Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

I am starting to hear from some people that its time the grizzly should be taken off of the endagerd list in the lower 48. I don't know any numbers. What do you all think?

RE: Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

I bet there are some outfitters in the areas outside of Yellowstone that are drooling at the idea of being able to charge $10,000 for a shot at a griz.

RE: Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

When I'm bear hunting in the spring I usually see 3 times more (average year) grizzlies than I do blacks, AND WE HAVE A SEASON ON BLACKS!!!!!

It is time to delist the grizz!!!!!! I went to a G&F meeting several years ago and they said as soon as they (US goverment) delist them we'll have a grizzly season.

Just saw last week in the paper that PETA (that right PETA) is going to quit paying for grizzly losses on sheep. They said it's been proven to them that grizzly and sheep don't mix and it's costing them too much $$$$$$$$$

RE: Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

Total agreement

RE: Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

I have done some work on grizzlies in the past. I may be able to shed some light on the current situation..

Just remember...don't shoot the messenger.


There are currently several different populations of Grizzlies in the lower 48.

Yellowstone
Northern Continental Divide
Selkirk & Cabinet-Yaak
North Cascades
Selway - Bitterroot

There has been extensive research done in an attempt to 1) figure out with some precision how many bears are left in each area, 2) model populations to determine if they can last into the future

Some preliminary results found that:
1.) there are less than 5 bears left in the North Cascades ecosystem so it's pretty much a lost cause.
Pretty much the same for the Selway - Bitterroot. Despite numerous studies of this area, there have been no verifiable sightings of grizzly bears for over 50 years. That doesn't mean there isn't a few though.
Selkirks: 20-30 bears (Wakkinen and Kasworm 2002)

2.) a huge project to model the Yellowstone population determined that bear numbers in Yellowstone probably still aren't high enough for the species to persist past 100 years. The main concern at this point is mainly genetic problems with the population like inbreeding, low heterozygosity and bottlenecks. There is a chance that the population can persist at it's current level but statistically the chance of extinction is much better (Waits 2003).

Hunting mortality for grizzlies has an additive effect because grizzlies reproduce slowly and have few offspring. Hunting the population at this time probably wouldn't be the best idea if we want bears around in the near future.


Having worked with Fish and Wildlife Service I can tell you for sure that the grizz will not be delisted anytime soon.

None of this is my opinion, I'm simply relating what I've learned through research and talking with people involved with various projects.

RE: Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

Good imfo Brutal.
I have mixed feelings about that. I live on the Canadian border here and there protected here in the states, but the same bear can walk into British Columbia and then becomes fair game. I think that a lot of grizzlies are shot accidently by people who mistake them for a Blackies.
I really don't think I would like to see Grizzly hunting open because only the rich will be able to afford it. I think we need to address the wolf problem, rather than the ole griz. Leave the griz alone. Bobby ;)

RE: Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

Im from wyoming, right outside of grizzly country, and i say its time to delist them. The bears have gone unhunted so long that they are unafrain of humans. Its pretty danged scary to hunt in the mountains now. The bears are so unafraid of people that i have heard several stories now of hunters having bears run in to steal their elk because the bears know that a gunshot means a dead elk for them, not a source of danger. And I think there are probably plenty of bears for the population to survive now. When the bears were first introduced, you never heard much about them, but now ive heard several stories from friends of mine of people having bears in their yards, even down off of the mountains. And some bears are starting to move into farm and ranch country, away from the mountain, like by Metessee. So I think that the bears need to be hunted some just to make them afraid of people again. Like I said before, the bears are making the mountains a dangerous place again, and pepper spray wont stop a hungry or angry bear no matter what the TV or little tourist pamphlets say.

RE: Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

I used to go up fishing in the mountains about an hour from where i live, recently we have been hearing so many stories of grizzlies and other bears causing problems up there that we decided it might be a good idea to get a pistol, i dont mind the fact that i got a nice pistol but it scares me that its come to this. IMO the people who think grizzlies are so ncie to have around are the people who have had the least contact with them.

RE: Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

good points. All I have to say is the best available science tells us that if we want bears around in the future, it's not quite time to hunt them. Problem bears will continue to be killed and other bears will be killed in self defense. There is no getting around that and it's as it should be. It's basically a question of wheter or not we value bears because we can make them disappear. However, many different people have many different values on grizzlies, it's not just up to the people that live with/near them.

RE: Grizzly hunting in the lower 48
 

Brutal, your right about the people that live with them not having the only say. MOF we don't have any say! All the bioligist in the Game & Fish say we have enough bears for a season. Even some of the BLM bioligist that do some work here, say there's enough grizzlies for a season. I went to a bear meeting one time and they had a NF bioligist there. He said that we have plenty of grizzlies. So.............whats with the feds back east?????

Windriver mentioned Meeteetse (I live in Meeteetse) and how the bears are everywhere. We can't even bait black bears anymore because of the grizzlies. Game and Fish keeps shuting down more and more area to baiting. We're the only area in the state that can't bait bears because of the grizzlies. Yet they have grizzlies over around Jackson and they can still bait

One year (my best for spotting bears) I saw 18 grizzlies and only 2 blacks. Like I said before. We have a season on black bears! So why not on grizzlies

I know 3 people around town (only 300+ people in town) that have been attacked by grizzlies and 1 that was just plain run over.