With respect to whether or not they ate the meat, most, if not all, states or provinces require you by law not to waste the meat. See http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodcons...ent/239841.pdf

I am thankful for the bear hunters around where I live in N. WI. Without them, we would be plagued with all kinds of bears ripping up our orchards and breaking into sheds. But when numbers are kept down to reasonable levels, such nuisance animals are rare. Also, (black) bears are known around here to prey on deer fawns.

I tried baiting and hunting bears one time. Saw a tiny cub that I did not shoot and brought in a whole troop of nuisance raccoons. Once the season ended, all deer were pushed out. So never again for me, at least not on my property here.

for me the hunt starts in my head.:rock: from the second you decide to look at an area and check it out before,during and after a hunt. the excitement is in the planning.when you find the prime location and climb a tree its no different then when you decide to stalk a ridge or glass a flield and stand in a spot silently looking for game. i think the answers to your questioning are cause you hunt in Colarado. you couldnt march through the areas i hunt bear in. i know guys who get bored quick and just have to keep moving. i call them the fidgety type guys.there all hepped up on coffee and need a cigarette every 15 minutes. not saying its your case.stand hunting isint just morning and late afternoon hunting all the time. some hunters dont have the patience or appreciatte the all day sit on the stand that was a well thought out plan weeks in the making. there is no one style of hunting and we should support each others methods.

[QUOTE=Muley Hunter;3832543]How did I know the thread would go like this. Very predictable. Even though I stated more than once. I don't give a rats arse how you hunt. How many times do I have to say that?


The title and topic of this thread was ..."Why do people hunt bears?"
Not even your thread to take this up, and it isnt about your expertise. This is a perfect example of why dang few of the hunting and shooting forums arent worth looking at: the individuals who have to turn everything into "I am the expert, I shoot the biggest and baddest, if I dont do it, it sucks". I have friends who live and hunt in Colorado and love the Rockies (and are expert outdoorsmen in the areas) but if they like to come to the northeast forest for the different challenges it presents ( big woods, limited distance, sometimes extremely harsh winter conditions).

[QUOTE=Daveboone;3834409]As I stated in an earlier post. I was born and brought up in New England (Mass). I hunted all over New England. I was taught to still hunt by my dad, and I find it effective in every state i've hunted.

Most guys think of Colorado as being all open country. That's not really true. The timber that I hunt is just like the east coast. That's probably why I like it. It's hard to give up on your roots. I don't know anybody in Colorado who hunts like me. Most will spot and stalk. I don't even own any binos. My hunting is too close to need them. I don't stalk after spotting game from a distance. Stalking is knowing where the animal is. My hunting is so close that I don't need to stalk. When I spot it. It's close enough to shoot.

Most don't understand still hunting. It's moving very very slow. I take one step, and stop. I look for game. I stay as still as possible. (still hunting). The one more step. That gives me another angle at the terrain. I'm looking for a small part of a deer/elk. A piece of antler behind a tree. An ear etc. It might take me an hour to go 50ft. Think of it as a moving tree stand if you will.

I like snow on the ground, because it's easier to track. Reading tracks is a big part of still hunting. Reading all signs is a big part.

I don't know where the game is, but I could see one any second. That's what makes it exciting. I'm sure being in a tree stand is the same way. Just like putting a stand in a good area. I have to still hunt good areas too. That's where all the scouting pays off.

Because game will bed down during the day. I can still hunt all day. As a matter of fact. Too early, or too late the game will be out of the timber feeding. So, when most hunters are hunting. I'm not. When i'm hunting. Most hunters are back at camp.

What I do has a lot in common with stand hunting. I'm just always moving my stand without being seen, heard, or smelled. We all know that isn't easy.

I guess where I have a problem is bait. It's just hard for me to accept for a hunter. If the goal is to control the game numbers. I can accept it. If the goal is the sport of hunting. I'm not seeing it.

I guess it's easier if I just keep it to myself. I do a lot. You hardly see me in every thread ragging on someone. Sometimes I say something. It never turns out good. Even if others agree with me. They would rather stay out of it. So, all I hear from are the ones offended, and would rather rag on me. So be it. I'm not thinned skinned.

It seems like your addressing two different things Muley Hunter. One is why hunt bear? The other is why hunt over bait? I suppose people hunt bear because they want to get a bear. Different strokes for different folks. Different people get different things out of their style of hunting. I've mostly still hunted timber. A couple of years ago I started glassing during the deer hunt. Saw a lot more animals and observed and learned behaviors that I'd not observed before. Once I sat in a tree stand over a bear bait of a friend's (I hauled some more bait up to the site. It was a mile hike up a steep ridge to get it there. He told me to spend the evening). I didn't see a bear, but saw a lot of other wildlife and noticed other things that I wouldn't have if I'd just been passing through. It surprised me that it wasn't boring.

People have answered the question. But knowing why people do what they do and understanding it are different things. Some things are too outside of our own frame of reference to make much sense to us.

I never addressed why hunters hunt for bear. The OP did that. The OP also didn't understand how baiting was hunting. All my posts addressed that, and I was agreeing with him.

So, I didn't go off topic.

Yes, my mistake. I crossed up his and your posts. Sorry for the error.

They just like it
 

...Deleted by CalHunter...

God bless your next reload.

Those overpopulated bears
 

My suggestion is to go on an actual bear hunt and see what it is about. If you don't want to use bait go on a spot and stalk hunt, which is how I do it. Maybe then you'll have a better understanding

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.:biggrin:

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.

Well, I see ...Deleted by CalHunter...

The anti-hunter new member who brought this 4-year-old topic back up has now been permabanned after posting 2 anti-hunting posts and his posts deleted. If your post above was edited, it's because it violates the rules. Play nice gents.

CalHunter
Moderator

...Deleted by CalHunter...

"some kind of a attractant (illegal in my state from what I can read, Georgia."

Got me confused. You object to an attractant in Canada, but in south Georgia using bait for deer is legal in south Geogia.

I also agree that each situation is different and would never condone anyone for doing something that is legal in the state they are participating in.But I have no interest in paying money to a outfitter and have him drop me off to a stand.I like to do things myself and go out and find my game.It takes a lot of work and when I score it is a great feeling of accomplishment.I know of a lot of people who flew out to Idaho and paid a guide to drive them to where the sheep were and the guide said they they are,go ahead and shoot one.Me personally would rather go home empty handed then get one that way.But that,s just me.

It's not just you...................+1

I am going out on a limb then and assume you have never hunted over a watering hole, food plot, feeder, scents, calls, hunted hogs over some kind of bait, used calls or E-callers to call in predators. Anything like that. Just gone in the woods and sat over a trail correct?

Also if you don't manage the predators what will? Mother nature? They don't have any predators besides their species or humans.

It is all hunting. Even the Indians did all of it. We have just found a way to make it more convenient when we are in the woods. Also how do you know they don't eat the bear or donate it? What about all the hunting shows that kill numerous deer every year and a lot of times it doesn't show them eating the animal. Do you KNOW they are eating the animal?

To eat em.

One reason to hunt over food is so you can pick your Bear. You can choose by age or gender.

Another reason is to reinforce the fear of man. The Bear that head for the deep woods when they get the slightest scent of man have little to worry about.

The main threats to apex predators is disease, the second is other apex predators. man usually gets the stupid ones. Keeping the numbers down limits the spread of disease. Limiting the numbers of apex predators is self preservation.

I personally find hunting over feeders to be distasteful and somewhat unfair. I spend a lot of time scouting my hunts, I usually have my Deer spotted months before season opens, sometimes years. Not everybody can afford to put the time and effort into hunting that I do.

I realize this is old. Never heard a hunter call bait, attractant. Regional.
But bears do need to be thinned out tool. Lots of them by me. They do taste good, depending on diet.

In heavily wooded parts of the world you can't stalk bears. It would be fun to go somewhere you could glass for awhile and then go stalk one.


Some hunters are against bait. But they will plant clover and apple trees, or hunt near acorns for deer. What is the difference? I have no acorns on my property or near me.

If you don't bait, you often looking for a food source. In areas with thick deer herds it isn't needed. For bear, while there are many, not enough to just wander around, and track.

ANTI ALERT!!!!

Thyre
How do you know that Indians don't currently hunt for bear?...The truth is you don't know that at all.

I fish but im not staving..How is that different than hunting?

I eat ice cream sometimes but i surely dont need it. So you believe if you don't need it, you shouldn't be eating it?

I don't hunt anything to be cruel. I hunt it because it taste good to me.

Some types of bears certainly will hunt you under certain conditions.

Oh and bye. I dont think you will be around much longer.

I reported his post.

Vegetarian is an old Indian word for Pizz poor hunter.:)

Funny, during the BSE scare here, a lot of people paying premium prices for wild game meat. It isn't illegal here to sell it.

It is an old post, and the guy only had 48 posts. If referring to the guy who started this thread.

So teacher, teacher, may be a bit late.

Thyre is now gone with the original anti.

Personally i have no desire to hunt bears or any predator for that matter. I only "hunt" predators when they become a problem or a danger. What others legally hunt and how they hunt it is none of my business.

Frankly, i find a slaughter house can be more cruel.

I'd love to hunt something more dangerous like grizzly. Maybe someday. $$$

If i was going to hunt something dangerous it would more than likely be African cape buffalo with a muzzleloader. They can be pretty ornery and you got to make that one shot count :D

I don't like the heat. Not saying I would never go to Africa. But probably go north first, if I ever do.

bears have to be managed like any other wild game. unless they have been in trash, they eat pretty good too.

I got one crapping in my driveway.

It is an exciting proposition and they taste good!

Well this was an interesting 8 pages. And those that say a Bear roast tastes like a fine Beef roast, need your taste buds checked. But that's just my opinion. I hunted them for a long time in several states and in Canada. Some in my family liked Bear meat but most didn't hunt. Dad and I enjoyed hunting them so we would supply them with their meat. And like others mentioned, you can get a dang fine rug and wall hangings as well. Their bones make fantastic knife handles too. As far as baiting, I've only hunted over bait a few times in Canada. I guess I was lucky as I connected with some large boars every time. One cinnamon color phase that was absolutely beautiful. But 90+% of my black bear hunting has been like MuleyHunter's, still hunting. Thick woods in Eastern Tennessee mountains and North and South Carolina. We hunted Bear a few times in Pa successfully but dad and I only knew a couple of people at the time that liked the meat and since we didn't really care for it ourselves we stopped hunting them. Not like we were going to make a long drive to Tn just to deliver meat. We like our family but not that much. Those that rail against baiting, don't rail against something you know little to nothing about. As others here have said, with experience mind you, in a lot of places in Canada, Main, and a few other states here, that is just about the only way you will lay eyes on a Black Bear. I don't care how quiet you think you are, or how scent free you think you are, in the places I mentioned, the Bear will know you are there way before you ever see them. You may get lucky and get a shot at a curious juvenile 4 years or under, but you won't ever see an adult boar still hunting in a lot of places. They know the land better than you do. They know the sounds better than you do. They know the scents better than you do.

It's not like shooting fish in a barrel as you put it. I've taken several bears in my time and only one has been taken over bait. (Idaho) I've hunted in Maine over bait and never shot a bear. I saw plenty but didn't shoot. Shooting over bait allows the hunter time to evaluate the animal most of the time. But the older and wiser bear you may never see because they come in silently and cautiously often times seeing you or smelling you before you even know they're there. And as for their meat, when made properly it is very good. And the burger makes some prime chili.
Danny - my taste buds are just fine and I like the taste of bear. A bit stringier than beef but IMO just as tasty.

Don't get me giggling Mr. Bronkoski, I got a couple of cracked ribs sparring with Deb yesterday. I've had it made just about every way it can be made and just didn't like it. Except for slow crock pot and then drained and then put back in the crock with my Grandmothers home made BBQ sauce for another couple hours. Now that was some good stuff. Maybe all the times I tried it and didn't like it was because the meat was from older boars? Never taken a sow and never taken a boar under 4 years old.

I have had several bear roasts that friends have given me, I have no desire to hunt them. All the roasts were made by my wife just like she makes a beef roast and all were very good, very little difference in taste from a beef roast. Now a bear that has been feeding on a dump will not be fit to eat. I have had wild blueberry pie made with rendered bear fat in the crust instead of shortening and it was also very good and tasted no different than pie crust made with hog lard. Everyone has different tastes but I am pretty particular about what I eat and I have not had a problem with the three or four bear roasts I have eaten. Now don't start giggling, I don't want your sore ribs to hurt hunters life.

I have shot bear in PA and so have a few of my buddies out of our camp. Four bears in total. None over bait, with dogs or even driving. 1 was still-hunting and the other 3 were tree stand bears while hunting deer in the combined season.

My son and I went to Canada and hunted over bait for a week. We did not see one bear. Funny how that works.

I love bear meat. We ate those 4 bears, meat from two bears that were PA bears and given to us, a Maine bear that my dad shot on a trip and one from Canada that someone else in our camp shot. So, out of 8 bears I have eaten, all were excellent.

That's why I like to get a bear. :) In case the original poster is still watching. :D