Grizzly Hunting-- Yea or Nay?

[Cuba Libre]

What do you guys think, in view of this latest report-- Is trophy bear hunting OK by you??

quote:
Far too many grizzlies killed in B.C. trophy hunt, new report says
By Judith Lavoie, Times ColonistApril 1, 2010 12:53 PMComments (2)
•Story•Photos ( 1 )
A new report by the David Suzuki Foundation and Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that since 1977, hunters have killed 9,484 grizzlies in B.C. Moreover, it says that the provincial government’s limits for kills were exceeded in 63 per cent of grizzly populations at least once over the last five years.Photograph by: Dave Buston, Canwest News ServiceAs hunters converge on B.C. for the spring trophy bear hunt, a new report shows that grizzly bears are being killed by humans at a rate that far exceeds limits set by the provincial government.

The study by the David Suzuki Foundation and Natural Resources Defense Council used the province’s own statistics to examine the number of grizzly bears that were killed by humans between 2004 and 2008. It then compared that data with province’s limits for what it determines is the allowable human-caused mortality rate for grizzlies.

The report found that largely because of trophy hunting, the government’s limits were exceeded in 63 per cent of grizzly populations at least once over the last five years and, in some cases, there were more than double the number of allowed kills.

“Held up against the government’s own estimates of what is sustainable, the number of grizzlies being killed in B.C. is excessive,” said Faisal Moola, Suzuki Foundation science director. “What’s even more concerning is that our research shows this over-killing is happening year after year in many parts of B.C. and nothing is being done to stop it.”

Moola, who with other scientists writing the report, held regular meetings with Environment Ministry officials to ensure the right data was used, said he does not know why such overkills are being permitted, especially as the report found at least 547 grizzlies were shot in parks and protected areas.

Moola speculates that government is not considering other threats to grizzly bears, such as poaching, collisions with vehicles and trains, and collapsing salmon populations.

“You can’t look at trophy hunting in a vacuum. Grizzly bears are facing a perfect storm of threats,” he said.

Some reports have estimated that poaching doubles the number of legal trophy kills, but enforcement is rare.

In documented kills, trophy hunting accounts for 88 per cent of human-caused grizzly deaths and the Suzuki Foundation and NRDC are calling on the province to close loopholes in the Wildlife Act to protect the bears from being shot by trophy hunters in parks and protected areas.

Also a large network of no-kill zones must be established if grizzly bear populations are to survive, the report says.

Backing up the recommendations is a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell, signed by eight grizzly bear specialists from universities around Canada and the U.S.

“We are disappointed that the science-based solutions that we have consistently raised with the government to reduce human-caused mortality and provide effective habitat protection for bears have not been implemented in regulatory standards,” the letter says.

“Consequently, the viability of grizzly bear populations and their habitat continues to erode.”

About half of all grizzlies in Canada are estimated to live in B.C., which amounts to about a quarter of the North American grizzly population.

Both the provincial and federal governments list grizzlies as a species of “special concern” because of their slow reproductive rates and susceptibility to human activities. Although there are restrictions around grizzly hunting in B.C., an annual trophy hunt, which begins today, is allowed. In comparison, grizzly bear trophy hunting is banned in the U.S. where the animals are listed under the Endangered Species Act and Alberta has suspended hunting since 2006 because of extremely low numbers of bears.

That means hunters are converging on B.C. for the hunt which starts today, Moola said.

The new report estimates that since 1977, hunters have killed 9,484 grizzlies in B.C. In 2001, the NDP government brought in a moratorium, but it was lifted the same year when the Liberals came to power.

The hunt has long been controversial. According to Moola, recent polls show that nearly 80 per cent of British Columbians oppose trophy hunting and more than 50,000 letters have been written to Campbell asking that trophy hunting be stopped.

Environment Minister Barry Penner was not available to comment Wednesday and a ministry spokesman said he has not yet seen the report.

jlavoie@tc.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Victoria

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/techno...+report+says/2753483/story.html#ixzz0jsrRPnzR

20ft Alumaweld Intruder

 

[Gunsmith]

Personally I do not hunt bears, I am not against the hunting I just have no interest.
I am for proper conservation of the population but I can forsee a bigger issue that will appear when the bears run out of salmon to eat which will soon be happening. They will be aggressively seeking food and will start becoming an issue with humans around. The next thing to happen is they will start dying off and reproduction will drop off severely.
Either way they will soon be in deep caca!

 

[scott craven]

If you don't eat it, don't kill it !

 

[Cuba Libre]

Just in...............

quoteear BC Wildlife Federation Members;



Please dial in to the CKNW Christy Clark show tomorrow (Friday) at 1-1:30 to hear President Mel Arnold on the Grizzly Bear Hunt. They will also have a Suzuki representative on this call. Be sure to call in to support this science based sustainable hunt.


Thanks,

The Office of the BC Wildlife Federation

20ft Alumaweld Intruder

 

[Osama Bin Hopper]

Should be required to take the meat for sure. If for no other reason than to take some of the power from the antis.

There are lots of the damned things in BC. East Koots can be darnright dangerous because they have become so desensitized.

Haven't had griz but eat blackies and love 'em.

Gimee the gaff!!!

 

[Sitkaspruce]

quote:Originally posted by r.s craven

If you don't eat it, don't kill it !

I have eaten it and it is good!!! Especially the smoked hams.

Bear meat is actually better than some game meat, but only if it is a berry bear. No stinking fish bears.

The Suzuki Foundation is full of BS when it comes to bears and hunting. If you were to add up all the bears killed since 1977 and divide by the years, it works out to 287 bears/year. Thats 2% of the population/year(based on sound, scientific animal counts of 13000 grizz in the province) . And of those bears killed, ~75% are killed by hunters (The 88% was pulled out of their butt). The rest are killed by auto/trains, other bears and the biggest, the BC Gov and problem bears. Hunters hardly put a dent in the population.

The focus is on Coastal bears that eat salmon. The total kill of coastal grizz is ~1/3 of interior bears. Yet they group all the bears into one and use the coast as the main problem. The bears in the interior do not eat a lot of salmon and are doing just fine. Just ask any body who works in the bush or goes moose hunting every year. When living up there and guiding hunters, grizz were seen an almost every trip.

So if the hunting of Grizz was not called "Trophy" hunting, then would it be OK???

And another thing, this same outfit is also trying to stop black bear hunting because they "THINK" that all bears carry the recessive gene that causes the Kermode Bear, the so called "Spirit Bear". What a load of crock!!!!

This is just the start of shutting down hunting and, yes fishing, in this province. If they all had their way we could get our meat from a supermarket, where animals are not killed, and our fish from farms in the ocean. And if you want real protein, TOFU is where it is at!!!

Cheers

SS

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Yea !!!!

 

[Reel Time]

I think peoples main concern with the hunt is that the populations are low, between 5,000-10,000 maybe. So any genetic disease epidemic can crash the numbers fast, therefore more safegaurds need to be put in place. I personally dont care about the hunt as long as its regulated proplerly. I also wouldnt care if we started a seal hunt. And I dont care about the japanese hunting dolphins, a hunt is a hunt, use the meat. Although there are way more dolphins then grizzly bears, so maybe its time for a documentary called "the Cave".


Hot reels.

 

[spring time]

same as craven. don't eat don't shoot. same as and african safari not that appealing

 

[Kildonan]

I'm generally of the frame of mind, if you kill it, you eat it but... to each their own.

My dad shot a bear for us to eat once and my mom always says, "nothing makes better pie pastry than bear lard." [8D]

 

[vetteman]

quote:Originally posted by Sitkaspruce

quote:Originally posted by r.s craven

If you don't eat it, don't kill it !

I have eaten it and it is good!!! Especially the smoked hams.

Bear meat is actually better than some game meat, but only if it is a berry bear. No stinking fish bears.

The Suzuki Foundation is full of BS when it comes to bears and hunting. If you were to add up all the bears killed since 1977 and divide by the years, it works out to 287 bears/year. Thats 2% of the population/year(based on sound, scientific animal counts of 13000 grizz in the province) . And of those bears killed, ~75% are killed by hunters (The 88% was pulled out of their butt). The rest are killed by auto/trains, other bears and the biggest, the BC Gov and problem bears. Hunters hardly put a dent in the population.

The focus is on Coastal bears that eat salmon. The total kill of coastal grizz is ~1/3 of interior bears. Yet they group all the bears into one and use the coast as the main problem. The bears in the interior do not eat a lot of salmon and are doing just fine. Just ask any body who works in the bush or goes moose hunting every year. When living up there and guiding hunters, grizz were seen an almost every trip.

So if the hunting of Grizz was not called "Trophy" hunting, then would it be OK???

And another thing, this same outfit is also trying to stop black bear hunting because they "THINK" that all bears carry the recessive gene that causes the Kermode Bear, the so called "Spirit Bear". What a load of crock!!!!

This is just the start of shutting down hunting and, yes fishing, in this province. If they all had their way we could get our meat from a supermarket, where animals are not killed, and our fish from farms in the ocean. And if you want real protein, TOFU is where it is at!!!

Cheers

SS

We've had Grizzly Bear served at the last two BCWF AGM's.As good or better than any Black Bear that I've ever had.
The requirement to take the edible portions of a legally harvested Grizzly Bear is actually in the works right now and I support it fully.
Oh yeah,Yea to hunting Grizzly Bears.
Dave

 

[Gunsmith]

Whatever the result as long as the anti hunters have nothing to do with it, they are all crackpots.[:0][:0][:0]

 

[Little Hawk]

I wrote a paper on bear-human conflict a few years back in night school.
I did a lot of research on the bear-hunting and bear mortality question too.

If memory serves Sitka you are right on the money, 80 or 85% of grizzly bear mortality is human caused with about 50% or less by hunters. Bruce McClelland (check spelling) was involved in a nearly 40 yr. study (The Rates and Causes of Grizzly bear Mortality/Journal of Wildlife Management.) and there's and awesome paper on the project that dispels many of the myths created by the anti's. Truth is, about as many Grizzly's are shot by hunter's in BC each year as are killed in control-actions by in enforcement agencies.

I am not a trophy hunter and have no compunction to hang anything on my wall to show people. I hunt because it's the absolutely most human thing to do - next to screwing.

I also support bear hunting because I've read three separate authors - people actually knowledgeable about bear-human conflict - that have shown that non-hunted bear populations, over time, become bold, day-active, and aggressive towards humans (Shelton et al.)



"Some could care less if there's any fish left for our kids!"

 

[Captain Dudds]

I agree with the only kill if you're going to eat philosophy.

 

[porcupine]

I'm in favor of the hunt, even though I will not take part. I only shoot what I plan to eat, and I'm not that big of a bear meat fan.

However, one thing always goes unsaid. Bears are apex predators and will, on ocassion, attack people to eat them. When you stop the threat of humans for an apex predator, they do not view humans as a threat anymore, but start to think of them as a potential food source or something not to be feared. You only have to look at California and Oregon where they stopped cougar hunting. Prior to then, there were no recorded attacks on humans, but subsequentially, there have been multiple attacks.

If hunting was curtailled, there would be more attacks and human deaths. If you or one of your family were the victims,stopping the hunt might not seem like a good idea. I've personally talked with at least 14 people who were attacked, threatened or charged by bears and had to use lethal force.

From what I've seen while hunting in the north or central part of the provence, grissly populations are not at all threatened and there is rooom for a cull. The question is how large a cull. I'm sure that the David Suzuki Foundation wants zero cull and is happy to sacrifice a few more bear deaths to humans to have a few more bears.

That's my opinion.

 

[wolf]

I can tell you one thing where I hunt moose there is way more Grizz there now than before we see them all the time now, before it would be maybe just the odd occasion a hunter would see one now its a everyday occurance somedays.
I personally dont eat it and dont think I would ever want a Grizz but if someone wants to take it and get a rug made up or mount and take out the ediable parts Im all for it.
No different then taking a deer or any other big game.

The people who are on here sayin NO if you eat meat where do you get it from???? if you say the store thats very Hypocritical.


Wolf

Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com

 

[SerengetiGuide]

Have myself a Grizzly Bear (although not a Black bear...odd order to do it in) and I can say the area I was in was crawlingggg with Grizzlies...when we head up moose hunting we see more grizz than moose...they are everywhere...there has to be a hunt to keep the bears scared of humans...or else we just look like another snack.. and the population is very sustainable the way it is now as the science proves!

www.serengetifishingcharters.com

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

arrrg! Kill em all!

Fill the dam tub!

 

[scott craven]

Why kill one of these animals for a skin to hang on the wall ??
makes no sense to me to kill something just because you can..
I even throw back dog fish for Chrisakes.

 

[SerengetiGuide]

quote:Originally posted by r.s craven

Why kill one of these animals for a skin to hang on the wall ??
makes no sense to me to kill something just because you can..
I even throw back dog fish for Chrisakes.

Haha...that may be a lil TOO much

www.serengetifishingcharters.com