My first black bear!

[ducktoller]

I would not worry so much about the killing aspect, all life feeds on other life, from single cell organisms up to the earths largest creatures. It is just our modern society that has distanced itself so far from nature and is repelled by the thought of killing, and death. Not so many generations ago it would have been a more fair playing field and you and your family would be constantly aware that the tables could turn and that bear could be eating you. I appreciate your empathy but nature does not recognize that emotion. I think it is more productive to be less concerned with the life of an individual animal and more concerned with the species and ecosystem as a whole. They are not the same thing.

Yours was a good post, this is my opinion only. Congrats on the bear.

It's unfair to say nature doesnt have empathy. Lots of animals show empathy including animals we hunt.
Embracing that empathy and the inherent conflict is critical I think to promoting conservation as well as ethical hunting.

I think most hunters and fisherman have empathy for the animals we kill, it's just that we know our place in the cycle and that the whole is greater than the part

They're seeing the same neural pathways for empathy being triggered even with birds and mice. Its fascinating stuff.

[notyalc]

Years ago I was hunting with a few buddies and one shot a black bear, it was his first bear he had ever shot along with the first black bear death I’ve seen. It was the most horrific sight and sound I’ve ever heard in my entire life, watching a bear scream and cry along with thrashing around was enough to almost make me break down...worst thing ever. During all of this I said I would never hunt black bears because of this. This bear suffered for 20+ mins. After it was all said and done and we skinned him out, we saw that not even one single shot was in his vitals, I believe there were 5 shots taken with a 30-06 at just over 100yds.

That night back at camp nobody was very impressed or happy about what has happened and how things played out. In the end I realized how important shot placement and a well sighted rifle are key and none of this would have happened if the above were done. I have since taken three black bears that have dropped no more the 50feet from where they were shot and expired within the 2mins it took to walk up to them with no moaning or sounds at all. I strive to make clean shots and spend lots of time at the range making sure I’m comfortable with my rifle and it is sighted in perfectly.

Black bears are gorgeous creatures and are very exciting to hunt and not to mention are very tasty, so keep your shots on point and get out there and hunt them!

[TreeStandMan]

I killed a bear this weekend. It was one of the sadder things I have witnessed and one of the crueler things I have done. It was also thrilling and an intimate way to connect to the land and the animal.


So long as I continue to eat meat, I will continue to try to inhabit the mercilessness and inflict the violence necessary to end a life for food, and experience the other host of emotions that follow it. It seems only fair, to me, to honour the animals I eat in such a way.

I think I understand your ambivalence. It's strange how killing a bear seems different than killing a deer. As others have pondered, maybe it's because bears are predators and we are predators too, so we have an extra degree of empathy.

Myself, I have a major distaste for tag soup, so until now I have shot all legal broadside game animals that have crossed my sights--I guess you can call me a meat hunter. After encountering a monster black bear last year that I would have loved to put in my freezer, I put a bear tag in my pocket for the first time ever this year. With so many bears in the province right now, two weeks ago I encountered a beautiful little bear with a nice color phase coat, but it was small (probably only a year and a half old) and for the first time ever, I just didn't feel it and passed a legal animal for the first time ever.

I've eaten bear meat, and that's not the problem, but somehow killing a bear just feels different. I'll will kill a bear, but for some reason I'd like an older specimen.

[two-feet]

There are some conflicting emotions at play. Empathy while killing is basically an oxymoron, but we all feel the need to make as clean as kill as possible. The worst situation a human hunter can face is a wounded animal escaping to suffer. I guarentee animal predators do not feel this. But that is the strange position we occupy at the very top of the food chain. I hate to make an animal suffer, but want it to die. Thats kind of wierd?