Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
12-27-2002, 03:54 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 448
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
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
01-07-2003, 10:48 PM
#2
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: DeForest WI USA
Posts: 19
RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
We've all gotta jump on our elected officials to make this one go away!
Everyone keep their eyes peeled for the name/number of this bill when introduced and let everyone else know.
Thanks for the update, Sagg.
Tim
Everyone keep their eyes peeled for the name/number of this bill when introduced and let everyone else know.
Thanks for the update, Sagg.
Tim
01-08-2003, 08:45 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Onamia,MN.
Posts: 1,375
RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
Even if they do ban baiting the bear population would be out of control after just a couple of years and then they would legalize it again--this "problem" will take care of itself.JMHO.
01-16-2003, 06:54 PM
#5
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 448
RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
http://www.ussportsmen.org/interacti...ead.cfm?ID=986
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.
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.
01-17-2003, 07:53 AM
#6
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Shakopee MN USA
Posts: 1,001
RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
I just read about this in Outdoor news. This is insane. Just another thing that the anti's are trying to fight. Why do they always fight things that they have no idea about?? What is a bear hunter's success rate now and we have a slight bear population problem? What would it be if the fellas couldn't bait??
01-17-2003, 07:56 AM
#7
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Shakopee MN USA
Posts: 1,001
RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
Oh I forgot to mention.....Ventura isn't any better than the anti's. What he says just fuels the fire. "You've never hunted, unless you've hunted man"....what a joke. I voted for him and it's the worst mistake that I've ever made. I'm dang glad he's gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What an idiot.
01-17-2003, 10:18 PM
#8
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Duluth Minnesota USA
Posts: 285
RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
Eveyone should take this guy serious Because in my local paper it was said that this bill is the second time that this guy has tried to put this thru.And what makes me mad is that they are trying to say that the banning of baiting is working in other states,MN is not Montana,or,wyoming,or any other state.In those states I can see it working because the bears have more room to roam and plus the hunting season is longer in those states.I can tell you that I have gotten my permit here in MN. And I have yet gotten a bear. THEIR IS NO GAURANTEE that you will see one.Plus you cannot pattern a bear like you do with a deer.They will roam anywhere for search of food during the fall.Bears aren't stupid they just don't stroll in the station they will circle around and if they feel something isn't right they will not come in.SO TAKE THIS GUY SERIOUS PEOPLE!!!!!
01-18-2003, 04:40 PM
#9
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Shakopee MN USA
Posts: 1,001
RE: Federal Ban on Bear Baiting
I fully agree. Not to mention our land isn't that the same as the western states. You can't sit somewhere and glass and then proceed to do a spot and stalk. Just won't work here. Leave things the way they are! If we had more public land(like Sconny), I wouldn't mind seeing bear hunters use dogs. But I just don't think that it would work here. I don't bear hunt, but I just hate seeing the anti's fight something like this. My passion are whitetails, but I'm always ready to jump on a hunter's side with issues as this. Don't let them take our rights away!!