[gundog]

Yeah...females with cubs can be pretty "spirited" if you get too close.

Banning the use of dogs in the hunting of bears in Oregon was a bad thing for the bears...they would get chased and treed and given the once-over before a decision to shoot or not was made...now they're shot on sight ...with twice as many tags available to hunters.

[ConservativeDude]

"Banning the use of dogs in the hunting of bears in Oregon was a bad thing for the bears...they would get chased and treed and given the once-over before a decision to shoot or not was made...now they're shot on sight ...with twice as many tags available to hunters."

Fascinating. I was reading recently about how people like T Roosevelt wanted to ban the use of dogs in hunting deer, b/c the dogs drove the deer into water, which basically incapacitated the deer, making it too easy...thus violating "fair chase".

The point you are making in the bear context is one that actually is more in the spirit of "fair chase" and not harming cubs.

Is it correct to say, then, that the use of dogs in terms of hunting ethics must be decided on a case by case basis?

I am not yet a big hunter, but it is not out of sympathy, it's really just a time issue. I am fascinated by it and believe passionately in conservation and hunting as a wildlife management tool. Therefore I ask a lot of questions.