Let's all just keep in mind that none of us in N A live somewhere - where bears used to be. I even hear of them wondering into Pheonix during the dry spells!

 

I'm glad most you guys have such polite bears. My buddy has a cabin that a bear broke into last summer. The dang thing tore up the kitchen and then ripped up his bed and urinated and deficated all over in the cabin. Took him two day to clean up the mess and then guess what third night after he fixed everything back up and can sleep in the cabin bear comes back tries to break in during the night while he is there with his wife and grand kids. Plus has friends in a camp trailer parked outside. They had to shoot that one before it hurt someone had no fear of people at all. We have had a bunch of those type recently in this state they are starting to be a real nusiance. Then we have Grizzlies too they tend to be more aggressive and harder to predict. I personally would shoot a bear that was coming near my home. I have kids and would rather be safe than sorry, if they aren't affraid of people they are dangerous. I love seeing them out on the trails too and most head the other way if they see you or smell you, the ones that don't you have to worry about.

 

The problem is that people feed the bears. Some people have been known to feed them out of their hands. So the bear relate people to a food source. Others learn to visit dumps. People are a big part of the problem. Why build a cabin up on top of some mountain only to visit a couple times a year? They bulldoze areas and that takes away food sources and den areas. I'm really refering to whats going on around this area. 3 or 4 people used to own a whole mountain. Now there's over 70 lots on one part of the mountain. The people come from cities to get away. Then they try to change the mountain to be more like the area they're trying to escape. They bring the city with them. Then they get mad because a porcupine chewed on their cabin.

If people use their minds, they can come up with ways to keep animals away. 1. Don't leave food in a cabin when they aren't there. 2. Don't leave garbage around the camping area. 3. Put bars on the windows. 4. Reinforce the doors. 5. Place plywood with nails sticking up in front of doors and windows as a welcome mat. The bears will not step on the nails. People can tie a rope on the plywood and pull it in front of the door before they turn in for the night.

I guess it's just easier for people to pull a trigger. Less work.

At least some people know enough to use rubber bullets to just scare the bears away.

 

You've got a couple of great points. People feeding the bears is a huge problem. Mostly jackasses who have been brainwashed by walt disney and think the bears are "cute". People don't realize that these things WILL EAT THEM if the mood so strikes them.

Then you have the animal rights crowd. Kind of like the assclown conman tree hugger that got himself and his girlfriend eaten up north somewhere. He thought he was actually a bear and could talk to them. Guess he found out what he was - food. At least he took himself out of the gene pool and a bear got a good meal which is more useful to the bears than anything he ever did for them during his life. Good riddance.

Anyway, another problem is that they don't have a fear of humans. Once they understand that the human creature is not a threat then they will treat them as such. Not a threat and possibly even a food source. The same goes with mountain lions. Even coyotes get incredibly bold once they lose their fear of humans but they aren't likely to eat you.

People these days have a very destructive and ignorant tendency to anthropomorphize and sentimentalize nature. That sort of self delusion is bad for nature and sometimes can be fatal.

 

We have the added advantage that for years now the Feds have been relocating the problem bears from Yellwstone, Glacier and Jackson into the mountains of Idaho. So we get to contend with bears that should have been gotten rid of to begin with. In some areas here the things are more common than Racoons. We have so many that there are 2 seasons for both spring and fall. But the dang tree hugger from Jackson and from Sunvalley keep trying to pass a law to preven us from baitting them when we hunt them. Then they top that off with returning wolfs to the area. Most the people I know would just as soon that those of you who think they are so cool lobby your congressmen to have them put the damn things in your area. We have more than we need and the Lion population is climbing like crazy too. But to hear the enviro wackos tell it we are hurting the populations of all the animals and then they blame the decline of the game animal on people. Couldn't be there precious preditors they keep turning lose here and them not letting any of the forests be logged to clear area for new growth. Old growth sounds cool but animals don't eat the full grown trees they eat the grasses and plants from the clearings and the new tender small trees. But that is another story, just leave it that if you go into an area full of dead fall and old trees and standing dead really old trees you see way less animals than in the areas that were logged just a few years ago, those areas are full of animals. We also have way more forest areas now than we had in the 50s. Personally I think any bear thats not afraid of people needs to be shot. There are plenty more around the ones that have no fear are dangerious.

 

We receive a lot of relocated black bears in our area. They are usually the ones getting into trouble with a couple tags in their ears. There aren't a lot of places to relocate them so we get a lot of them. I think they are going to extend the bear hunting season.

I can only think of one forest around here with old growth. Really there's no growth except for the trees. The only thing on the forest floor is dead leaves.

 

Captainquint,

That idiot was from California and he got eaten by the bears of Katmai. I once watched a show of his on the Discovery channel and was in total disbelief that this idiot was chasing a very large brown bear out of his camp by hitting it with a stick. This was several years ago and then when the guys at work were talking about him getting eaten I figured it had to be the same guy from the show.

He was going around getting rich people to give him money on the pretense that he was saving them from being killed/poached, when in fact Katmai is a huge bear sanctuary and quote from the Feds who oversee it " There has not been one incident of known poaching or even the rumor of a poaching incident".

But to here him say it it was rampant down there. The latest report we had on him was last month when the Troopers released the video of it, or at least the soundtrack since it was recording in the bag and they figured he was attacked in the daytime from the timestamp and it was because he went out to kick a very large boar out of his camp while they were preparing their lunch. It is a shame that his girlfreind had to die but I figure with him the genepool is alittle safer now that he is gone.

Our Governor did not back down to those idiots from Freinds of animals over our predator control program we have going on up here and I appluade him for it, even thow he is trying to screw us everyother way, I like that one. I go out everyyear to hunt and see lots of cows(moose) and know calves every year and it is because of all the wolves, our wolves are nowhere near threatend or endangered but the way they activist talk it up we are trying to kill everyone of them.

I could go on for ever on this subject. The point I want to make is the fact it is cool to see wildlife around my house but when it threatens human life that was not provoked then it must be removed from the area, wether by lethal or non-lethal methods. If a guy is walking thru the Park and he is charged because of a Sow is protecting her cubs then I wish that she could be moved to a safer area because she is doing what is normal but if a bear charges somebody because it is foraging thru the garbage cans then it should be taken with lethal means. The reasoning is if they move the bear it will come back as they are finding out or it just goes to the next town it finds and starts over with the garbage. At the same time people should take precautions to prevent the bears from getting use to to free food in the cans by putting them out just before the garbage truck arrives and pull in the birdfeeders and make sure Fido's food dish is not left outside, bears love dogfood.

I hunt them but I do enjoy watching a filming them.

AlaskaBoy.

 

Captain:

Post your pay-pal account, and maybe I will send you some $ for thatb $5 word eh? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

I looked it up and the daffynition isn't as long as the word!

 

I think I saw that guy on tv. Did he have blonde hair? Wouldn't he crawl through the bear trails in the thick brush?

The latest I've seen was an older couple that would fly a small plane in to look at the bears. The woman would walk around with a fruity straw hat on. Have you seen them?

 

I just recently got the game cam pictures back. I didn't get any pictures of the bear. There were only pictures of deer and some kind of bird. I'm going to wait until Fall to put the camera back out. I know a spot where the bears gather so hopefully it will work out then.