Congratulations to NJ Bear Hunters

[DrMike]

The first day of the NJ bear hunt concluded. It appears to have been a success.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/12/at_least_150_bears_are_killed.html

The videos accompanying this report are especially interesting. Did any of the people posting on this forum participate in this hunt?

 

[JD338]

Glad to see that NJ has reopened the bear hunting.

JD338

 

[6mm Remington]

Congratulations to the lucky hunters. It's sad to see that so many people are withdrawn from nature that they cannot invision that what these sportsmen and women are doing for the animals is actually healthy for them by assisting in keeping populations in check.

 

[DrMike]

I was amused to the point of open laughter at the video showing the protesters, especially the woman who accused the reporter of malfeasance.

 

[SJB358]

Thats great news. They (NJ) will probably have a wolf season before Idaho though! Scotty

 

[boolit]

Thats great news. They (NJ) will probably have a wolf season before Idaho though! Scotty

Coyotes are in high numbers, but difficult to hunt. Last year the F&G lifted the bag limit, to no bag limit.

Why is it these activists don't protest against Deer hunting, and other critters? Just bear. :roll: :?:

 

[SJB358]

Bear is the easy grab. More deer hunters than bear, so they can chisel away at minority until they have enough steam to tackle the larger groups! Asymmetric Warfare! Scotty

 

[DrMike]

Asymmetric Warfare!

Absolutely. Here in BC, it is grizzlies and wolves which are portrayed as cute cuddly critters that are just loveable for city dwellers. However, as vast tracts of land are put off limit, the same people turn their attention to ungulates who need their protection, never thinking that the growing populations are the result of sportsmen giving their time and money to set aside habitat and to build the herds.

 

[Makwa]

Doesn't help when the damned EU gets involved either and starts lobbying against grizzly hunting.

Enjoy it all while you can boys because the enemy is multi-faceted and will never give up. They will keep chipping away, whether it is hunting or guns, until we are all just a bunch of androgynous beings confined to large urban compounds, drinking our meals through a straw and all working for the greater good of the global community.

 

[DrMike]

The grizzly hunt has been under siege for some years. If the NDP is ever elected again in BC, it will be shut down. It is tenuous enough with the Liberals in power. Trouble is, those who want to "save" the cuddly bears, don't live with them! Send more politicians! The bears are hungry.

 

[billbam]

Its pretty bad in the northern section of the state, from north of rt 78. I have some friends in different areas who have had constant issues with the bears around the houses. They had to take a walk around the house before they let their kids out, and then also have to keep at watch on. I also spoke to some guys who stated that while deer hunting, they had to deal with bears after shooting a deer with bows. By the time they trailed their deer, they were running into the bears. I've heard this from alot of guys. I had a property that I hunted which was about 20 minutes from me that had several bears. I lost the property 2 years ago. If i stil had it, I would have considered the hunt. In the town where I work which is in the central part of the state, a bear was shot in a residential neighborhood that was a good distance from any large patch of woods and it had to travel through some heavily populated areas. I don't know how it got there without prior complaints.

 

[DrMike]

billbam,

When we lived in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia (Coquitlam in the Vancouver area), the Ministry of the Environment was killing or trapping up to 250 bears in residential areas each year. There are a plethora of bears in this area. If there is agricultural lands and no scheduled hunt, I would be very surprised if there are not a glut of bears.

 

[billbam]

I think alot of the bears are coming into this state from Penna and NY state. They then travel though, working their way south. Thats why the area north of our RT 78 seems to be where most of the complaints come from. There are too many city people who moved out there who brought the city attitude there with them, not appreciating " the country". As you go east, its more heavily populated. In the last couple of years, deer wound up in towns by traveling along highways and railroad tracks getting to areas where it creates a disturbance. Plus, people can't leave them alone. The bears seem to be doing the same, but they create more of an issue.

 

[Makwa]

Yes I can remember when I was a kid in Coquitlam and the bears were always in the garbage. Mind you back in those days we use to ride our horses up and camp on Burnaby mountain and Eagle ridge. Now much of that area is all city and way out the valley.

Bears do wonderfully in mixed agricultural areas. They love grain crops, alfalfa and clover. When we had a ranch in the Cariboo they were always in the hay fields eating alfalfa.

Where I live now we are a couple miles from a national park that claims the highest density of black bears in North America. I can say after spending many years in Alberta and BC that it is for sure the highest density of anywhere I have ever lived, guided or hunted, and we have bears in our fields and in the yard all the time, but we rarely ever have a problem with them. I am a firm believer in not giving them an opportunity to get into trouble as they will if people are not careful with things around their homes and farms................but the bottom line is I will take a bear in the yard any day over most hominids. At least with the bear you can take them at face value.

 

[DrMike]

Makwa,

I've counted as many as eleven bears on one oat field, and witnessed on several occasions ten or more grazing on an alfalfa field. The growth of the area was the reason we left the Lower Mainland, moving first to Jasper and Valemount, and then to Dawson Creek. It was like coming home to move into the smaller regions. I used to hunt and fish intensively in the Cariboo, in particular along the Blackwater and the Nazko. Also spent quite a bit of time hunting around Williams Lake, Alexis Creek and out of Cache Creek on the upper Dead Man Creek. Sure some nice country.

 

[boolit]

Bear is the easy grab. More deer hunters than bear, so they can chisel away at minority until they have enough steam to tackle the larger groups! Asymmetric Warfare! Scotty

So after all these years if they haven't mustered enough nuts to tackle a small group, I suppose I have NOTHING to worry about them going after a Large group, do I? :roll: :shock:

Oh I know, wait until our kids grow up, it'll be worse, right? I won't be around. Corruption will breed no matter what I do... just look at goverment now. What has our father and mother done for us? No more than what we can do for these kids. Seems like the minority will do what ever they have to to get what they want.

 

[Makwa]

boolit.........they never go away. When I was a kid the anti's were protesting and harassing big game hunters at the Vancouver airport and all these years later they are still at it but in different ways.

Dr.Mike I can't even go to the lower mainland any more. Makes me want to cry. We have hunted a lot of the same areas a lot. I guided in the Chilcotin for years, including Bella Coola area for grizzly, and in the Cariboo, up in northern BC in the Muskwa country, in the Kootenay's. We use to live a bit east of you in Alberta up north of Fairview and I guided around there 10 years up until our last move. We use to sell a few horses at the Dawson Creek horse sale every once and a while.

But, that country is too busy for us now with the oil and gas, logging............we moved to Manitoba near Riding Mountain National Park. Nice and quiet here, no neighbours, no logging, no oil and gas going 24/7, no oil field bombers. :wink: I guide out here now and usually in the NWT for several months every year.

 

[DrMike]

Makwa,

Yeah, there is a ton of oil and gas exploration and production going on around here. No bombings in the oil patch for the past number of months. After Weibo's arrest, things quieted down. You made a good move to the Riding Mountain area. The Muskwa is still untouched. I try to get up that way at least once a year to restore my sanity. I spent a couple of days hunting Alberta this fall, in the area near Spirit River. I never hunted in the Fairview area, though I've certainly driven through that area plenty of times.

Boolit,

The opposition to hunting is driven by a religious fanaticism every bit as committed as Muslim Jihadists. It is worship of earth mother, and these devotees are convinced that only they can save the earth. They never pause to consider that they enjoy modern convenience and technology even as they attempt to destroy the initiative.

 

[SJB358]

Mike, I like the comparison to Jihadists! That really puts them up another notch on my "don't send Christmas card" list!!! They are batty, the same folks who have every modern convenience available and used by them, will complain about the destruction of habitat! Leaf eaters will get taken by the wolves eventually! At least, I know I will do my part to make the meeting. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

Leaf eaters will get taken by the wolves eventually!

I would love to introduce the leaf eaters to some of our wolves and grizzlies. They could attempt some of Timothy Treadwell's tried and true methods of transforming these creatures into cuddly playmates.