Dan,

Question number 2, the term “selective” meant to let some live, and picking only one bear to kill, or maybe I should have said “being selective”. Sorry.

My reasons for connecting this issue with over population is based on some things I read after I was invited to go on a hunting trip to Nova Scotia. I went on line and found some hunting sites, looked over the bear hunting areas and came across some videos of bear hunts taking place in the areas that we were looking at going. In most of the videos, there are multiple bear, multiple trashcans (filled with apples) and a hunter watches until he sees one that would meet his criteria (for whatever reason) and shoots him/her. He then does the normal stuff – talks about how exciting it was and posses for a picture with the bear. From there I guess he either leaves it to rot, makes a rug, eats it, or some combination of these things. The area was said to be "over populated" and that this type of hunting was a form of population control. I didn't end up going.

Dan, I didn’t take offense to your comments, so please don’t take offense to mine.

I am a hunter/killer. I put the killer part in there, because I, unlike many, admit to myself, and the rest of the world that the killing part of the hunt is one of my main reasons for being there. But, what have I accomplished if I can’t do it on my own, without bait. I’m not against killing a bear, or three or a hundred, but I don’t buy into the “over population” thing, nor do I approve of hunting over bait. That is my opinion though, and I realize that.

I forget what it is called, (some specific term for the life cycle of a species) but every species goes through a cycle. First, the species has very low numbers, but plenty of food to go around, so the species multiply at a fairly high rate. Next, there is a balance. The food source is able to sustain the population, but there isn’t much left over. Finally, the species is over populated. Now there isn’t enough food to go around. Starvation is taking place and diseases start killing in mass numbers. Now we go back to the first part of the cycle again since the numbers were just decreased.

Setting out food does not help this situation – ever. And especially if it is to attract only the cream of the crop, so that a hunter can fill his “one tag”.

But, here we are. It is indeed much more complicated, isn’t it. I mean, Dan, you are a tax paying business owner who rents out tree stands to bear hunters. I wonder if you bait those stands? No wonder you sounded so angry in your post. I wonder what would happen to your business if this type of hunting were to all of the sudden become illegal? I’m sure your representatives would not allow that to happen, since you have a vote, and so do the hunters. Laws and regulations will follow.

I live in central Virginia, a state with a lot to offer any animal, including bear. Ocean and coastal plains to the east, the piedmont in the center and the mountains to the west. Agriculture everywhere. I mentioned earlier that where I live isn’t over populated with bear. In fact, the bear season was closed in the two counties that I hunt most, since the numbers were low last year. I have often wondered why that is? I could be wrong, but I think there is a connection.

I get sick of it too Dan, but I get sick for another reason. People pretending that it is some great accomplishment to kill an animal over a bait pile. If I needed the meat, I'd do it to, and be really happy for it. But I hunt to challenge myself.