ORIGINAL: millagerobert

Some may not condone bear hunting with dogs or over baits because they believe it to be too easy. If this is the reason you dislike it, then obviously you have never trained and followed hounds through the mountains, or packed hundreds of pounds of bait into the hills, created a bait site, and had the patience to make it pay off. Neither are forms of hunting for the lazy man,the opposite is true, they require more physical work than almost any other form of hunting.
Inever have had my butt kicked in the mountains as badly as I have when trying to follow hounds. I can see if all you do is go into a bait prepared by someone else, or wait untill a guide trees a bear or cat and can just drive to the tree, but for the most part this isn't the case for the average DIY hunter. Do they give the hunter an advantage, yes, is it an unfair advantage, no more so than a cow call, rattling horns, or hunting a natural food or water source. Unless you are in an area with a population problem, bears can be tough to get at baits, they often know when you are there, and they often will only come in at night. Most hound hunters tree 20 bears for every one they take, and most chases do not end in a treed bear, they often escape. Some of the best hound hunters I know will go years without tagging a bear, they just enjoy the chase. So if a person thinks you can just throw out some bait and take your pick of a poor defenseless bear, or buy a hound and run every bear and cougar in the country up a tree, you are horribly off your mark. All this being said, Icurrently prefer spot and stalk, but maybe that is because I am too lazy, or lack time, to bait or train a good pack of hounds.