Bait in California is illegal and we generally hunt them with hounds. A couple of years ago a local outdoor writer voiced similar concerns over hunting bear with dogs with tracking collars and shooting them out of trees. Both bait and dogs allow the hunter to see the bear before shooting and offers the option to pass on the animal for whatever reason. You have a legitimate question and this type of hunting may not be for you. Frankly, I don't have a problem with the vast majority of hunting methods (maybe except the remote computer aimed rifle thing they had a few years back). Next thing you know we'll be wearing loin cloths and driving them off of cliffs.