FALMOUTH — The recent prominent story, “Loaded with bear,” by outdoors writer Deirdre Fleming (Oct. 10) and the accompanying article by Mark Latti pertaining to bear hunting benefiting Maine economically were misleading and hit the old themes of those who opposed the 2004 referendum to ban hunting of Maine black bear with use of bait, hounds and traps.
First, the subheading that the bear population in Maine has “nearly doubled since the last count in 1990,” which is probably untrue and becomes an excuse to increase the annual kill, which was alluded to by Mr. Latti.
The hunting lobby will use the numbers to support the falsehood that it is a safety issue, although not one person in recorded history has ever been killed or even seriously wounded by a Maine black bear. The article provided no evidence that Maine’s black bear population has actually doubled.
What was mentioned were GPS radio collars to get the bear’s range, tooth collection for the bear’s age, telemetry and anecdotal reports; hardly empirical evidence.
Any serious bear biologist would admit that in a heavily wooded state like Maine, with such a large range, counting the bear population is at best an educated guess.
The accompanying article championing the economic benefits of bear hunting was also inflated and misleading.
There has not been a study on the economic impact of bear hunting since 1988, which estimated it to be $6.4 million. Even if we double that figure, it makes up less than 2 percent of all hunting and fishing revenue in the state.
After voters approved initiatives to ban baiting and hounding in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, the sale of hunting licenses for fair-chase bear hunting tripled. Second, many more guides were hired to hunt the old-fashioned way, like tracking them to berry fields and beechnut ridges.
Further, there has been a 15-year decline in the number of hunters in Maine, while there has been a 15-year growth in the nonconsumptive use of wildlife, such as viewing wildlfe, hiking, primitive camping, bird-watching and photography.
A greater emphasis on this trend would easily eclipse the insignificant amount the economy gets from bear hunting.
Then there is the ethical question of the practices themselves. One common denominator in hunting bear with bait, hounds and traps is there is no fair chase. Killing an animal with its head in a bait bucket, shooting it out of a tree after it has been hounded by dogs or shooting a bear at point-blank range while it is in a trap is not hunting. Many hunters agree.
Last, but not least, is the cruelty involved in these practices. The typical out-of-state weekend trophy hunters are often not skilled hunters, and many bears are only hit, left untracked to go off in the woods and die a slow and painful death. Each year about 250 cubs less than a year old, called “18-pounders,” are killed.
One longtime former guide told of a baited bear that had been hit in the spine with an arrow. A couple of months later, he saw the same bear paralyzed from the waist down. Its legs had become like leather from dragging itself around.
Chasing a bear with a pack of hounds with radio collars is more gruesome, particularly when the exhausted bear turns and fights. The dogs can be maimed, crippled or killed.
If the hounds overcome the bear, the mauling of the animal can become merciless and protracted. If, instead, the terrified animal is shot down from the tree, it is mauled by the hounds, often while still alive.
Perhaps the cruelest of the three practices is the agonizing death in a leg-hold trap that is often used with bait.
One woman wrote us that she was kept awake all night by the howling and suffering of the animal in severe pain, knowing it cannot escape. Maine is the only state that still allows this barbaric practice.
These featured articles did not serve its readers well by depicting bear hunting as a thriving, fun, sporting time in the woods with friends.
The fact is bear hunting is a relatively new activity in Maine, primarily practiced by unskilled, weekend-only hunters; it has minimal economic impact that could be replaced, and it makes a mockery of fair chase. It demeans hunting and is not the outdoor image we want for Maine.
The unwritten truth of these two articles that the writers missed is bear hunting in Maine is a very ugly business.
– Special to The Press Herald
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