Bears. My father in law is a bear hunting guide in Canada and he assists in the hunting preparation for a northern Maine guide service. Hes hunted bear for more years than Ive been alive. My husband grew up hunting with his father. Im going to be voting to keep our laws for bear hunting the same for now. When there is a ballot on banning of dogs, I may agree with that. When there is a ballot on banning of traps, I may agree with that as well. But the overwhelming majority of bear hunting involves bait, and I do _not_ support the banning of baiting. Lets reasonably separate this in a better, smarter ballot and not make a bad law just because its what is being offered in a package deal. Someone spoke in another thread of hunters disgusting them because in their state hunters sit at their trucks drinking beer and wait for the dogs to tree bears. Drew Bouchard expressed my thoughts well enough that I decided to share them here. He began in response to lazy hunters. Hunters also sit in their trucks drinking beer and waiting for deer to wander by. Bad hunters are bad hunters, regardless of the method used. I also feel they should be separate issues on the ballot. The reason being is that each is a separate method of hunting that require different equipment and methods. I, generally, dont like hunting with dogs since, in my experience, its a very inefficient way of hunting bear, for the state of maine. Depending on the geography in a certain area it may be the only way to successfully hunt. Baiting if am fine with. For a number of reason. Bear are hard to find. I can count on less than two hands the number of times myself and my dad have randomly seen a bear in any position to shoot. Because they are so elusive the the more efficient way to hunt them is to make them come to you. I work with two biologists who have done lots of wildlife management in the past. From what they tell me and from my own observations baiting doesnt habituated bear to just eating the stuff put out in baits. Bear are omnivorous and can eat anything from old burgers to nuts off of trees to salmon in the stream. They dont have to go far to actually find food because of this which is one of the reasons they are hard to stalk. Where as deer, being herbivores, must move in more predictable manners during the day to feed, which allow them to be hunted mover reliably. Using a bait also makes it more likely that i will be able to reliably and humanly shoot the bear. I personally dont like hunting being called a sport. The term sport implies rules that make it just was likely for the animal to not be killed during the hunt. I dont hunt to waist time In a truck and putz around with friends. Hunting is a way for me to provide lots of food in and quick and cost efficient manner. Why would I want to give the bear a chance of dying a horrible death In the woods with a bullet lodged in it somewhere? Why would I want to waist that time money and energy hunting and not have any caloric value to show for it? It would be like spending hours at SAMs club Only to find that your food ran away just as you were about to check out and there was no way for you to find the isles you got them from again. I cant speak to any of the biological data about tracking bear. From what my biologist friends tell me even the state cant talk much about it since the data from collared bear is in so many different place s and formats that it so possible to do any actual scientific study with it. Id personally be more concerned with what the IDWF is doing with all the tax money for bear tracking than which the really only successful method of hunting bear in the state. Baiting also lets me be more selective in which bear I take. Because they are so rare to find on a stalk or as you drive by somewhere hunters are more likely to try and shoot it before it gets away. On a bait I have a chance to observe the bear and judge if it is worth taking. If its a sow with 3 cubs I can, and would, let it go and i can come back another time to see if any other bear are hitting the bait. If its a boar by his lonesome then I can take my time to ensure a good shot. One last point. Baiting is also a method of hunting that is accessible to those with physical disabilities and mobility impairments.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 11:37:03 +0000
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