and we are proud of all of this. But the southeast oklahoma people are not dumb like you are trying to make them sound. We are normal people just like you trying to make a living just like you.
Also I want to say thanks to the people that have supported him on these comments and those who haven't, I just wish that you had the chance to know the person that you are saying these things about and the story may be different.
If that mental dwarf is following this story, right now he's breathing through his mouth and trying to figure out if you insulted him or not.
Check back in a week or so and see if he's figured it out.....
Let me buy me??
"Throwed" down some corn and grease?
A STELLAR example of the okieland education system....
Thanks for helping to prove my point.
This guy on the video sounds like about 50% of the okies I deal with daily (and he sounds SMARTER than the other 50% of okies in general).....
The perception of "slaughtering" and "hunting like a coward" out of a treestand over bait is not realistic. This guy shot one bear with a primitive weapon and made the news. There are 200 hunters who will hunt in these conditions who will never see a bear!!! It's not as easy and "cowardly" as the article implies. But it seems to have worked...the folks judging this poor guy as a coward, redneck, and idiot are the same people who think they know something about politics by reading the paper each day. You're easily manipulated and small minded. Your opinion changes daily depending on which article you read.
Enjoy your burger and chicken breast...they didn't die from old age!
To "Jo" and "J H": What do you know about hunting black bears in Oklahoma? You read an article on NewsOK.com and make a lot of assumptions about something you haven't experienced or studied...suddenly you're an expert. Then you call "hunters" and "campers" ignorant. I believe the ignorant label should be applied to all the folks who haven't educated themselves on hunting or wildlife management. Black bear hunting season wasn't created by some Senator or House of Representatives member, it was created by the Oklahoma Wildlife Department which does studies and careful regulation on populations of game animals.
Again, I don't see anyone proposing some other method of controlling population while at the same time promoting it. The genius of the current method is that hunters pay lots in license fees, tag fees, equipment taxes which all go to buying more habitat, supporting breeding programs, introducing new species, etc. All of this is done with no Oklahoma tax dollars. It's all done through fees on the people that enjoy the outdoors. Hunters are the ultimate conservationists. We have an genuine interest in preserving and creating new habitat because we love the sport. That's a lot more than I can say for the uneducated, judgemental, hipocrits who have no problem cooking cow, chicken, and pork on their stoves.
The fact is, hunters and fisherman are responsible for the abundance of fish and big game animals. That bear and the 20 that will be harvested will generate hundres of thousands in license fees to improve bear habitat so that one bear harvested creates 10 new bears through improved habitat and breeding programs.
How many of you non-hunters have contributed to conservation organizations? I contribute every year, at least $500 dollars just like every other hunter in Oklahoma.
Stop bashing this pour guy...at least his meal had a chance to escape! Your dinner didn't even get to see the wild!
This sentence says it all. Why not authorize M 60 machine guns for the slaughter.
Better yet the ignorant hunters and campers should clean up around them so there is no food for bears in the first place.
J H
Mr. Russell and Mr. Hemphill evidently don't know the difference. I guess that is a residual
effect of their Red-Neck, HillBilly, Inbred upbringing in Push. County. You are two of the sadest
pathetic individuals on two legs.
william, Oklahoma City - Oct 2, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Fool the bear?!? Fool him? What did he do, fool him into thinking that he would be able to live a fuul life?
Fool him into believing that there IS such a thing as a free lunch?
William, the man baited that bear for weeks. That is no accomplishment and it is nothing to be proud of.
I am not for baiting- we stand much better odds than what we hunt without any other advantages given...that is just my personal opinion. I could see baiting for subsistance hunting, it is then clearly to put food on the table and there won't be any otherwise- otherwise I just don't see it as part of a skilled sport.
I used to joke with friends in the service that hunting would only really be a more "even" event when the critters got anti-personnel mines...
While I need to read up more on this before jumping too far out on the limb- this whole bear culling business needs to be really closely monitored for the impact to the populations- bears don't reproduce at the same rates as deer, they are really different ecosystems.
Sport fishing of Shark is a bad/good example of the problem many fish do indeed breed and reproduce like rabbits, sharks don't, they have a long non breeding time prior to any actual breeding happening, and they don't generate huge pools of off spring.
I am not being Anti hunting,nor anti bear hunting, so I don't want hear it! I am just saying it needs to be very well managed to make sure the "harvest" is functional and not adversely impacting the populations- I for one am glad to see and hear the bear population has made the comeback that it has... It would be a shame to "blow" in a few seasons what it took decades of not hunting to accomplish.
There have been plenty of NRA members and hunters on this thread who objected to the "baiting" of the animal, not the hunting itself. Learn reading comprehension.
You dont eat out of dumpsters, but if your diet/food isnt available you would do what it took to get your belly full !! RIGHT??
You try to give yourself an advantage because that is an animal that is being hunted everyday by some type of hunter (predator or human).
i dont know if you have ever hunted with a bow or not, but just because they are right below you doesnt mean you are going to take the animal. They can jump string or just a good ole miss.
Black Bears do not eat people for food -- or pets. What a dumb comment.
It sounds like the loophole to the baiting is "on ODWC land," meaning, if you want to hunt the cowardly way, by baiting the animal, you are free to do so as long as it's not "on ODWC land."
"bears and big cats that wander around so personally I'd be thrilled if they were all gone from this part of the world!"
Brilliant! Then we'd be over run with small rodents and other prey animals that large carnivorous predators eat, plus overgrown vegetation (fire hazard) that would normally be controlled by the black bears who are primarily vegetarians. I just love it when someone's solution to an inconvenient problem is "kill it!" So feeble minded. We are not the only creatures on this planet for a reason.
The reason behind hunting is above the thrill, it also aids in population control. If they didnt allow deer hunting there would be an over abundance and people would be hitting them with cars more frequently than they already do. Almost 100,000 deer have been harvested the last 10 years and you still see them everywhere you go. Bears will be just the same, if you dont harvest the animals numbers will climb to a point of they will hunt what they have to (humans & pets)to provide for themselves and the cubs......so if you dont like the thought of hunting dont read or watch it.
I am third generation "trash" I guess, I was like Willis taught to hunt and fish and do enjoy them both. I have only hunted and fished for what I could actually use for the feeding of myself and my family, not more, nor have a been a trophy hunter though.
While I still enjoy going out to the woods extremely, my daughter has opinions about hunting that I am willing to respect- if nothing else anything I would bring home would end up going to waste, so I refrain.
I have taken to the use of a camera instead- it is everybit as challanging to me personally....
Furthermore, if you live on a ranch, can't care for yourself for whatever reason, and are afraid of bears, then move to a location without dangerous wildlife.
The practice of hunting cannot be fully understood until you have experienced it first hand. You that are crying for the poor little defenseless bears, have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
This skill called hunting is as old as man himself. The thrill and skill that one experiences when on a successful hunt, is unmatched. The old saying that a bad day hunting is better than a good day working is true.
I wish I could share my love for the sport with everyone of you. I think that if your dad or grandfather has shown you at an early age, the sport of hunting, you wouls not be so horrified and ignorant of the greatest sport in the world. For those that will never understand the sport, I would like to reassure you that Yogi and Boo Boo are alive and well....
Tell me, why would God allow a miscarriage, anyway? Guess I never thought about it until the anonymous poster brought it up.
To me, the poster asked a rational question, especially if he/she isn't brainwashed by the religious fervor of some of the thumpers around these here parts....
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Oh, that's right, you LIKE only getting one side of the news from a rag like this....
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"unless you are a treehugger, that insists on envading their territory"
Billy, I'm a tree hugger and I would never dream of destroying habitat that is needed by wildlife just so I could build a house and get away from the city. That's a luxury enjoyed by rich people who never even consider the resources they consume. I don't really understand your use of the word tree hugger. I don't think it means what you think it means.
Are they allowed to kill mother bears? That's another question I have.
I'm not against hunting, but this is like Caribou Barbie shooting wolves from a helicopter. What a sick woman she is.
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Craig, you sound like a hunter that prides himself on being ethical in that you don't use bait, you don't kill everything that walks through your camp, etc...which I appreciate because most of these fools just like to go out and get drunk and shoot something. May I ask you how it is that alot of hunters explain that they are helping the population by managing the numbers? When you take into consideration that most hunters, of deer for example, are trying to take the biggest most impressive specimen they can, what does that do for the gene pool? Natural predators would take young or sick or weaker animals that could not elude them. The big strong healthy ones are the ones that you want to keep in the gene pool, yet these are the ones hunters would most like to bag. I have always wanted to ask this of a hunter, but I don't know anyone who hunts, so you're the lucky one.
The punk, Tim Treadway, that got his ass eaten in Alaska, was very very stupid. Different type of bears folks.
--Mustang, home of one church for every 9 people.
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Now that's quality outdoor sports television. On the last episode I saw, this kid said "I wants ta bring home da meat". When he missed his shot he fell to the ground and threw a walleye tantrum. So they took him to the automated kill machine with the laptop, gun, camera, servo motors, etc. They lined up a shot on the la[top and let him press the "shoot" button. He made the kill and he waddled to the kill and looked into the camera with his chubby face and said, "I brung home da meat!"
Now that's quality hunting in Oklahoma at its finest!!!!!
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Yeah, I did what I said I did to the bear. What the hell would you do if the bear walked right into your campsite and walked right up to your face? Crap your pants? I hit the damn bear in the nose. The bear shot off like a greyhound dog and ran across the road and thru another camp. The camper was a young single guy from Edmond, Oklahoma of all places. He came running over to our camp waving a 9MM around, very excited, asking us if we saw the bear. I told him I shooed it off and it ran over thru his camp. I was camping with my two sons and one of their friends. My 15 year old had a broken ankle from jumping off a three story parking garage, the Santa Fe garage, downtown. Another story...Anyway, he damn sure couldn't defend himself and that is why I took the bear on. What would you do, let your kid become bear crap?
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I have killed too many living things in my lifetime to be impressed with a shot from a bow over a bait station. I do realize that sometimes a hunt is needed to manage the population to prevent problems caused by the population exceeding the food supply. But in this instance the bears could have been relocated. The answer is not always to kill.
Again, my problem with these big fat ass hunters is they bait. I could get their fat asses out in the bush, wear them out and then play deliverance on the cowards. Baiting aint hunting.
Oh my gosh, I'll bet some are having a multiple. Oh well, I'll bet their wives are grateful, they won't have to be bothered with them for a while.
--God works in mysterious ways.
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I guess I am a tough guy, people only talk crap to me on boards like this. I have never had a problem with them doing it to my face.
I am a hunter, climber and hiker. But I think baiting is bullshi%^.
Let's bait his ass. These bears are scared just like dogs. You can literally shoo them away. And yes, I have hit one in the nose. It ran off like the coward of the county. Same as these big men baiting hunters....
I go to the Wichita Wildlife refuge to climb and hike every week of the year. Two days ago back on Elk Mountain, back to the East, I could already hear the Elk bugling. It galls me when I think of the so-called "hunters" who shoot fish in a barrell in the refuge each year. Yeah, the herd has to be thinned so lets gets a bunch of dumbasses in here to shoot them.
This young man justifies killing the bear because it has broken into cabins and campsites. Tell you what friendo, I have had a big brown bear look me in the eye from about three feet. I hit it in the nose and it ran off like a friggin greyhound dog. The other species that is overpopulated down in SE Oklahoma is Meth freaks. Baiting them wouldn't be hard. Some of them probably have bows in their hands today. Big Man...proud of you.
Go ahead you tree hugging morons give it your best shot.