Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
 

Bear baiting comes under fire

Ventura says it's 'assassination'; U.S. to take up the issue Associated Press

Last Updated: Dec. 25, 2002

Washington - Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura likens bear baiting to "assassination," but wildlife officials in the Upper Midwest say it's needed to control the bear population.

Next year, Congress will decide if the practice - which involves leaving anything from doughnuts to pizza out while hunters lie in wait - should be allowed on federal lands.

Because federal officials defer to states on wildlife management, bear baiting is allowed in federal parks in the nine states where it's legal - Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

That would change under legislation Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) plans to introduce next year, with the backing of the Humane Society of the United States.

"This is just wrong," Moran said. "It's comparable to shooting fish in a barrel. I just don't know what kind of sport that is. It's just a slaughter."

Ventura, who once declared, "Until you've hunted man, you haven't hunted yet," expressed even more contempt for bear baiting.

"Going out there and putting jelly doughnuts down and Yogi comes up and sits there and thinks he's found the mother lode five days in a row - and then you back-shoot him from a tree?" Ventura said.

"To me, that's not sport. I don't care what anybody says about that. That ain't sport - that's an assassination."

But Karen Noyce, a bear researcher with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said it would be difficult to hunt bear in the state's woody terrain without using bait.

"Bears are spread out around the forests," she said. "You don't normally see bears unless they're at a place where they are feeding."

Noyce said bear baiting - the predominant way bears are hunted in the states that allow it - has helped keep the bear population in check, at just over 20,000.

A ban on federal lands would have a significant effect on bear baiting. In Wisconsin, for example, the federal government is the second-largest landowner.

Bear baiting and hunting with dogs - a practice banned in Minnesota - has reduced the Wisconsin bear population to 11,000, from 15,000 four years ago. That's helped cut down on crop damage and other nuisance problems with bears, said Dave Evenson, deer and bear specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

"There are not a whole lot of other ways of harvesting bears," Evenson said. "They're a low-density animal, on a big wooded landscape."

Wayne Pacelle, a vice president and lobbyist with the Humane Society, discounted that argument.

"They have thick forests and lush vegetation in Washington and Oregon and other states that have long banned bear baiting," he said. "It's a silly excuse."

Washington state banned bear baiting and hunting with dogs in 1996, but the number of bears killed by hunters has actually increased since then - 1,439 last year from 844 in 1997. That's because the state lengthened the bear hunting season and reduced the price of hunting permits, said George Tsukamoto, a biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Most of the bears killed have been in the densely forested western part of the state, he said.

Three other states banned bear baiting in the past decade - Massachusetts in 1996, Oregon in 1994 and Colorado in 1992. Michigan voters rejected a proposed bear baiting ban in 1996.

Rick Posig, president of the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, said bear baiting isn't as easy as critics contend.

"You can sit on a bait for hours on end," he said. "The bears are smart. They know when you're there and when you're not there."

Posig also argued that baiting makes the bear population stronger, by providing enough food for the surviving bears to have more cubs in the spring.

The Humane Society makes the same point.

"Well-fed bears reproduce more," said Pacelle. "By putting tens of thousands of pounds of food in the woods, you contribute to population, which runs against the idea that bear baiting somehow meets some management imperative."

He also argued it was inconsistent for the U.S. Forest Service and federal agencies to warn people against feeding animals but allow hunters to put out food for bears.

"There is some truth to that," conceded Noyce, the Minnesota state bear researcher. "I won't say baiting doesn't contribute to bears habituating to human scent. I'm sure it does."

Last year, a House subcommittee defeated a proposed bear baiting ban, 38-25.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/State/dec02/105929.asp

RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
 

You know I've never hunted bears before, but I know they are alot more aware and cautious than deer are. And I've sat over corn piles for deer untill the corn started germinating and growing stalks and never saw a deer. So I assume that bear baiting would be just as hard. And in thick country, it's about the only way to see any sizable number or bears.

"Hey ya'll, watch this"

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RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
 

I've never bear hunted but I elk hunt in areas where bear live and I very rarely see one. Maybe one in every five years or so while elk hunting. 9 out of 10 bears I have seen I only got a glimpse of so in the last 20 years I may have 1 bear to my credit if I was bear hunting. Those critters are tough to find and it would be an extremely difficult hunt without baiting. Good luck to all you bear hunters!

RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
 

I'm not a bear hunter, but when I'm deer or elk hunting, that's all I see is @$#%!@$ bears! Last year a bear chased 2 elk away while I was glassing them. From my point of view, if it takes bait hunting to keep the bear population in check, then put the Dunkin' Donuts right to 'em!!!
This is just one more step in the wrong direction by the liberal anti-gun, anti-hunting lobby. Before long we'll have to anesthetize game before we can shoot it.

RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
 

Seems to me that if they try to ban baiting for bears that is trying to regulate hunting, and if it is, the supreme court ruled years ago that only states have the right to regulate hunting even if its on federal lands. Years ago the Feds. pushed this issued by having a federal employee kill a mule deer out of season in Colorado (I think)in a national forest and he was arrested by a Colorado C.O. and the case went all the way to the supreme court, the feds lost. Now if I can just find a link to the case.

RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
 

Coalition Launched to Stop Federal Anti-Bear Hunting Bill (Columbus) - The nation's premier sportsmen's advocacy organization has joined forces with dedicated bear hunting groups to launch a coalition to fight a Virginia congressman's attempt to restrict bear hunting.

Representative Jim Moran, a Democrat from Fairfax, Virginia, has committed to passing imminent legislation that would ban bear baiting on federal land. In response to the threat, the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, Michigan Bear Hunters Association, Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association and the Upper Peninsula Bear Houndsmen created the Bear Hunting Defense Task Force.

Ten of the twenty-seven states that permit black bear hunting also allow baiting. State wildlife agencies from those states say that baiting is an effective and necessary management tool for controlling bear numbers. Moran wants to take that option away.

"The bill itself is not the only threat," explained Rob Sexton, U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance vice president for government affairs. "Congressman Moran is known for inserting last minute amendments into bills. He nearly banned trapping on the National Wildlife Refuge System in 1999 in this fashion. To take him lightly would be a mistake."

Sexton noted that the Bear Hunting Defense Task Force needs more support to be as effective as possible.

"We will only be as effective as the size and strength of our coalition," he said. "We will need sportsmen's organizations from, at the very least, all bear hunting states to defeat this threat." Frank Crapsey, president of the Michigan Bear Hunters Association, challenged other organizations to do their part.

"We are launching this Task Force to get the ball rolling," Crapsey said. "We need and welcome all groups to join up."

The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance is supplying coordination, funding and lobbying services, while other Task Force members are providing grassroots resources and funding to pay for mailings into targeted congressional districts.

For more information about how to join the Bear Hunting Defense Task Force, contact the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance at 614-888-4868 or [email protected].

The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers nationally in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org.

http://www.ussportsmen.org/interacti...ead.cfm?ID=986

RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
 

Keep the bears under control however possible. Here in Florida we have too many bears and NO bear season. I have seen bears every year while out in the woods. They are a major problem. I saw 4 during one season! A lot of people don't see 4 in a lifetime. A buddy of mine was chased off his deer by a bear last year. Another friend of mine had a bear come up his tree after him. He shot but missed. By the time the bear left his Knight muzzleloader was in about 4 pieces on the ground. He had to beat the bear so much that he distroyed his gun. He was too scared to come down and ended up spending the night in the tree. I could go on with others but you get the picture. These bears have to be kept in check and if baiting helps then so be it.

RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
 

I baited bears for a couple years here in Colorado, let me tell you just don't throw out a couple of jelly donuts & shoot a bear. It's alot of work hauling out bait & checking the site & rebaiting. But for the reality it's a hard fight to win. We lost bear baiting here in Colorado by a vote of people on a constitutional admendment. The vote was 75% to 25%. Just one more bite out of hunting by the anti's.