Phil from Maine

I guess you can not read either or you would already know I do not hunt bear period.. However it is pretty ignorant on your part to explain to everyone here all about hunting bears over bait or any other way.. You simply have no idea about it at all.. For as far as closing my yap goes guess again.. I am thinking you should take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouth so you read what is being stated...

Alsatian

Ethical norms are not absolute, and they aren't the same from species to species or from area to area. I don't happen to hunt any species over bait. I do hunt ducks over decoys, however, and I use a duck call. Couldn't this be considered to be equivalent, in some sense, to hunting over bait? An unnatural incentive to draw the prey within shooting range? You could argue attracting elk with calls is similar, although different in degree, from hunting over bait. It is really a silly question to debate. If you don't like it, don't do it. It isn't illegal, at least not in all hunting venues.

Perhaps your objection is that you don't consider hunting over bait "sporting." Maybe these hunters aren't in it for "sport." There are other reasons for hunting than the "sport." You may want to eat bear meat. You may want a bear rug. You may want a bear skin coat. Is killing an animal for sport a more valid reason than these reasons? I don't see it that way. And if you have a valid bear license, baiting is legal but not "sporting," I've got no problem with someone taking a bear over bait if they want to eat the meat and/or make good use of the skin.

Ol'Mongo

Kinda makes you wonder how all of the anti bait folks feel about fishing, ........ even flies can be viewed as "bait." As a couple of other posts pointed out, if you have the tag, the activity is legal, and you want to do it, have fun. If you don't want to hunt over bait, .... don't. That simple.

rather_be_huntin

I can see why some question this. When all you've done is hunt deer your entire life you start thinking that you can hunt all big game species this way.

Bears are shy, almost 100% nocturnal, and have a low population density compared to deer and elk in most areas. This makes them next to impossible to hunt via spot and stalk.

Yes we could say too bad so sad, you can hunt them if you want but no bait. The problem is that bears eat A LOT during the summer months gearing up for winter. If they are over populated then they tend to start invading urban areas and digging through your trash. Nobody wants that so it's critical that hunters have success to manage population levels and baiting is one of a few proven mothods to take a bear.

I guess the answer to your question is you have to understand the species to understand why we hunt them the way we do.

Schultzy

Very well put!!!

Ol'Mongo

"Originally Posted by rather_be_huntin
I can see why some question this. When all you've done is hunt deer your entire life you start thinking that you can hunt all big game species this way.

Bears are shy, almost 100% nocturnal, and have a low population density compared to deer and elk in most areas. This makes them next to impossible to hunt via spot and stalk.

Yes we could say too bad so sad, you can hunt them if you want but no bait. The problem is that bears eat A LOT during the summer months gearing up for winter. If they are over populated then they tend to start invading urban areas and digging through your trash. Nobody wants that so it's critical that hunters have success to manage population levels and baiting is one of a few proven mothods to take a bear.

I guess the answer to your question is you have to understand the species to understand why we hunt them the way we do."

I agree, Ditto!

OregonHunter5

well hell lets get the stone and sling shot then. the indians also ran the darn buffalo off the cliffs in droves.

skiking

Even if baiting bears was legal here, I probably wouldn't do it. I really like hunting them by spot and stalk. My biggest problem is I will see 10 or so grizzlies per season but only 1-2 black bears.

Nalgi

I sat in a tree for 3 days and nothing happened! But when there appeared a bear out of nowhere, without a sound, right under me! It was awsome! your heart pounds like nothing else. not my 390 bull or my 186 white tail, like nothing else. I am totally hooked on bear hunting.

AK Jeff

I grew up in Montana where bear baiting is illegal. The terrain is generally very open and bears can be effectively hunted by spot and stalk. I always assumed that bear baiting was just laziness because I didn't know any better. Then I moved to central Alaska where the terrain is dominated by jungles of boreal forest and spot and stalk black bear hunting is almost impossible. Bear baiting is legal there because it's the only effective way to manage the bear population. I tried it and I've found if there's one thing that it isn't, that's easy. Most people have the misconception that you just throw some donuts on the ground and every bear for ten miles comes in runnings. Wrong!!! It can often take weeks before bears start to hit your bait and it has to be constantly monitored and replenished in order to keep them interested. Then add to the fact that you often have to sit the bait until late at night (it doesn't really get dark until 2-3am in central AK during the spring) and the bugs are horrible.

The bottom line is don't come up with a preconceived notion that something is easy just because it looked easy on TV. There's any number of things that look like a cake walk on the boob tube, but in real life they're much more difficult. Having put my wrong impressions of bear baiting aside and tried it I can confidently say it's about 10 times more difficult than going out and shooting a whitetail in a farmer's field.

AK Jeff