The March issue of Bear Hunting Magazine has a column called "The Bear Whisperer". This month's subject was "Hunting Bears Over Bait Is It Fair? Is It Ethical?" It contains the following quote;
"Most areas that allow baiting are thick, rugged country that does not allow enought oppurtunities for hunters to harvest a bear without the use of bait. In cases where irrational emotion instead of good biology has dictated a state's wildlife policy, such as Washington and California, the local Fish and Game Departments regularly hire professional hunters and trappers to kill excess animals which are generally left to rot." I live in California. The Sierra Nevada Mountains have thousands of square miles of prime bear territory and 30-33,000 black bears. The only irrational emotion is over mountain lions. We don't need bait or Bear Hunting Magazine in California. Hunting over bait isn't hunting it is culling and killing. Dogs hunt.

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I think your wrong i belive hunting bears over bait is just another tool we should have in our arsenal now i have never done it but i belive if someone wants to hunt them over bait why not in some of those areas thats the only way your gunna get a shot at the bears and you still need to put your time in figuring out which ones are being hit by shooters and what not it dont matter if you put a bait where there isnt any bears no bears are gunna go to it common sence anyways thats my outlook on it if you can leagely do it go for it if not and you wanna go someplace that can


Matt

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there are very few bear here in NORTH AL. but i think in the places where a hunter can not get in, or get around to hunt the bear, then it should be OK to hunt over bait. each state needs to do what ever needs to be done to keep the game population's under control. i do not agree with what some states do to control some of the populations put ether way it has to be done. i do wish all of the states would do more for the ''hunters'' when something needs to be done with a over population of game.

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i think it just goes to show how lazy a hunter really is, we are steadily getting away from finding there sign and where they are bedding down and where there eating at and drinking at and really hunting them, instead some people would rather dump corn or what ever out and wait till they find it and kill it and say they are hunting.

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Glad to see all you SPORTSMEN hanging together, way to back each other up.

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...........Budd Denny.........

HUNT,FISH,TRAP!!!!!!!! Is there anything else???

Hunters need to stick together. Bait sitting is easier but for some that is the only way they can hunt bear. So instead of complaining about bait invited the next baitsitter you talk to on a real bear hunt with hounds.

i think it is fair because a lot of people that i know that bear hunt its the only way they can. they either dont know anyone that has hounds to run bear or cant afford to have their own hounds.

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I think you are one hundred percent correct about not pushing a baiting regulation for places like California PJ. It appears that the antis have not stopped or limited the harvest for you guys like they have on the mountain lion, but trust me they hate the thought of a guy baiting bears. I'll agree that pushing a baiting regulation in a place like California could backfire and cause you guys to loose your hounds--don't risk it!

Baiting and or hounds are tools that assists the hunter in harvest. In Utah, they only allow one or the other, believing that both aids gives a hunter too much advantage on harvest. If harvest number is limited like it is in this state, the combination of the two would help a hunter in more targeted and and selective harvest. However, hounds alone in a place like California gets the job done and loosing hound hunting over gaining baiting would be a fools effort......

Ike

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I agree it is not hunting it is the opposite of hunting bear it is depending on them to find you. I think bait hunting or stump hunting is not very sporting. Unless someone is handicapped then it is pretty pitiful. I am sure it is needed in places without hound seasons but I think a hound season would do much more good and help instill more fear of man into the bear population instead of letting them associate men with food.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

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not too well thought out was it.

Hunting bears over bait has it's place. It's use or non-use will vary from state to state and from one area to another within a state. Here in PA we have a whole bunch of gated communities that it's tough to draw deer out of. To the point that some communities are opting for paid sharpshooting services coming in to thin the herd in thier developments. Baiting for deer has been proposed in areas that border these communities . I think that is a great example of hunting over bait being a well thought out alternative. Paul Conway.

Some people would say the same about hound hunting. If I was rich I could go buy a well broke kick ##*%* dog, at that point getting cats, lions and bears with that dog would be as easy as baiting. They're gonna try to take it all away folks so lets stick together.

I've baited just about everything and on last springs bear hunt in ID there was an avalanche so I had to pack bait 3mi to get to my bait site. I made 8 trips in and out. I ended up shootin a bear then had to pack him out in the dark. Nobody can tell me that baitin aint hunting.
I shot my spring bear in MT from a hill side @641yds, it's no different.

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I bait for bear as well as hunt with hounds, If you think that baiting is just dumping bait and shooting a bear over it is easy you are not doing your homework. I spend hour after hour doing my homework as to which bears I want to feed, and as to where they are at. Some of the areas I bait are awful rough to run dogs in. I think that both bait hunting and running hounds are the way I prefer to hunt, if you think its not ethical I believe you are making an uneducated judgement. I believe I will continue to get my bear hunting magazine thank you
Rick

It's good to see valid, intelligent posts on a issue with so many sides, all of them valid. If California allowed bait hunting I would have no problem with it. A warden I spoke with last year said he would like to see the limit of 1800 raised a couple hundred to maybe 2000. I may not agree with baiting but will support someone's right to do it with letters or donations. As Ben Franklin said in an often used quote:
"We must, indeed, all hang together,or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." Philosophical differnces should make our sport stronger. By agreeing to disagree we can
all to move forward and prevent a united front against those that oppose freedom and our way of life. They are out there, they have millions, and they HATE what we do and what we stand for. If hunting with hounds is outlawed, will you be an outlaw? "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything" _Aaron Tippet
Hunt hard -PJ Meyer
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