Hunting bears …. Why do we hunt them?

[moosinaround]

I need to hunt bears because my dam freezer is out of pepperonies, smokies, and garlic coil. This is the exact reason I hunt birds and ungulates! I hunt to put good food in the freezer. I choose to do this myself with wild game. I do suppourt local farmers as well. I rarely buy red meat from a grocery store. If I wsa a vegetarian, I would get as many greens as I could from the wild too! Mother nature provides for you, but she doesnt put it in your fridge/freezer, you gotta go do that yourself! moosin

[bearvalley]

Looks like some are doing some thinking.
Seems most agree the hunt should come back with rules that the hide and meat is retained and used.

Now the kicker is that this province is headed to co-management of wildlife.
Any politician or government staffer will tell you that.

First Nations will be the driver if the grizzly hunt re-opens.
Some First Nations will not want the hunt back due to ties to the bear viewing industry and others will want the hunt because grizzlies are impacting ungulate numbers that are hunted for food and are becoming a threat to safety.
No one is going to reinstate the grizzly bear hunt because licensed hunters want to “eat grizz”.

I believe, we need to regroup our thinking and get this right.
Here’s my points:
- an Apex predator such as the grizzly bear cannot be left “ untouchable” if wildlife management for other species is to take place.
-we need to get inventory numbers of what’s wanted on the landscape and manage “all” species to the best of our ability so that those species remain in sustainable numbers.
-if/when a grizzly hunt re-opens it should be managed with population unit numbers in mind and if a sow or two get shot…so be it….to only target boars is a sure fired way to increase grizzly numbers.
-pack out the hide…pack out the meat ….whatever it takes but that said maybe some local level input on utilization should come into play here. With co-management being the new key word….we might be better off to listen to what the new “other half” of the management team has to say on what we should and shouldn’t have to do.

Here’s something most of you don’t know ….Grizzly bears are still getting CI’d in BC.
They are still getting tanned and done up by taxidermists.
Only thing is licensed hunters are shut out.

Maybe under “co-management” we will be able to hunt G bears again ….but it won’t be by the whim & will of the emotion based public or by telling the world we eat “blueberry smoked grizz”.

And yes….some grizzlies are edible…others….

[ElectricDyck]

After a week in region 7 we saw almost as many grizzlies as black bears including a sow with 3 cubs. They are doing well and the 2 tags that used to be allocated would not make a dent in the population..

The tahltan have a bounty on grizzlies, good for them going against the government when they know the government is wrong.

[bearvalley]

The tahltan have a bounty on grizzlies, good for them going against the government when they know the government is wrong.

Exactly … and the Tahltan have asked for the return of the hunt as they are fully aware that grizzlies are not going to be managed under their current bounty program.
Last year, I believe the target they set was for 100 grizzlies and they got 9.
The village of Iskut was under lock down on Halloween night due to a grizzly breaking into occupied houses.
It was dispatched later that night.
The Tahltan’s know that they lack the funds to target bears throughout their territory due to the remoteness and aircraft needed for transportation to be getting bears that are needing removal.
They also recognize that licensed hunters are a management tool.
CITES permits are still issued for grizzly bears in Canada …. we just need to work on getting the hunt re-opened to all licensed hunters.

[Ferenc]

How has the class action over the provincial grizzly bear hunt gone.
Was it Don Donaldson that implemented the ban ... Not by conservation , but by public opinion.
I can say this .. The grizzly is definitely not a “Threatened “ species in this province.
I am one who wants to see the hunt reinstated ... In my opinion it’s not a conservation issue
Anymore.

[Walking Buffalo]

I have to disagree with some of your comments.

Firstly there were thousands more grizzlies from California to Alaska and ungulates were doing just fine so all the blame cannot fall onto grizzlies.

Secondly optics of the hunt was a major factor that ended the grizzly hunt. Around the world its seen strictly as a trophy hunt and nothing more. Taking the hide and skull and leaving the meat has left a image that's not favorable. Alaska has seen the writing on the wall and there is discussions going on re: have hunters take the meat out. Now what you do with the meat when you get home is entirely your decision. This is not a capitulation.

To Ignore what others around the world have to say about grizzly trophy hunting is not the answer. As you Know in B.C. you are required to take all edible parts of the black bears. to suggest that black bears also should be the hunters choice whether to pack it out is a non starter and in my opinion going to increase friction. The age old comment " well im leaving the meat so that other animals can benefit from the carcass is not going to appease those opposed. As a hunter for over 50 years i don't support that comment myself.

You're animating a fantasy.
Please explain to us why there were such large numbers of wildlife during the European colonization of North America.
To help you, be sure to include the Spanish Conquistador's introduction of diseases (1500's) that collapsed the Native human population and the resulting repercussions for wildlife.

Yes, Grizzly Bears are not always deserving of the whole blame for current ungulate population declines.
However, Bears, and Wolves, are heavily responsible for maintaining low ungulate populations in many areas.
Despite there being multiple causes for ungulate population crashes, the answer to restoring these animals can be as simple as predator removal.
If you continue to disagree, please educate us on why the principals of Trophic Cascade and Predator Pits are wrong and not occurring in B.C.


You don't seem to know what "capitulation" means.
What you described is the exact definition of capitulating.

[bearvalley]

The grizzly lawsuit has been “certified” and now can move forward with all affected outfitters as a class action lawsuit.

[Ferenc]

The grizzly lawsuit has been “certified” and now can move forward with all affected outfitters as a class action lawsuit.

This is good to hear .

[338edgehunter]

I'll eat a grizzly for sure the hide and skull are bonuses

[Ambush]

What happens to a bear (grizzly or black) when it dies or is killed in the wild without human intervention? Is it "wasted"?

Personally, I believe it should be required to leave the meat of a spring bear in the bush. Maybe be allowed to take a hind quarter. Other preds will eat that easy meal rather than risk taking a calf. Look up "diversionary feeding for predators and calf survival". Physiologically I think you could sell that aspect easier to non-hunters because you're "forcing" hunters to do something good for the wildlife population overall. Hunters have to give up something. The Pacific Wild and their ilk have been hammering against the "but I eat it" lament for years and that reasoning has been sunk and even has the opposite effect now. Nobody "has to hunt" to feed themselves and especially the glamour specifies.

You have to sell it as good for wildlife and it helps with the optics if hunters have to give up something (the meat) and more "natural' as in they die in the bush and the meat becomes the Great Circle of Life. Disney and The Lion King can help us with that. People listen to Disney way more than us or science.

I'd rather not leave fall bears in the bush because it just fattens up preds for winter survival and the calves are mostly safe from bears by then anyway. But in light of the above, that won't fly. I'd present that as the "Compromise".