First bear taken as hunting season begins in Missouri

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri’s first black bear hunting season has begun, and a hunter in southwestern Missouri is the first to take a bear.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a 250-pound female was hunted on private land Monday. Missouri Department of Conservation communications manager Lucas Bond says a second bear was later killed on public land in the same area west of West Plains. Bond didn’t release the name of the hunter who shot the first bear. The man said in a video posted on the department’s Facebook page that as a hunter, “this was probably the most thrilling, exciting thing that I’ve ever done.”

The Missouri Department of Conservation reports five bears killed in the Southwest District and two bears killed in the Southeast District. The black bear season continues through Oct. 27.

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