I'm not looking for the answer to "Is it ethical?" That question and it's answers has been batted around for too many times. My question is, how can it be considered inhumane? Bear baiting is a hot topic in Maine and has been for some time. People against it are adamant that it is inhumane. People who do it are just as adamant that it isn't. While I don't hunt bear out of choice, I fail to see the connection between baiting and inhumane. Can anyone prove that it is inhumane (opinions do not count as proof)?
Bear Baiting
- Thread starter JustKev55
- Start date
I can see their argument about ethical or fair chase (not agree) but inhumane?
No it is more HUMANE!!!! Inhumane would be a poor shot causing suffering.
Shooting over a gut pile usually puts the shooter (notice I did not say hunter) closer and in a clearer "shooting lane" than a stalked bear 50 feet up a fairly dense tree....
Brent
No it is more HUMANE!!!! Inhumane would be a poor shot causing suffering.
Shooting over a gut pile usually puts the shooter (notice I did not say hunter) closer and in a clearer "shooting lane" than a stalked bear 50 feet up a fairly dense tree....
Brent
By someone's measure; perhaps unethical but hardly inhumane. I just don't see the justification. I use to think it was unethical to hunt deer with dogs till I hunted Alabama where they use them and once in their shoes, I changed my attitude !! .... 
We have bated in Colorado and they use to come around quite well. Given enough time, they seem to catch on to what's going on and it's getting harder to get them to come in or stick around. They love Dunkin Doughnuts but don't spend much time choosing a flavor.
Be Safe !!!
We have bated in Colorado and they use to come around quite well. Given enough time, they seem to catch on to what's going on and it's getting harder to get them to come in or stick around. They love Dunkin Doughnuts but don't spend much time choosing a flavor.
Be Safe !!!
klcmschlesinger
New member
I did it.
I went on a black bear hunt in Ontario this past summer and that is just how they do it. They bait with candy cigarettes and blueberry sauce. I had to think about it, but came to the conclusion that at least the bear isn't penned in. It can go anywhere it wants and if it chooses to come to my bait, which one did, then a nice clean shot ends it.
I have an old friend who took his kid and then sent his wife and kid on a hunt in Tennesee where everything is penned in. Now that is not right, at least in my book.
I went on a black bear hunt in Ontario this past summer and that is just how they do it. They bait with candy cigarettes and blueberry sauce. I had to think about it, but came to the conclusion that at least the bear isn't penned in. It can go anywhere it wants and if it chooses to come to my bait, which one did, then a nice clean shot ends it.
I have an old friend who took his kid and then sent his wife and kid on a hunt in Tennesee where everything is penned in. Now that is not right, at least in my book.
You have asked the impossible. No one can prove a subjective concept. In the first place, if you are going to ask a question like this, your first duty is to define what the word "inhumane" means within the context of your question. Even then, all you can expect is subjective answers.
Wildalaska
Moderator
Inhumane?
Only to the fat schnooks like me that get suckered into carrying 50 pound sacks of dog food up a hill, which makes on so tired one falls asleep 20 yards from the bait pile...on the ground I may add.
WildbutthesnoringkeepsthebearsawayAlaska ™
Only to the fat schnooks like me that get suckered into carrying 50 pound sacks of dog food up a hill, which makes on so tired one falls asleep 20 yards from the bait pile...on the ground I may add.
WildbutthesnoringkeepsthebearsawayAlaska ™
Inhumane can't be used in the context of a hunting tactic unless that tactic causes the animal suffering such as a "bear pit". The only way one can equate the word "inhumane" in the context of hunting is a use of a weapon that would cause suffering instead of a quick kill. The truth of the matter is that the act of hunting is considered by many as inhumane.
No longer legal in Washington state. I used to give left over food waste, old fryer grease mostly, to a hunter that baited bears when it was still legal. He and his buddies, unfortunately weren't aware that bears carry trichinosis and one of them didn't cook his bear meat hot or long enough and ended up in the hospital with a case of trichinosis.
I was kind of surprised because they talked like they knew what they were doing.
I don't have a problem with baiting bear or putting out feed for deer. The point is to fill your freezer after all. I wouldn't call it hunting as much as trapping with a gun.
I was kind of surprised because they talked like they knew what they were doing.
I don't have a problem with baiting bear or putting out feed for deer. The point is to fill your freezer after all. I wouldn't call it hunting as much as trapping with a gun.
davlandrum
New member
Are they the same people that think all hunting is inhumane, but are targeting baiting because they think it is a fight they can win?
Seems to be a standard tactic - divide and conquer. So they get baiting outlawed and then go after what next?
They have managed to do away with baiting bear as well as running them (and cats) with dogs in Oregon. Now there is a bear "problem". I am as shocked as can be that taking out those methods of hunting has resulted in an over-abundance of bears and cats.....
CarbineCaleb
New member
Well either way, in the end, the bear is getting shot, so I don't see it as more or less humane than other methods.
I think a good argument can be made that baiting (or using dogs) is less sporting, because the hunter doesn't rely on skills, such as reading game signs, stalking, etc. to actually locate and close the distance to game.
I think a good argument can be made that baiting (or using dogs) is less sporting, because the hunter doesn't rely on skills, such as reading game signs, stalking, etc. to actually locate and close the distance to game.
m.p.driver
New member
Inhuman ,no,but sportsmanlike, no.A friend went bear hunting and pickings were slow so they took him to a garbage dump.He shot his bear while it was eating a dirty diaper.I told him to have the bear stuffed with the diaper hanging out of its mouth.You might as well go deer hunting with a Buick,or prairie dog hunting with a tactical air strike.If all you want is a confirmed kill then why not go to a petting zoo with a claw hammer?
pilothunter
Moderator
This was not supposed to be a post with comments about how "ethical" one thought baiting to be. But as a comment on your "comment" some states include in their regs the restriction of hunting bears near a dump (did your friend check?). And, furthermore, some feel as if sitting in a tree stand, with a .300 mag over a carefully selected, prepared, and grown food plot is exactly the same, when hunting(?) deer. Think about that comparison as you lay your head down tonight.
If it's legal, then it's legal. Make sure you know, of what you speak.
Thanks.
If it's legal, then it's legal. Make sure you know, of what you speak.
Thanks.
davlandrum Hunting big cats with dogs was outlawed in WA at the same time baiting bears was. Now it's legal again, depending on where you are. Mostly the sheep raising areas of the state.
I don't think we have a bear problem in WA. At least not one from ending baiting. I'd guess habitat destruction/encroachment was a bigger problem.
I don't think we have a bear problem in WA. At least not one from ending baiting. I'd guess habitat destruction/encroachment was a bigger problem.
Try it sometime. Maybe you'll change your mind when you realize black bears can climb and you're only 20' off the ground.
Ah! But, sitting in a permanent deer blind on a deer farm in (insert name of state), where they know every stat about all their fenced-in deer is sportsmanlike? Give me a break!
BigBill
I'm not the one who made the statement, it came from opponents of bear baiting here in Maine. They didn't define anything, just made the blanket statement that bear baiting is inhumane.
If you can't prove it since it's a "subjective concept" then just try to convince me it's inhumane.
I'm not the one who made the statement, it came from opponents of bear baiting here in Maine. They didn't define anything, just made the blanket statement that bear baiting is inhumane.
If you can't prove it since it's a "subjective concept" then just try to convince me it's inhumane.
Inspector3711
New member
Buzzcook.. I just about said "we don't have a bear problem eh..." but then you nailed it at the end. Every year in Maple Valley there seems to be more and more bear "trouble" but it's probably mostly due to the population exploding.
What was a forested hill 7 years ago now has 3000 houses on it and (no offense) yuppie gals screamin' about the cougars and bears in the back yard.
I moved out here 8 years ago and was happy to see eagles and deer in my neighborhood and would like to see a bear or cougar, but would prefer to be armed. Then there are those who have tried to bring the city out with them.... Maybe I'm different because I grew up in a small town (pop 500).
In any case, I haven't heard of anything terrible happening but it often makes the news in Seattle and the trails here have cat and bear warnings.
What was a forested hill 7 years ago now has 3000 houses on it and (no offense) yuppie gals screamin' about the cougars and bears in the back yard.
I moved out here 8 years ago and was happy to see eagles and deer in my neighborhood and would like to see a bear or cougar, but would prefer to be armed. Then there are those who have tried to bring the city out with them.... Maybe I'm different because I grew up in a small town (pop 500).
In any case, I haven't heard of anything terrible happening but it often makes the news in Seattle and the trails here have cat and bear warnings.
They are also the ones that don't want me to run cats with my dog or trap. I get tired of people that don't even live in my state trying to tell me what to do. Now they want to introduce wolves, ever watched a canine kill a deer I have and its not humane but it is survival and I plan on surviving and running cats and shooting coyotes and hunting deer, bear, patridge and whatever else is legal because I can. And you can take that to the bank, if any of them survive.