As to why people hunt bears: Because an over population of bears can affect the well being of other wildlife and because with human population exanding into areas that historically had bears human bear conflicts are common. Nothing gets a game agencies phone ringing faster than people hearing a noise outside at night, switching on a light and seeing a bear of bears looting their trash cans. Bears also kill domestic animals as well as wildlife. In my state, we have the largest numbers of cub triplets in the country and a population that is constantly growing, we also have some of the largest black bears in the country, bears so large taxidermists have to use grizzly bear forms to do a full body mount. Hunting bears gives hunters an opportunity to take an unusual and desirable trophy. I have eaten bear meat three times, roasts, it was difficult to tell from a good beef roast so if cared for properly it is very good. I also know peole who render the fat from bears and use it like lard to bake pie crust. Once you kill a bear you have to get it out of the woods which can take the fun out of killing one. In 1975, I helped remove 3 bears from the woods and skinned all three that night. It cured me of wanting to kill a bear myself.

As far as baiting bears goes, most of the states or provences that allow bait do so because the areas bears live are very difficult to hunt without bait, vast unbroken wooded areas make it almost impossible to put on a bear drive or to still hunt them and take numbers large enough to meet the harvest goals of wildlife agencies.