I think many of us feel this way about bears. They are curious, generally not aggressive, even comical sometimes. We all had teddy bears from a young age, shaping our feelings before we were ever able to consciously do so. Bears are acceptable socially, at least here in the West. People hunting over bait have probably made me (and maybe the public) the most sympathetic toward bears. Leaving trash in the woods and then hunting over it doesn't seem fair or sporting. We don't allow baiting for bear here in MT and it's really difficult to punch your bear tag here. Basically, you buy an over the counter tag and keep it with you while you hunt for something else.

That being said, MT Fish Wildlife & Parks found that black bears eat about 15% of elk calves dropped in an area near here in western MT. People love bears (black ones anyway) so hunters aren't calling for their eradication. Their cuddliness is the only thing that saves them from that I think. Wolves don't seem to be so lucky and instead are totally demonized for: 1) never having attacked a human in MT, ever! 2) eating a few hundred livestock each yearout of the millions that live here and 3) eating all the damn game, even though deer and elk numbers have never been higher (too high says MT FW&P).

Emotion and hunting go together like PB&J. It's amazing to see a big game animal and such a flood of emotion to kill one, pack it out, and relive the experience over and over in your mind. But, maybe some emotion involved in hunting is detrimental to what we love. Bears (and wolves) are predators that belong in our ecosystems and need to be managed just like their prey. We should not make these animals cuddly bears or bloodthirsty demons because neither of these representations are accurate.

npaden is right, bear meat is tasty!