Baiting bears and baiting Deer are like apples and pairs, Baiting bears is very ethical, most of the time you have a nice clear shot, you have plenty of time to take the shot, otherwise your chances for seeing them is rare, if for some reason like last year in NH the baiting was really good and the quota was hit half way through the season, the F&G just shuts the season early as they did. Seems there is less wounding of bears using bait sites, free ranging bears, they are ranging and moving most of the time, very hard to get a good clear shot, not saying this can not be done, just makes it harder.
Now baiting deer during season is illegal in most NorthEast states, you can bait before but not during, I agree with this situation, but up in canada where you see all these huge trophy bucks in most cases they are baited during season, the old smarter bucks are on to the program when the hunt begins, the only way to get them to slip is a rut or bait, I'm not big on baiting deer like farm animals, but in someways it can produce good clear shots for the hunters and less wounding, don't get wrong there is just some hunters that will wound a animal even if it was ten feet away, so there is always wounding happing, shooters error. I hope baiting bears continue, without it, our chances will decrease a great deal, now there is places in north america that have very high concentrations of bears and bear baiting is not needed, like Alaska or even out side of our country British Columbia etc...but in the thick bush of the northeast your chances are far and in-between. There is a place for baiting in curtain regions of our country, also helps to keep the numbers at bay, instead of over populating area's, then you will find bears on your door step begging for goodies, the only problem with that, you may be the goodies
Controlling numbers is the right words. Keeping the bears with a healthy population is the bottom line, before F&G preservation came into play, Hunters killed till there was almost no more,Look what almost happed to the Buffalo, at one time there was a healthy population of elk in NH/Maine/Vermont, there has not been a elk in many years in those area's, way before my time, on the other hand we have more deer etc... than any other time in the history of our land, this was due to conservation and preserving our animals for our children to enjoy for times to come, Teddy Roosevelt was one of the first to see beyond the hunt, and knew if we did not create a preservation for our animals there would be no more for other generations to come, Yellow Stone came to be. I would think in todays times we can control populations and keep them healthy and plentiful for generations to come. Our biggest problem is ignorance. God Bless America. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.