Black bears in Louisiana

[sgt_zim]

last year, our neighbor got a pic of what looked like a yearling black bear, maybe 30 or 40 yards from our property line.

nothing this year, but was talking with a couple hunters while standing in line to buy feed, they hunt deer up near the state penitentiary (just south of MS line, at the very SW corner of MS), and they've got black bears so thick they're having to string their feeders between trees, about 12 or 15 feet up; otherwise, the bears are destroying them. Angola state pen. is probably about 15 or 20 miles from where we hunt, near St Francisville, LA.

Any other LA hunters seeing black bears?

My B-i-L does a lot of deer hunting in SW MS, a few miles north of the LA state pen. They're having issues with bears there as well.

I wonder how much longer until we can have a black bear season in LA.

 

[Tgood1]

I do not live in Louisiana but my wife is from there and I spend a good bit of time hunting and fishing there. Mostly in the marsksville, st Landry parish, and Venice area. Plenty of bear except in Venice. I usually see several every year including some very large size ones.

 

[Mike70560]

See them often near Franklin in St. Mary Parish. They are often a nuisance in neighborhoods in the edge of town. My sister had one in her yard in the middle of town.

 

[sgt_zim]

I do not live in Louisiana but my wife is from there and I spend a good bit of time hunting and fishing there. Mostly in the marsksville, st Landry parish, and Venice area. Plenty of bear except in Venice. I usually see several every year including some very large size ones.

We're pretty close - maybe an hour apart since they put the bridge in at Point Coupee/W Feliciana.

I have a college friend from Mansura.

When my buddy and I step off from his house (north of Magnolia, Texas), we drive through Leesville/Alex/Marksville. First time we drove it in daylight, my buddy was taken aback at the size of the Morganza spillway area. I was like "well yeah, it's the spillway for the MS River."

 

[Thumper Mcgee]

here in east Tennessee they are almost as common as deer

 

[Tgood1]

We're pretty close - maybe an hour apart since they put the bridge in at Point Coupee/W Feliciana.

I have a college friend from Mansura.

When my buddy and I step off from his house (north of Magnolia, Texas), we drive through Leesville/Alex/Marksville. First time we drove it in daylight, my buddy was taken aback at the size of the Morganza spillway area. I was like "well yeah, it's the spillway for the MS River."

Quite close. My wife lived in New roads when we married and I cross the spillway when I hunt and run lines off the red river. When I hunt the Dewey willes complex I see bear pretty consistently

 

[LucasK]

I am afraid it will take some time for you to get a season, the subspecies you have has ESA protection. It may take years with all the wrangling the state will have to go through.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

For those surprised that Louisiana has black bears, you might also be surprised about how the "Teddy Bear" came to be.

Theodore Roosevelt & the Teddy Bear | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

The story that led to the creation of the teddy bear toy unfolded more than a century ago when President Theodore Roosevelt visited west-central Mississippi and northeastern Louisiana. This article tells that story and celebrates the conservation impact Roosevelt had on that part of the nation.

www.fws.gov

 

[sgt_zim]

Quite close. My wife lived in New roads when we married and I cross the spillway when I hunt and run lines off the red river. When I hunt the Dewey willes complex I see bear pretty consistently

She must have some tick accent, cher, with her peeps from Point Coupee, Avoyelles, and St Landry.

Always amused me how Cajun Point Coupee is, and how redneck W Feliciana is. And when you get to E Feliciana, you need to paddle faster cuz you can hear the banjos.

Mom grew up in St Francisville (well, more like about halfway between SF and Jackson)

 

[crs]

Several years ago, the Texas Parks and Wildlife spoke at a DWWC dinner and when asked about black bear in Texas, he told us that bears had crossed into east Texas from Arkansas and Louisiana, but there was not an open season in Texas.
Add Oklahoma to the bear sources as southeast OK now has a lot of bear and a bear season and getting across the Red River to Texas is no big deal for a bear.

Any one that is out and about in east Texas knows there are black bears there. Ask an east Texas hunter or farmer or rancher.

 

[crs]

BTW, that bear in the photo up above looks a lot like the one I spooked off our bear proof garbage container in southeast Colorado several years ago.

 

[Tgood1]

She must have some tick accent, cher, with her peeps from Point Coupee, Avoyelles, and St Landry.

Always amused me how Cajun Point Coupee is, and how redneck W Feliciana is. And when you get to E Feliciana, you need to paddle faster cuz you can hear the banjos.

Mom grew up in St Francisville (well, more like about halfway between SF and Jackson)

Holy shit I've needed interpreters before. It is funny my inlaws come here in wv to bear hunt and love it when they genuinely have a bear situation within 15 minutes from their house. The most fun I have is listening to my answering machine, having a few drinks then betting on who and what the hell the message is for

 

[sgt_zim]

Holy shit I've needed interpreters before. It is funny my inlaws come here in wv to bear hunt and love it when they genuinely have a bear situation within 15 minutes from their house. The most fun I have is listening to my answering machine, having a few drinks then betting on who and what the hell the message is for

Dude, I grew up in Baton Rouge. I still have a hard time with some of them. Can't tell you how many Landrys, Thibideauxs, Soillieus, Babins, Arceneauxs, etc I went to school with growing up.

 

[Tgood1]

Yup. Its a wonderful eclectic group that one must experience to truly appreciate. Tv shows dont do it justice

 

[sgt_zim]

In my experience, the closer one gets to Cajun Central, the happier the people are. Complete contrast with people in LA who live north of Alexandria. Dad worked in cooperative extension at LSU for 40 years. He had a number of opportunities to consult, but it would have meant a move to Shreveport/Bossier City or Monroe. And there was no way he was moving back "home" (grew up in Bossier parish), and Mom didn't want anything to do with it, either. Would have been a boatload more money, too.

My daughter, reared in Texas and then Georgia (graduated from UGA), was accepted to LSU law school, just graduated this past May. Prior to that, she hadn't spent more than a couple months her whole life in South LA. Now, it's home for her.

It was funny when she first started there. She was at the "Paul Hee-burt" law school. For those not familiar, it's the "Paul M Hebert" (pronounced ay-bear) law school.

 

[Red Leg]

Dude, I grew up in Baton Rouge. I still have a hard time with some of them. Can't tell you how many Landrys, Thibideauxs, Soillieus, Babins, Arceneauxs, etc I went to school with growing up.

I was born in Thibodaux in Lafourche Parish (you Anglos need to work on that spelling thing) and largely grew up in Lake Charles. The Atchafalaya Basin was the remaining refuge for black bear in the state from the early 20th century until game laws finally became effective and they started to slowly reclaim some of their native range in the state. In the early eighties I was stationed as an ROTC instructor at McNeese in Lake Charles and regularly hunted and fished the Sabine River basin on the Texas border. Once while sitting on a stand a sow and two cubs sauntered by no fifty feet away. I have always believed it a matter of time and a bit of luck before they truly established themselves there and in the adjacent Texas pine forests.

By the way. We considered anyone north of I-10 a redneck at best and probably even a Yankee. Though we are very generous in adopting the less fortunate who finally have discovered South Louisiana.

 

[sgt_zim]

Come on, man! Mamou, Eunice, Opelousas, Marksville, Mansura, New Roads, Port Barre, Church Point...all north of I-10.

I plead total redneck. Dad grew up in Rocky Mount, Mom in St. Francisville. We're about 80% Irish (orange) and English.

Spanish is easy. Italian is easy. Even Portuguese is easy. French pronunciations and spelling don't bear any resemblance at all to each other.

 

[wesheltonj]

. . . My daughter, reared in Texas and then Georgia (graduated from UGA), was accepted to LSU law school, just graduated this past May. . .

My condolences. It’s still not too late for her to attend medical school.

 

[WAB]

We used to get Cajun crews on refinery turnarounds. Great people, always having fun and cooking awesome food. The French roots are from Acadia (Nova Scotia).

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

In my experience, the closer one gets to Cajun Central, the happier the people are. Complete contrast with people in LA who live north of Alexandria. Dad worked in cooperative extension at LSU for 40 years. He had a number of opportunities to consult, but it would have meant a move to Shreveport/Bossier City or Monroe. And there was no way he was moving back "home" (grew up in Bossier parish), and Mom didn't want anything to do with it, either. Would have been a boatload more money, too.

My daughter, reared in Texas and then Georgia (graduated from UGA), was accepted to LSU law school, just graduated this past May. Prior to that, she hadn't spent more than a couple months her whole life in South LA. Now, it's home for her.

It was funny when she first started there. She was at the "Paul Hee-burt" law school. For those not familiar, it's the "Paul M Hebert" (pronounced ay-bear) law school.

But Mr. Honda is from around Shreveport!