Breaking news ... Grizzly bear hunt demise

[180grainer]

So, in the run up to the Provincial Election, how many of you took 2 hours out of your day to go to a viewing of the Grizzly "Trophy Hunt" video ?
It was presented in numerous locations throughout BC and was a great opportunity to express the opinion of hunters to the "non hunting public."
If not, why not ??

I didn't view the so called documentary but I did write to Global, CKNW, and the CBC pointing out how, in my opinion, Mr Riesmann lied to them when he was interviewed.

[Surrey Boy]

I can't seem to get any letters to papers printed. Guess they don't like my opinions, so they ignore them, just like politicians.

[Piperdown]

Can someone provide the numbers on how many gbears are killed each year by hunters

[srupp]

180 by resident hunters..and 70 by non residents using a guide outfitter..for 250 grizzly harvests per year..only 2% of the grizzly bear is attributed to hunting management tool.far more cubs killed by boars, or trains" automobiles.
15,000 bears versus 600 dall sheep in our province with some cross border animals spending some time in BC.
Hmm dall sheep will be next...
Steven

[rimfire]

Can someone provide the numbers on how many gbears are killed each year by hunters

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/indicat...zly-bears.html

Essentially, in the next few years, if the animal control numbers or the vehicle collisions numbers start going drastically up then we know we have a problem.

[bearvalley]

When you take into consideration that in the early 1980's the BC grizzly population was estimated at 6,600 and it is presently 16,000 it's pretty obvious hunting is not a problem.
What needs to be firmly put forth is that we will not accept emotion based wildlife management.

[Wild one]

When you take into consideration that in the early 1980's the BC grizzly population was estimated at 6,600 and it is presently 16,000 it's pretty obvious hunting is not a problem.
What needs to be firmly put forth is that we will not accept emotion based wildlife management.

Agree this is the best approach with govt

[Rob Chipman]

"What needs to be firmly put forth is that we will not accept emotion based wildlife management."

I agree, but the questions are 1) to whom do we put this forth and 2) how do we do it?

Anyone reading between the lines knows that at least a partial answer to #1 is talk to MLAs, which I'm doing and which I encourage others to do. As for who else goes on that list I think we need to be careful. You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. We need to keep that in mind as we try to figure out the nuts and bolts. We need to pick our battles so that we don't come across as chronic bitchers who want to fight with everyone and never win a single battle.

In regard to #2 we need to ask ourselves some hard questions, largely focusing on opponents' objections and use that to figure out the best responses.


You have to give the government credit: they've been (at least in my eyes) completely transparent about why they did this. It's a political payoff to people who look at wildlife issues emotionally. As it's been explained to me the idea is that:

1) science says the hunt is sustainable, so science can't be used to argue for a ban (this is true);
2) science says (according to NDPers I've spoken with) that the existence or non-existence of the hunt will not effect g-bear pops either way (I don't know if that is true, and it's not quite the same as 1) );
3) science does not say that the hunt is required to manage g-bears (this is the most controversial part, so hold it a bit), so banning it is no big deal.

If 1-3 are true, according to NDP logic, there's no reason to not allow urban voters who have an emotional opinion enforce that opinion on others.
(BTW, I don't agree with the NDP logic - I just understand the sounds coming out of their mouths).

A simple and logical counter offensive would be to show that the hunt is a scientifically required management tool. We all have opinions on this and can cite common sense, but can people more knowledgeable than me point me to science that says we need to have a hunt to manage the bears?

Remember, this isn't a one size fits all. Science isn't the same everywhere. I know an Alaska study exists indicating that g-bears kill many ungulates, and I know a study n the Flathead did not indicate that g-bears were hammering calves and fawns. I *have heard* that before California outlawed cougar hunting about 250 cougars were killed per year by hunters. Now? About 250 are killed by paid state hunters. (I can see a situation where we don't kill any g-bears through a public hunt but all sorts of other non-hunter human caused death occurs, including increased CO killings of problem bears).


There are other counter arguments, and we'll get there, but for now can people point me to science that says the hunt is a required management tool?

[Piperdown]

So the reason i asked about how many gbears killed by hunters is this. Our good friends are university educated, and vote NDP, we do not talk politics so we can stay friends. Yesterday my wife and her are in Vancouver and she starts to talk about the gbear hunt, she has no clue about what it is about or how it is managed, she tells my wife that there is still going to be some hunting they are going to cull 240 bears , wtf, how do you deal with such misinformation, long story short we will not be talking about the hunt to stay friends. So i think i will just rip Whonnackboy a new ass whenever i get the chance

[300rum700]

So the reason i asked about how many gbears killed by hunters is this. Our good friends are university educated, and vote NDP, we do not talk politics so we can stay friends. Yesterday my wife and her are in Vancouver and she starts to talk about the gbear hunt, she has no clue about what it is about or how it is managed, she tells my wife that there is still going to be some hunting they are going to cull 240 bears , wtf, how do you deal with such misinformation, long story short we will not be talking about the hunt to stay friends. So i think i will just rip Whonnackboy a new ass whenever i get the chance

Is that how you deal with misinformation, by not talking about it? That's pretty much the whole problem with hunting in this province, no one is willing to call bullshit on this sort of thing. This is YOUR opportunity to educate someone on the reality of hunting and actually make a difference.