Indigenous people kill black bear at Nitnat

[whitewater_cowboy]

Just want everyone out there to keep your eyes peeled in the Nitnat region for native people's poaching black bears. I am unaware of any hunting season on bear at this time of year and can only assume the animal was harvested for the blackmarket trade. After photographing the still warm carcass at the mouth of the Nitnat River in Nitnat Lake, I confronted the three natives in their aluminium fishing tub. They admitted that it was their bear and I advised that their ancestors must certainly be proud. I didn't push it further as they had at least two guns on board as I heard two distinctly different firearms report...one very loud shotgun or large calibre report followed by several smaller calibre shots. I have reported the incident to the CO's, but, please do your part if you are there and notice any infractions. I had taken several friends over to photograph the bears and after a wonderful day it turned sour at the end when those who came to appreciate were confronted with the ramifications of ignorant greed. Originally, I am from Onterrible and my bear watching was at a northern Ontario dump. Moving here and discovering Nitnat, I was amazed to go and flyfish with the bears. This has become some of my fondest memories, to find a place so close to civilization, where I could co-exist and share an experience on the water with the bears. Such a situation can be easily prey apon by unscrupulous people. This is the first time I have witnessed anything of this nature there in the approximately ten years I have been fishing Nitnat. Let's protect the little that remains so our children's children might experience the wonder of fishing with these magestic animals. I'm not an anti-hunter, just hate the thought of a life wasted for a gall bladder, paws, etc. destined for a superstitious culture overseas. Tight lines and cherish our outdoors!

 

[Charter Tofino]

I think theres a spring and fall season on bears. Might be wrong though. EIther way i hear bears feeding on salmon taste like garbage. Did they take much meat? Paws?

 

[whitewater_cowboy]

I called the CO's and couldn't get any immediate info. on hunting or possible aboriginal rights, which was my first approach before I jumped to conclusions. There was at least a 25 minute time elapse while we rowed down the river to where I found the carcass. The natives didn't go over until after I had rowed well into the lake. I don't know the details of what may have been taken. I am very concerned that it was simply for the gallbladder, penis, paws...money items on the blackmarket overseas. I use to hunt and we would butcher and bleed as soon as possible to preserve the meat for consumption. It was hot today and that bear was dead in the heat for a conservative 45 minutes. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

 

[wolf]

There is 2 seasons to hunt bear one in the spring which starts april 1 to june 15th and starts again for bow from aug 23 to sept 5 then rifle sept 6th to dec 10th. if it was in those frames I was ok to do.
I do know there are certain ares you cant shoot or hunt on and looked in the regs and map A8 says its a no hunting or shooting area it looks like from worthless creek to the top of nitnat lake and 500 m either side of midline of river. so in seeing that I would say it was poached.

But there are 2 different laws one for natives and one for everyone else (yes thats not politically correct)but it is the truth dont send me or write on this forum hate mail!!!!!!!!!!they have certain privlages for ceremonal purposes, personally dont have a problem with that at all IF the animal is going to be harvasted and used.

If it was just shot and left I dont care if it was native,white or any other race that is not a true hunter and thats not what most hunters do the bottom line is they are poachers!!!!!!!

Keep pushing the cos.


wolf

Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com

 

[whitewater_cowboy]

I hope nobody is considering my post 'hate' mail. Simply wanted people to be aware. I was only aware of the spring hunt. CO's gave me a follow-up call this morning and did advise that there is a legal hunt at this time, but, that the killing may have occurred in a no hunting zone. But, did not get into specifics with me. I was assured that they will be looking into it further.

 

[The Fish Assassin]

whitewater: Listen here partner. I can give you a brief or long rundown on Native hunting rights if you would like? To begin with there is no season as to when or what we can hunt (for that matter what time of the day or night either), (problably something the CO's didn't tell you!) which for some strange reason doesn't seem to include ELK!?? How close to the REZ was his bear? The only no hunting zone I'm aware of is just around the Nitnat reserve. Had it just ate someone's garbage? Was it a problem bear, Man If I lived in Nitnat I would always be bear aware. Who knows maybe it was trying to climb aboard like the one in Renfrew did. I see what color the difference is here... Any of the Reserves or comunities in general out on the west coast practice what I would call preventative maintanance when it comes to Bears or Cougers. With the loss of habitat all around Vancouver Island more and more bears are finding thier way into remote West Coast communities, confrontation is enevitable. Did you see the Bear in the subway restraunt on CBC news this morning? Why did police decide to shoot that bear? I'm sure it was also shoot in a No Hunting Zone. But the fact of the matter is when Bears and humans are brought together due to various circumstances Bears rarely get the better end of the stick. To jump to your assumptions as to why this bear was shoot clearly shows a race card to me. Bears are held in extremely high reguard in Native culture.. something about them being the spirit of our ancesters yadayada.. that is why they have a place on our totems and in our cerimonies. If a bear is shoot by a native it is usually as a last resort or for cerimonial purposes.

 

[alley cat]

All good points you make ; but look at the posters proliferating on this site and you can see the way its going !
Notice how many of the old regulars don't post anymore ?
Try and speak for less discrimination and out come the guys with the white pointy hats and the burning cross !
My thoughts were yours exactly on the close in vicinity of the bear or was it a nuisance bear that had to be put down , no don't even consider that just leap to the conclusion that those damn FN were doing something illegal , what a frustrating exercise !!!!

AL

 

[whitewater_cowboy]

Ally Cat and Fish Assasin:
It's obvious that my post was not read. The bear was shot on the river, by natives in their boat at the log jam in the river mouth. I could be wrong, but, I was under the impression that there was a 500m buffer zone on either side of the river from Worthless Cr. to the Lake which is no hunting. The bear was bothering no one. I understand that there are certain considerations in place for native use in ceremony, etc.,but, to leave it sitting in the sun on a hot day for over 45 min. and then waiting to go over to the kill until they are sure I can no longer see anything? Do natives waste the rest of the animal that is harvested for ceremonial puposes? I doubt it. So why were they not rushing over to bleed their catch and preserve the valuable meat? I call it as I saw it. Not an indigenous people with respect for the mother earth. And I don't consider this a reflection of the native culture. I believe these people were motivated by capitalistic greed, a symptom of my white culture. I only wished to raise attention to what I perceived a tragedy so others might also be vigilant in stemming what maybe a developing problem. The issue isn't about race, it's about a bear that appears to have been harvested for the blackmarket.

 

[Sitkaspruce]

There is enough bears on the island not to worry about a couple being shot. If they just took the paws and GB, then I would do something about it, especially pass the info onto the band, but if they took the animal, meat and hide, then who cares. The closure is a stupid one that stricltly political. We do not need to protect black bears, there is more now than there ever was, and it is the most underutilized species when it come to hunting them, most people will not shoot one. If a FN hunter shoots a bear and utilizes it for their puposes, who cares. If it was poached for $$$$ then the band should step in and deal with it. I would be surprised if the CO's would touch this with a 100' pole, way to political.

We used to hunt Nitnat all the time and we would see upwards of 30 bears on the river, when there was fish. We shot a couple back then, but quite after they tasted like rotten fish (we were young and did not know any better), now we hunt berry bears, much better tasting!!!!

As for loss of habitat, cutblocks and such actually improve bear habitat, hence the reason there is more nears now then ever. Openings provide more forage species, grasses, shrubs and berries, which help feed the bears. The problem with people/bear conflicts is that most of the time it is our fault. We leave garbage out, dog food and other attractive food types which attract bears, usually small ones who are pushed out of an area by bigger bears as the population grows. The little guys get shot and dumped.

SS

 

[The Fish Assassin]

EWE you eat bears? What do they taste like? Doesn't deer taste better?

Take only what you need.

 

[Sitkaspruce]

quote:Originally posted by The Fish Assassin

EWE you eat bears? What do they taste like? Doesn't deer taste better?

Take only what you need.

A fish bear is that........a fishy tasteing bear
BUT a nice 3-5 yo berry bear is amazing. I have shot them when they were eating blueberries and when you cooked the meat, there was a taste of blueberries. They make great sausages and pepperoni, and they allow me to use more of my deer, elk or moose in burger. I have the huge bear rug, so I do not hunt them in the spring, as they taste like what ever they have been eating the fall before, so it can be a crap shoot on taste.....and I shoot all my animals for meat.

Cheers

SS

 

[TheBigGuy]

The indiginous peoples of this province pretty much have the right to hunt anywhere they want. Unless it can be proven that the animal was harvested for illegal overseas export nothing will result from any complaints. If you had pictures of the paws, etc, being removed and the rest left to rot, pehaps something would be done.

I appreciate your love of the bears and your desire to protect them. I am however in agreement with the other posters that the bear population on the island is extemely healthy. If the aboriginal peoples of the province choose to harvest them for legitimate purposes, who are we to complain. Bears have become a problem in many areas, and unfortunately many of these bears must be killed as relocating them rarely works.

While your intentions may have been fueled by your love for the bears, your post comes off as a rant against natives. The courts will almost always support the natives rights to harvest fish and game by whatever means they choose. While many may not agree with this, get over it, that is the way the law is interpreted these days.Complaining about it constantly on the forums only makes it appear as though they are populated by a bunch of redneck peckerwoods.

 

[nitnat_junkie]

give the guy a break, thanks for the heads up

 

[whitewater_cowboy]

Because there are so many bears!?! That's justification? You don't harvest an animal and leave it baking in the hot sun for over 45 minutes. If it was for food or ceremonial purposes why did they wait till I had rowed well across the lake to go to the kill? If they had a RIGHT to it, why would they be worried about what I saw? I said from the beginning that I was not an antihunter and I understood natives may have a right to harvest the bear. NOBODY has the right to waste an animals life. The circumstances suggest illicit purposes. Thus I was angry. If you are too ignorant to understand this I'll forgive your stupidity in attempting to discredit me by labelling me a racist. Do everyone a favour and try using your head for more than a hatrack.

 

[Jimmy]

I could not see anything racit about Whitewater_cowboys post. Get a grip if any first nations get insulted by that post they need to grow a pair. Instead of defending thier actions why not except the fact that White, Red, Brown, Black, Yellow no matter what colour you are there are poachers in every race and a poacher no matter what colour he or she is is an A$$HOLE and should be prepared to painted as one.

I have spent a lot of time hunting and fishing all over Nitinat (Lake, river and hill sides) and the some of the natives as well as some of the white's that use that area are no saints. What Whitewater_cowboy describes doesn't surprise me one bit!!!!!!!!!