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?