Bear Attacks, Kills Man at Popular Arkansas Campground

October 6, 2025

Sam’s Throne, a popular campground in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest in Arkansas, was the site of tragedy this week. On October 2, local sheriffs found a 60-year-old man deceased in one of the campsites, likely from a bear attack. The suspected animal was tracked and euthanized by the sheriff’s department, with assistance from locals and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

The incident marks Arkansas’s second bear-related fatality in a month.

According to a press release from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, authorities received a call from the victim’s son. He knew his father was camping at Sam’s Throne, but hadn’t heard from him for several days. So he asked the sheriff’s office to perform a welfare check.

When law enforcement arrived, they located the man’s campsite. They reported that it “had been disturbed and there was evidence of a struggle and injury. There were also drag marks leading from the campground into the woods.”

Authorities quickly began searching the area and found the man, deceased, a few yards away. Gear Junkie