GMMAT

I don't think too many "got" what I was asking.....

Let me ask it another way.

If it's NOT "OK" to bait for deer (for some)......WHY would it be "OK" to hunt bears over bait (or any other animal)?

THAT'S what I was wanting to know. Where do some/we draw the line.....and WHY the distinction?

HuntingEd

Jeff- I was skimming through the posts and was chuckling because i realized your true question had never been answered.

To quote a GW - "A fed bear is a dead bear". In other words I think bears get on a food source and dont leave it until its gone, therefore baiting them is the best way to get them. The population is far far less densethan that of deer and they travel a great deal, therefore its almost impossible to pattern them unless you know the food source they are frequenting. So w/o baiting a lot of hunters would never even see a bear, let alone kill one.

But as far as drawing a distinction, I dont, to me its no different. In fact if anything its worse to bait bears because they get more "addicted" to the food source. Deer will leave bait (or visit less frequently) when another food source is in season.

Personally i see baiting as just an easy way to pattern animals for us. It does nothing to overcome the animals accute senses. I have killed deer over bait and its just as difficult to beat their senses. To me baiting is just concentrating a food source, no different than a cut corn field or food plot (they are just less concentrated)

Killer_Primate

I think people will justify using bait for many reason. My personal favorite is up in Canada where they shoot black bear over bait. Normally in the form of trash cans filled with apples. They claim that the bear are over populated and this is why they use this method. I couldn't disagree more. I'm pretty sure that unless you were to take the cold and hard approach of killing every bear that came by, you wouldn't and aren't accomplishing anything. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it's at least fairly well known that by providing an artificial food source to the bear, you'll most likely increase their numbers. So why do we keep feeding them? So that we can kill them with the smallest amount of effort. Is this hunting? I don't think so, but that's just me.

Have a great day!

Killer_Primate

And "a fed bear is a dead bear" is pointing to the fact that when bear get used to being fed, and near people, they start to pose problems. Problems such as property damage and attacks take place, so the bear is killed - "a fed bear is a dead bear".

_Dan

It's pretty obvious from your statement that you have very little knowledge about bear hunting and bear populations.

Feeding them increases the population? Sure. That's why with the disappearance of spring hunting in Ontario the bear populations have gotten out of control.

It gets sickening around here reading all the posts about hunters tearing down other hunters for their legal hunting methods. Plus the main reason why I and many others have gotten sick of posting.

Hiawatha

I agree with Dano. KP just because you read something on the net once does not make you an expert. We live it. You have a right to your opinion that bear baiting is wrong, however I do not appreciate people trying to state facts that they cleary have never experienced. For one who the heck baits with apples and trash cans? First i have ever heard this one. A fed bear is a dead bear? Um no. They have more tricks up their sleeve than a whitetail. They go noctural often as well and cannot be patterned worth a dam. Baiting here takes place in fairly remote areas where towns/civilization is not for miles. If the bait was not there the bears would still survive. This is not their main food source so i suggest you do a bit more google work.

Killer_Primate

The "fed bear/dead bear" thing doesn't have anything to do with baiting. I guess I didn’t do such a good job reiterating that in my post. It is a term that describes the fate of bear that frequents trashcans at peoples homes and camp grounds and such. The more they're around people, the more bold they get and the more damage that they do. This ultimately leads to the bear being killed by authorities.

And, even though I don't live in an area that in considered over populated, there are bear here, and I've had them on my property. I had one for a few years that I came really close to killing for this reason. He would do anything to get to our wild bird seed.

I am ignorant on this subject, so please answer a few questions for me.

1. If they're over populated - why do you need bait to find them?
2. How come they're hunted "selectively" over bait instead of killed on the spot?
3. How does adding food to an area, or creating an artificial food source decrease population?

Hiawatha

I wouldn't classy them as over populated in my area (Dan May differ) however bait is used to help concentrate them to improve your odds. In the spring who knows where they go and what they are feeding on. Fall it is a little easier as you can make use of berry patches and farmland. As for selectively shooting them, you are only allowed one tag a year so you might as well make it count. More hunter success = lower pop.

_Dan

They are not overpopulated in my area either, mainly because I harvest enough each year to keep the population in check.

To answer you questions KP....

1. In mine and a lot of areas spot and stalk is pretty much impossible. It's very thick and the probability of seeing a bear without bait is next to none.

2. I don't understand what this question has to do with baiting bears. The only thing I can decipher from your question was probably answered by my response to question 1.

3.Hmmmmmm, I believe your original statement said that adding bait increases their population. I disagreed with that. Plus,I never said that baiting decreases the population except for the fact it is used to hunt over.


Now I just want to point something out, so don't get PO'd. You said you were ignorant on the subject. So, you never should have posted anything on this topic except for questions. Instead, you posted some of your ill-advised assumptions on bear hunting and populations. Those are the kind of things that drive me nuts about this forum, people posting without any knowledge of what they are talking about, just assumptions. It's not just you KP, its a ton of other people here too.

HuntingEd

The fed bear dead bear things applys to baiting just as it applys to public nuisense. If you bait an area up and hunt over it your likely to kill that bear. I was just using the statement in a difference sense than it was originally stated.

The area I hunt bears are not over populated, and we arnt allowed to bait. If it were legal, I wouldnt have any problems doing it. Just my 2cents