Fair enough question MJR10. Better then the thread title!! ;) As for myself I hunt bears In northern Minnesota In big woods thick cover. Your lucky If you can see 20 yards ahead In most spots we bear hunt In. Using bait Is about the only way possible to be successful In getting a bear In the terrain I hunt In. I can gaurantee you that If we could not use bait the bear numbers In Minnesota would be so over populated that there would be nuisance bear problems everywhere. It would be Impossible to do a spot and stock and there Is by no means close to enough bear to have success with calling them using predator calls. I've been Involved with bear hunting/baiting all my life (35 years) and have been bear hunting since 1989. I've shot 9 bear In 20 years of hunting them with a bow. It's not nearly as easy as allot of people think, at least not In Minnesota. I've been out west elk hunting 6 different years and I always buy a bear tag when I'm out there. Every year I've been there I've been successful In doing a spot and stalk on a bear but so far none have been shooters for me. Honestly my odds have been better doing spot and stalks then hunting over bait. Terrain Is the key thing here on what tactics one needs to use to be successful.

You bet they did!! The Indians used every tactic possible to make sure meat was put on the table, they had no choice In the matter.

My problem isn't in baiting per say for bear in certain areas, it is in the proliferation of gimicks and gadgets that attempt to sway the odds in favor of the hunter. I have killed many animals with scoped rifles. This year, for what ever reason, I saw my 30/30 in the gun safe, unused for 15 years, and I pulled it out. I have no sling or scope, just carry it in my hands, and I love it. I just throw on some wooleys and a flannel and go, it's liberating. I am slowly rejecting all the "modern" equipment and tatics, and moving back to the basics. I believe in my heart that hunters are ruining the sport, not the antis. I have lost a lot of respect for the hunting community over the last few years based on what I have seen all over the country. The simplicity and beauty of the outdoors has been commercialized, and Joe Blow hunter is leading the charge, and I hate him for it.

I think this is a fair and accurate post. The only alternative I see is for bait hunting to be banned, then wildlife officals kill off access bears, which is not a viable option. I think one has to understand that in certain areas bating is the only option available to keep populations under control. I accept the argument that we live in a different world than 100 years ago, and the 'natural' balance of nature is hard to achieve when artificial food is readily available due to modern agricultural practices, and in many instances, livestock for predators. I also think that threads of this nature are valuable and more discussion needs to be had and pondered on the current treads in hunting and the future of the sport. We have more than enough "is this gun big enough" threads. Time for some serious discussion within the hunting ranks about the direction hunting is going.

I live in a state where it is illegal to bait (food baiting) any wildlife. I elk hunt only for the most part. I will use scent killer and urine scents. I have yet to figure out if it make any difference or not but I can tell you that in the mountains the wind is forever changing and swirls a lot. I also will take advantage of technology such as studying an area using Google Earth and use a GPS to get into areas that I want to get to. My feelings are after I plan my hunt all year, spend hours and hours preparing, and spend a lot of money, I want to increase my chances of filling my tag while staying completely legal. If I'm not successful, I will still have had a great time trying.

All of that said, it's still hunting and not killing. I haven't been hunting elk for very long but the majority of my trips were unsuccessful; I only killed one elk. I'm still putting in 6 -12 round trip miles a day on foot. If I get an animal, it coming out on my back, not a 4 wheeler. I hunt and do the things I do while hunting for myself, not anyone else. I can still have a great time hunting without killing anything too and at the end of the season I can say I gave it my best.

People need to do what they are comfortable with. I stay within the laws of CO. and can care less what others think about me using scents and such.

I don't put much focus on the TV hunting shows. There are a lot of different levels of ethics across the board from show to show. Success on some shows is a kill and success on others is a great hunt. It's obvious when someone gets off a plane and goes shoot an animal on private property that someone has been tracking for the last week to get the kill and make the show and make the host outfitter look good. Those aren't the ones I enjoy watching. I'd much rather watch the shows where they have been out for 5, 6, or 7 days hunting all day and close the deal at dark on the last day or don't even close the deal at all because that is how it goes for most of us in the real world and I appreciate what they went through because I have experienced the same.

MJR10, I'm not criticizing you for your opinion, you are certainly entilted to it. I just wanted to share my view point on how I hunt and the tactics I use.

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.

Do you hunt with a rifle and telescopic sight????

Seems too easy to me. Why oh why would you? Please justify how that is not giving you an unfair advantage.

To use your own words: "but maybe get educated as to why a rifle/telescopic sight is a good thing and "needed or required" to take a free ranging animal."

"Thus ends the lesson": Sean Connery from the Untouchables.

Wow, excellent post CC!!! I bolded out some of what you said and couldn't agree more. Great post!!

Lots of options in this game called "hunting"

Just because some states, etc... allow it and use it, doesn't mean it's the only way to get it done.

Wasn't crazy about the idea of hunting over a bait for black bear myself, so I went on a spot n stalk bear hunt instead.

TV shows want to see bears, and show shots/kills, so I'm not surprised a show would hunt over bait, also in alot of spots in canada baiting seems to be the standard, so not surprised there either.

Bear baiting is legal here an probably needed in most of the state to have much selection on what one shoots. The state requires a bear baiting clinic as part of the requirement to bait, and I've fulfilled the requirements.I've baited on several occasions, but have never killed a bear over bait.Just not what I had in mind ,but I've killed bears for meat small targets of opportunity,, fall berry bears. If it were illegal to bait bears here the kill would be much smaller to the determent of all prey species.Black bears are very good at what they do,I've seen them working deer in S.E. Alaska, moose in South central,sheep in Chugach park. An bears don't waste time on efforts that don't result in food. The debate over baiting will never be over but please remember ,whatever it is that trips your trigger will be viewed by some as wrong. Just how much we all are willing to give up. maybe hunting from a tree stand. Wearing camo,using a rifle, or even a newer M.L. I remember Pa was flintlock only for years. If we don't stand together we will hang alone.
Alex