Robin's Outdoors

Robin,

I really appreciate your article about bear baiting and give you props for educating yourself in trapping and hound hunting, despite it being something that doesn’t speak to you. Open-mindedness is a breath of fresh air. I encourage you to try hound hunting (especially if you enjoy dogs), and maybe even someday trapping… they are two experiences that are equally as fascinating as observing bears over bait. I got frustrated with some of the responses from your readers (as I’m sure you can relate), so I proceeded to vent to Microsoft Word. I thought maybe it would be worth sharing; perhaps someone will gain something from it. Read on….

Baiting bears requires physical strength/stamina, hours of work and preparation for weeks on end, knowledge of bear behavior, access to bait resources (which can get expensive). The bears have to be hungry enough to take the risk (which they know is there) to come in and eat. AND THEN the hunter has to sit still and quiet enough for a bear to think it’s alone. I challenge any non-hunter to sit outside (in the woods please, not on your patio) on a hard surface with mosquitos flying around you and absolutely no bug spray. DO NOT swat the bugs, do not sneeze, cough, clear your throat, move the hair from your face, do not squirm, cross your legs, shift to the other buttcheek, turn your head to look at what’s rustling in the leaves behind you, do not sigh, or even move your eyes to the side too quickly…do that for 15 minutes. Try it for 3 or 4 hours and please tell me what was easy about it.

The same can be said for hunting a bear with hounds or trapping a bear using a foot-hold snare. Countless hounds are sent to the woods and equally as many trappers set snares in the ground and walk away at the end of the season unsuccessful. There is a strong sense of personal fullfillment and pride that one experiences when they’ve finally captured a bear in a snare or their dogs, that they’ve spent months training, have finally put one in a tree. I hear so many arguments about bears being scared out of their minds while in a trap or being chased by dogs. Sure, maybe they are scared, that’s probably a fair statement, but what creature on this earth hasn’t been? A twig snaps in the woods and the heart rate of every animal within hearing distance goes up and they get a little scared. Life out there is hard. So when I walk into my trapsite and see bears on numerous occasions sleeping soundly on their backs like you would see your dog on the couch, or laying on a limb comfortably resting while dogs are barking their heads off at them, I tend to think that maybe the experience isn’t all that stressful to them in the whole scheme of things. And I can walk away, with or without that bear knowing that the life it lead up until that point was healthy and fulfulling and wild, and the inconvenience I’ve put on it in that moment could never overshadow that.

Bears are incredible, incredible creatures. They’re beautiful, smart, patient, inquisitive, shy, protective, and unique. I trap them, hunt them with hounds, and hunt them over bait. I have a Bachelor’s in Wildlife Biology and I’ve spent the last 6 years of my life researching bears (and other fuzzy fun critters) using trapping techniques and hounds. I tranquilize, radio-collar, and measure sows and their cubs or yearlings. I’ve chased, been chased, scratched and bit, and smelled and heard and watched hundreds of bears in their dens – the most intimate experience you could ever begin to imagine. If there’s one true absolute bear lover out there, it’s me. And those who hunt – regardless of the technique – truly, truly value a bear’s life just as much as I. Because they are the ones who choose to take it; to take the responsibility of that bear’s life, and death, into their own hands, for an uncountable number of reasons that no one but them needs to understand. Every hunting experience builds character, engages people with the wild wonders of the world, and teaches them to apprecate the value of an incredible animal that can uncannily put you in a state of awe and make you want to run at the same time.

Harvesting a bear over bait, by dogs, or in a trap is not and never will be automatic. Shame, shame, shame on those who think otherwise. Hamburgers and hot dogs, on the other hand, are automatic. Cooking a chicken breast over the grill for your family bbq requires a drive to the store and $7.34. You don’t know anything about that chicken and how it lived and what it ate. It’s fine to disagree on the methods of hunting or trapping if you’ve tried it and it’s not your cup of tea, but shame on those of you who sit behind your computers and televisions and pass judgement and make assessments on things you don’t truly understand because you don’t get out there and learn it for yourself.