Posted on 05/19/2021 1:18:13 PM PDT by nickcarraway
I’ve hunted since I was a child-for meat and other personal use-hides,etc, no trophies or crap like that-the penalties for poaching in this state are ruinous-and poaching is dangerous-around here, the person whose property the poacher is trespassing on to make a kill might just take matters into his/her own hands before the sheriff and/or game warden gets called-and they will likely not even be fined for that, either...
Those sick and disgusting people in Florida are no different than people who stage and make videos of dog or cock fights for other sick and cruel people to see-they might also be poachers, but they are certainly not hunters...
Or wait till about mid—late August when the grizzly/brown bears are scavenging and killing every food item they can find to fatten up for coming Winter hibernation-then drop them off in the uninhabited bush on Kodiak Island-with lots of peanut butter, fresh fish, donuts, etc-but no weapons, tent or firestarter-let them be the bear bait...
BINGO!
Agree on that which is why I used the terms "described" and "alleged." However, if the allegations are close to what was described, they are indefensible.
Using bait and hounds for hunting bears is legal in several states.
I think the prosecutors statements are inflammatory on purpose.
There are hundreds of video’s of bear hunting with hounds on the net.
Without seeing the actual videos I would not be to quick to judge.
There are videos of all kinds of illegal hunts-from using dogs to “canned” hunts on the internet-it does not make them legal in every state, or something any real hunter considers a proper way to hunt and make a humane kill...
Dogs can be used to tree small game/varmints in a hunt, or to run down and corner wild hogs-but there is no season on varmints or those wild hogs we are overrun with. You can’t hunt/run deer or any other game with dogs-the fine can be in the 10s of thousands if you are busted. Bears can’t be hunted at all here-there are not enough of them to maintain a healthy population yet...
Proper game management is what Game Wardens are hired to do-it is essential to maintain a healthy balance in the natural world-and it doesn’t include trapping animals and torturing them while you make a video of it to sell or show to make you feel like you are cool-if you want to hunt the animal, do it legally and humanely, transport your kill from the field, process and put it in the freezer for future meals, rugs, throws, vests, etc...
Bear hunting in any form is illegal in Florida at this time-hunting of a species is based on maintaining the numbers for a healthy predator/prey balance-last time there was a limited bear season was about 5 years ago. Hunting bears with dogs is not legal in Florida, either-if it isn’t a legal hunt by legal means, then it is illegal-in this case, it is probably animal cruelty-to the dogs as well as the bears-not a hunt-more like a fight/bear baiting-all it needs is a fighting enclosure, spectators and betting going on.
When I was a kid, there were neighboring ranchers who engaged in cock fighting and wagering on those fights-they also raised roosters for that purpose-it was illegal and considered animal cruelty then-same as it is now-what the Florida couple did was way closer to blood sport than any “hunting”...
Deer hunting with hounds is legal in some states.
Bear hunting with hounds is legal in some states.
It is still not legal in Florida-or in any other state-Texas included-where it is plainly listed in the rules that come with a hunting license-every state has its own laws for hunting and Florida says no bear season at this time, and no baiting/hunting of bears with dogs-it does not matter what videos are on the internet or how you can hunt bear in Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, etc-these people broke laws in Florida-they were not in Alaska, Wyoming or anywhere else when they did this illegal hunting...
The states that allow bear hunting with dogs are states that have a really large bear population and a lot of federal land to hunt on-Alaska, Montana, Idaho, etc-in states like Texas or Florida with mostly private land to hunt on, there are too many issues of fence crossing, trespassing of other kinds, livestock spooking etc to allow for a safe hunt with dogs-that is best left to areas with fed land, dense forest, etc-areas where livestock is not grazing and crops are not planted...
Wis. WV and several other eastern states.
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