becks16

What do you all think of spring bear hunts in MN. For the past 3 years bear harvests have been way down due to lack of hunters, good berries, and acorn years. does anybody know if this has ever been an option? I know I would be very excited about hunting bear in the spring and I think alot of people would agree. No bugs, no berries, and they are hungry. What do you think?

btpatriot02

IMO it wouldn't be good because of the average weight of the bears in MN. are 150 to 200 pounds at harvesting time.Plus in the spring the don't really expand their eating grounds and as fall approaches they will cover alot more ground that's why people see more of them during the fall. and plus that's when your baiting station is more likely to be hit. Plus what would end up happening would be that our bear pop.will end up being decimated.Spring is their mating season.and we don't have the pop. of bears to sustain a sring hunt.

becks16

we have plenty of bears for a spring hunt, at least for 1 year. bears are hungry in the spring and would be very eager to come to a bait pile. If our bearpop. is low then the DNR wouldnt issue 2 tags per hunter, over the counter tags, nuscance permits, ect... every year our harvest goal is not even close to being reached. i dont know where you live but bears are a pretty common sight now even in central MN. no disrespect i just disagree with you.

btpatriot02

Part of the reason is they don't reach the goal is for one thing the tags are lottery except in the no quota zones.and in those areas are not known for having large pop. of bears.And in your first post you said havung spring hunts,then you said having a spring hunt for one year.What are you saying?Every year or evey other year?But you know what would be intresting? one yr have a spring hunt then the next yr. have a fall hunt.What do you think?

river

I don't think a spring bear hunt would be out of order. The mdnr could limit the number of permits available in each area, depending on harvest goals. Maybe even having more available permits in the "southern" areas where they worry about to much expansion. The no quota area could also have a spring hunt that would bring the numbers down in those areas. I think something may need to be done to control bears-the hit and miss fall seasons (we've had the last couple years) can't be counted on alone.

btpatriot02

I found out some info.the bears mate around may into june.And if they did have a spring hunt.What happens if to many females get harvested and that will have some impact on the pop.and if pop. goes down to much in a area it can take close to 10 years to make a comeback.And they will mate every 3 to 5 years. And I contacted the DNR with this same ? Hopefully they will email me with some more answers. But the new head guy for the DNR sounds like he'll be good to the hunters and fisherman.