Boy's bear visit speaks volumes about hunt

http://www.northjersey.com ^ | Thursday, May 22, 2003 | By RICHARD COWEN

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I'm not a hunter, my father is. He shot and killed a No. American Black bear, on a hunting trip in Canada, many years ago. He was sitting in a tree stand, with a very powerful gun (Yes, I'm a woman, don't know the type of gun) and shot the bear, three times. Killed it.

Later, his friends teased him about shooting it three times, the first shot probably did it, alone. He agreed, they were probably right.

He said, with the adrenalin pumping, and the bear rising on it's hind legs, staring up at him in the tree... he didn't stop to think. He just shot and shot and shot.

He always wondered what would have happened if he had shot only once, and only injured the bear. Think the bear would have retaliated? Most certainly!

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Remember when your friend stated that there were no black bears in North America? Good for a chuckle. Check out the picture on this thread. Care to go hunting?

[LurkerNoMore!]

Snuggles, the family pit bull...

?

[JerseyHighlander]

"Until a child dies," it's the only way these unthinking, fuzzy warm feeling, SUV driving environmentalists in NJ will be pushed off the "high moral ground" they have built upon the suffering of some poor family in the near future. Last fall there was an incident very similar to this in my town, yet immediately the "No Bear Hunt" people were given all the media attention, and not the extremely stressed out parents of the nearly slaughtered young child.

I have photos nearly identical to yours Malsua, including one of a bear trying to eat my neighbor's little dog who was trapped in an enclosed deck.

[flying Elvis]

the bear scampered across the yard and stopped to relieve herself....

And thus answering the age old question about what a bear does in the woods.

[harpseal]

Those who live near bears need to understand that a bear will eat just about anything that could be nourishing. The child is very lucky tobe alive and not mauled. The pro=bear idiots would prodecute the woman for feeding the bear if it had eaten the child.

[CurlyDave]

This year, the state and pro-bear groups also agreed to jointly explore a contraceptive program for wild bears.

Lead is an excellent bear contraceptive...

[Malsua]

>>"Until a child dies," it's the only way these unthinking, fuzzy warm feeling, SUV driving environmentalists in NJ will be pushed off the "high moral ground"<<

I agree and disagree at the same time :)

I drive an SUV. However, I live at the highest point in NJ where people live. We got over 12 feet of Snow in the 2002/2003 winter. I have no guilt about that, yet alot of environazis would make me feel that way.

We have alot of bears up here, but in this particular situation, she fed the bears. This is so stupid, it's not worthy of note except when she kills her family.

Someone near me has fed the bears for years. He gets fined every year and continues to do it. He loses in court all the time, but continues anyway. This draws them in and while he loses in court, at some point he needs to wear a meat suit. This will change his opinion.

-Mal

[drhogan]

the bear was set up. the mom had been feeding it. so the bear comes on the porch, knocks the kid, and they shoot the bear. every time people feed a bear, the bear comes too close to people (or kills a kid), and the bear dies. i think the bear feeders are at fault on this, not the bear.

[JerseyHighlander]

Nothing against SUV's, pointing out the hypocrisy of certain leading NJ environmentalists who's spouses drive SUVs. Not that I'm naming any particluar leading environmentalist.

Roger that on the bear feeding.

[drhogan]

a kid was killed last year in New York by a black bear. again, it turns out the people were feeding the bears. I would suggest people not feed bears. of course, if a bear comes after a kid, you have to shoot it. but fewer kids and bears would die if people had some sense.

[org.whodat]

Think the bear would have retaliated? Most certainly!

No the bear,if able, would have run away. I'm in my fifties, my father gave me my first shotgun when i was nine,so you could say I've been hunting a couple of times at least.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Well, my father got his first shotgun at the age of twelve, has killed deer, wild boar, one bear in his life. The hunting trip in Canada was the only time he went bear hunting, and he was being cautious. He does admit that the first shot probably did it. He took the teasing from his friends in good humor... he killed an older bear, very large, and the other bears that were killed that weekend were much smaller. It was an interesting trip for him.

[org.whodat]

Forgot to add that I probably would have like your father. And I still have the model 37, 410.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yes, I remember that! That was a crazy statement. I've personally seen them, I'm from within an hour's drive of Teton Park and Yellowstone. I know people from my hometown who hunted black bear.

[Romulus]

The child is very lucky to be alive and not mauled.

Yes; pit bulls are notoriously unpredictable.

[Walkingfeather]

I think you want to make sure a now pissed off and injured bear is down for the count.

[Romulus]

?

The wrong animal got shot.

[Dan from Michigan]

I never knew Jersey had bears until I saw the FR threads about it. I saw two up hunting two years back, but North Michigan is known for them.

[Dan from Michigan]

They want municipalities to enforce a state law that forbids feeding the bears, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Anyone that sees me post knows that I have a strong libertarian streak. That said, I agree that LOCAL(township, county, city, etc) govts should pass laws on this. Perferable with a punishment being a butt-kicking.

How can people be so STUPID?