A simple bear hunt

Country Today ^ | 9-10-08

[SJackson]

A simple bear hunt

A DNR press release came through a couple of weeks ago about this fall's bear hunt. A few lines caught my eye:

"Most bear hunters either use dogs to find and chase their quarry, or they draw bears to a specific location by maintaining a bear bait in the weeks before the season opens. ... Although they are a small minority, there are hunters who eschew the aid of dogs or bait and either position themselves over natural food sources or attempt to stalk bears on foot."

Small minority, indeed. Yesterday I called Keith Warnke, DNR big-game ecologist. He said a 2006 survey of bear hunters showed 0.5 percent skipped the dogs and bait. That equates to roughly 25 people. I asked him if he knew any of those folks, but he didn't. I've checked around with a few people and am waiting to hear back if anyone can put me in touch with a bear hunter who doesn't use bait or dogs. If I find someone, I'll have a story in the Sept. 17 edition.

I'm curious what makes these people hunt the way they do. Baiting bears has been a contentious issue at times. There are non-bear hunters who dislike the practices bear hunters use. I wrote a story a couple of years ago about a bear hunter who bought stale brownies by the barrel to use as bait. The story prompted a few nasty letters to the editor.

So if you are a bear hunter who doesn't use bait or dogs, or you know someone like that, give me a call.

[SJackson]

If anyone has a contribution E mailto: megan.parker@ecpc.com

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this Upper Midwest/outdoors/rural list please FR mail me. And ping me is you see articles of interest.

EMail in post 1

[SkyDancer]

Where I live we don’t have to “hunt” bears ... they just sort of come out of the woods and look at you ......

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Hmmmmm. Deer is big enough game for me. And the bear that I’ve eaten over the years is sweet, while gamy. I don’t find it all that tasty; though it’s good as jerky.

But...I think baiting any animal to hunt is CHEATING. It’s called “hunting” not “setting a trap and waiting.”

[SJackson]

I don’t hunt bear, but baiting is SOP. And not a certainty of success. Some parts of the country they use dogs on deer. Other places they consider drive unfair, and downright dangerous. A century ago they’d employ all these techniques. Hard to judge local customs.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I have a friend that raises Coon Hounds; awesome dogs. I have no problem using hounds for fox or raccoon.

And true; I’ve been on many deer drives with my brothers and nephews, and you really DO need to be with experienced hunters for that, and even if...accidents do still happen.

I guess it bugs me using bait and dogs with larger game such as deer and bear. They’re a pretty large target. Aim small, miss small. ;)

Nice to see you, BTW. Where ya been? Been down with ‘Palin Fever’ like the rest of us? LOL!

[tubebender]

My neighbor has a bear trap in his small orchard after the bruin came through and destroyed our plumb trees. I had a trap in my yard last year but the bear avoided it. This is in Eureka Ca city limits,35 blocks from downtown...

[SJackson]

I have a friend that raises Coon Hounds; awesome dogs. I have no problem using hounds for fox or raccoon....Nice to see you, BTW. Where ya been? Been down with ‘Palin Fever’ like the rest of us? LOL!

I guess, I forget to look for articles. Bears are just big racoons, I can understand using dogs. I can't imagine on deer, but then mine are trained to NEVER chase deer. Or pretty much anything else.

[B4Ranch]

When I was a kid the only way to get permission to hunt on private land was to work for it. The general charge was one days labor about 10 or 11 hours, sunup ‘til supper, would entitle you to one deer or bear if you could shoot straight.

If you worked hard then you’d be invited to work again the following year. I helped sink many fence posts to earn my deer.

Some guys would rather hunt government land. I figured if I could drive a pickup truck right to the animal, load it and haul it back to the barn, skin it, quarter it and get it put up in the cooler, all by 9 or 10 AM, I was ahead of the game.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We picked up our new Yellow Lab pup tonight; she’s five months old. She had fun chasing the chickens, so she’s proving that she’s a bird dog right off the bat. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I believe it!

We are blessed to have about 200 acres locally to hunt deer and small game, plus another 100 or so ‘Up North.’ Nearly everyone in our family has a farm; working or hobby. We’re just a bunch of Country Bumpkins...and we like it that way! :)

Our farm is great in the fall; we have a lake across the road and our place is in the flight path that the Canada Geese take each day between the lake and the pond. Some days it seems that you can swat them from the sky with a broom, but I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, LOL!

Canada Goose cull so far is at six since the season opened last weekend. Already had one crock pot full of my famous ‘Goose-n-Gravy’ and yet another large trash bag filled with down that will go to good use in pillows and comforters.

Life Is Good. :)

[caver]

In Indiana, we don’t have bears. Bait and dogs are not allowed for deer hunting. Of course, dogs are OK for birds, coons and rabbits.

[Minnesoootan]

"But...I think baiting any animal to hunt is CHEATING. It’s called “hunting” not “setting a trap and waiting.”

Do you decoy the geese?

[nw_arizona_granny]

Bump n’ping.