Bear hunting ethics

[DesertBull]

I'll bet one of those decoys the G&F use would work real well in the early bear season on Cherry Creek and Juan Miller Roads!

[firstcoueswas80]

I, personally, would take any legal bear I got a shot at, since I haven't put an arrow in one yet. After a couple I might start holding out, but have no plans of doing so this year. I don't figure that makes me a John Wayne anything, it just makes me a rookie who's willing to take what I can get.

Matt S.

 

 

You, are the only one in my mind who has made any sense at all. This is the same thing as people whacking spikes and forks. Who cares how big it is, its not your bear so dont cry about what people kill. If they are proud of it so be it. No need to rag on someone who is proud of what they killed IF it was legal. Its like me with my lion, I am super super proud of that and honestly I couldnt care less what anyone says. Also a couple of my bucks, there small but I dont care, I'm proud of them.

 

If YOU are a trophy hunter, so be it. That doesnt mean that every one has to be a trophy hunter. What gives you ( anyone who is a trophy hunter) the right to talk chit about someones bear, deer, lion, elk what ever that they have killed?

 

I get so sick of everybody being so concerned with how big the animal is not how proud the hunter is of the animal. Not everyone is a trophy hunter.. get over it. If you are, cool good for you but it doesnt make you any better than anyone who is content with a small bear, deer, lion, elk or what ever.

 

As to the gut shot cub, that is a bummer to hear, and has been stated that person is a guy with a rifle and not a hunter.

 

 

Edited to point out: when i saw you the trophy hunter, i am not point fingers at ANYONE, just ANYONE who thinks that the "go big or go home" is the only way to hunt.

[GameHauler]

Someone hit a nerve there Buddy,

Casey,

The differance between Bear and any other young game is that it shuts the unit down to everyone else.

If you Draw a tag For something you can hunt the whole hunt no matter how many other people shot spikes. Just a thought

Mike

[firstcoueswas80]

Someone hit a nerve there Buddy,

Casey,

The differance between Bear and any other young game is that it shuts the unit down to everyone else.

If you Draw a tag For something you can hunt the whole hunt no matter how many other people shot spikes. Just a thought

Mike

 

 

 

Thats part of hunting. Its fair but thats not what I'm talking about.

[azyoung]

The bear that was shot could not be compared to a spike buck or bull. This bear from the end of the spine to where they cut the head off was about 26” I used my sling as a reference. If this was someone first bear or if they were proud of this bear then take care of it! To shoot a very small bear skin it and throw it under a boulder 400 yards from a main road is were the issue of a killing a young bear irritates me. FYI the info from the Game and Fish is that leaving or wasting meat from any game animal(lion bear) is illegal

[COOSEFAN]

I would agree that it would be better to have a draw for the fall bear hunts. I also know that alot of those "small" bears are killed just because it's a bear. Most people can't tell if a bear is big or not.......they just know it's a bear and they kill it. As long as they are proud of it and hunted it in an honest fashion, who cares! It's their tag to fill and it's legal, but it does suck when it shuts units down. What I wonder is do some of you guys get upset when somebody shoots a big bear too? That is one less bear for you to hunt just the same as if it were a small bear they took. Just curious, but I believe in "to each his own" and also that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"! I know a bunch of guys who would love to shoot a stateland bear and it wouldn't matter if it was small or not, and I would never look down on them for doing so My $.02

[bullwidgeon]

Azyoung what you saw is not an isolated incident. Literally any stateland bear that isn't currently with a sow when the hunter decides to shoot them is legal. Until something changes this will be a pretty common occurance. Wasting the meat is a whole different legal matter. Bears are not like deer and elk and dont breed or mature near as fast and are much less in numbers here. I watched 2 little bears, apparently trophies for some, for an hour eating pears this year before the mother got out of her bed a quarter mile down the drainage from them and then went to gather them up. To alot of guys killing either of those subadult little bears would have been fine because they didn't see the sow. I don't think that is right, however using a little discretion when bear hunting apparently is a little too much to ask for. If the resource keeps getting hammered and more and more hunters go bear hunting each year then eventually it will probably go to draw and that might not be a bad thing. Thats all I am saying...

 

Bret M.

[firstcoueswas80]

I would agree that it would be better to have a draw for the fall bear hunts. I also know that alot of those "small" bears are killed just because it's a bear. Most people can't tell if a bear is big or not.......they just know it's a bear and they kill it. As long as they are proud of it and hunted it in an honest fashion, who cares! It's their tag to fill and it's legal, but it does suck when it shuts units down. What I wonder is do some of you guys get upset when somebody shoots a big bear too? That is one less bear for you to hunt just the same as if it were a small bear they took. Just curious, but I believe in "to each his own" and also that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"! I know a bunch of guys who would love to shoot a stateland bear and it wouldn't matter if it was small or not, and I would never look down on them for doing so My $.02

 

 

yep.

[mattys281]

As far as I know, cubs are legal regardless if they're with the sow or not. The regs say "any bear except sows with cubs". If it's legal & you're happy with it take the shot & don't pay attention to what someone on a soap box has to say. The G&F issues plenty of rules as it is, I don't need other hunters adding to the pile.

[GameHauler]

I agree that is a terible waste.

I was Proud enough of my Bear to pack the whole thing out.

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bmf1321]

I agree that is a terible waste.

I was Proud enough of my Bear to pack the whole thing out.

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best reply I have seen yet.

[steward224]

I would agree that it would be better to have a draw for the fall bear hunts. I also know that alot of those "small" bears are killed just because it's a bear. Most people can't tell if a bear is big or not.......they just know it's a bear and they kill it. As long as they are proud of it and hunted it in an honest fashion, who cares! It's their tag to fill and it's legal, but it does suck when it shuts units down. What I wonder is do some of you guys get upset when somebody shoots a big bear too? That is one less bear for you to hunt just the same as if it were a small bear they took. Just curious, but I believe in "to each his own" and also that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"! I know a bunch of guys who would love to shoot a stateland bear and it wouldn't matter if it was small or not, and I would never look down on them for doing so My $.02

 

Well said. I agree 100%.!

[Redbeard]

The problem with shooting young bears is that bears don't reproduce at the same rate as deer. Sows usually don't have cubs until age 4-5. They just don't replace the population as fast as deer, elk, and other game animals. It is very difficult to determine the sex of a bear when you are shooting at it with a rifle from 400 yards too so sows get shot at a fairly high rate. This is an argument FOR hunting bears with hounds. You can size them up pretty good if they are in a tree. Let me say that I actually don't like the idea of hunting bears with hounds but it does make sense for management.

[dogman68]

The problem with shooting young bears is that bears don't reproduce at the same rate as deer. Sows usually don't have cubs until age 4-5. They just don't replace the population as fast as deer, elk, and other game animals. It is very difficult to determine the sex of a bear when you are shooting at it with a rifle from 400 yards too so sows get shot at a fairly high rate. This is an argument FOR hunting bears with hounds. You can size them up pretty good if they are in a tree. Let me say that I actually don't like the idea of hunting bears with hounds but it does make sense for management.

 

The hardest way to hunt ANYTHING is with hounds. Especially bears. It takes thousands of dollars and thousands of hours to train a hound. If you are just persistant, you can usually stumble onto a bear or lion and kill it fairly easily without dogs.

Then you can make a post "LION----WITHOUT HOUNDS" or more truthfully, "I had a terrible accident and killed a lion or bear without using dogs". ha ha

But Greybeard makes a good point. If the bear is in a tree you can determine sex, age and a lot of things before making up your mind to shoot or not.

Seldom do you see a juvinile lion or bear in a picture with dogs but commonly you see sub adult lions and bears killed by people who "spot and stalked" them. JMO

[.270]

anybody who thinks there isn't as much "sport" in running a bear with houds, has never done it. the hardest work i've done is trying to put a big mean bear up a tree. you can putt around with dogs on a box and try to wind youngsters from the road, and might occassionally cross a big bear track, but probably wont' catch it. you can do the same after a fresh snow for lions and be quite successfull. if you wanna see how tough you are, get on a horse, or on foot is you're really tough, in rough country and try to tree a big bear. they can cover more rough country faster than you can imagine. and a mean one will just lay up and rest and wait for the dogs to catch up so he can whip the heck out of em and run some more. don't ever cut houndin' a bear short. sometimes you can tree one quite easy, but seldom. most of the time you're in for a race like you've never seen, and plan on doctoring dogs. Lark.