Hunter bags 300-pound black bear with homemade bow in Oklahoma. ‘Crazy impressive’
_fitted.png "An Oklahoma hunter bagged a black bear using hunting gear he made from scratch, officials say.")
An Oklahoma hunter recently took down a 300-pound black bear using a homemade bow and arrows, photos show.
Caleb Flies, of Little Axe, bagged the beast during a trip to southeast Oklahoma, he said in an Oct. 1 Facebook post, posing with the bear and his custom equipment.
“I only used natural material to make this setup,” he said, listing copperhead snakeskin, beavertail, obsidian and hide glue among the components.
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“The moment a bear you want to shoot comes in, the nerves are unreal,” Flies told McClatchy News in an email.
Black bears are likely the toughest animal anyone might encounter in the Oklahoma woods, and while they’re not as ferocious as a grizzly, they’re more than capable of defending themselves if threatened.
“A sow with [cubs] makes me the most nervous, and walking in and out of my spot in the dark is a bit eerie as well. That being said there is always a bit of healthy fear being that close to a animal that could rip you to shreds if it wanted to,” Flies said.
Flies was about 21 feet away from the bear when he took aim from his tree stand and let loose an arrow, he said. It was a “great shot,” and the bear died within 20 yards of his position.
Flies’ post quickly caught attention online, with fellow hunters and outdoors enthusiasts chiming in with congratulations and questions.
“So crazy impressive!!” one commenter said.
“Hats off to you, that’s an incredible hunt,” said another.
Even the state Department of Wildlife Conservation was impressed.
“Everything from the bowstring to the broadhead, Caleb built for himself from scratch,” the department said in an Oct. 12 Facebook post. “We’d like to commend Caleb for his passion as a bowhunter and for a job well done.”
“I enjoy the process, bowbuilding most of all. But every aspect of the journey is rewarding, from cutting down the tree to harvesting an animal. It’s not the [easy] way, but it is the rewarding way,” Flies said in the email.
Oklahoma isn’t known as bear country but there are an estimated 1,300 black bears in the Ouachita Mountains, in the southeastern corner of the state, experts say.
“Unregulated hunting before statehood caused a drastic decline in the bear population. But since the late 1900s, the black bear population in Oklahoma has grown,” according to the state Department of Wildlife Conservation. The state began allowing regulated hunting of black bears in 2009.
This story was originally published October 12, 2023 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Hunter bags 300-pound black bear with homemade bow in Oklahoma. ‘Crazy impressive’."