For decades my husband, a bow-hunter, eagerly awaited his autumn tradition. Together we drove the three hours to the place he fondly called “huntin’ camp,” and walked through the woods ”“ examining new and old trails, searching for evidence of a rutting deer’s scrapes, and ultimately, deciding on the perfect tree in which to place his stand. Bow hunting was, for him, a blend of solitary stillness and heart-pounding moments requiring finely-honed archery skills. He was careful not to take a shot from more than 20 yards away, to ensure a clean, and immediate ”“ one might say, merciful ”“ kill. There was a sacred symbiosis in the honorable exchange of a life for warming winter stews. A bad shot, causing the wounded deer to stagger away into the woods, and requiring hours of tracking, was a horrible thing, because it caused pain for the deer and suggested a poorly skilled hunter.
Skill ”“ in tracking, scouting and shooting ”“ is something that I believe should be inherent to hunting. One without the knowledge and skills to take an animal should work with a guide who helps to do so, rather than rely on bait to lure, snares to entrap, and dogs to chase down. I am utterly confounded, therefore, by what I believe is the indefensible treatment of bears in our Maine woods. Hunters aren’t allowed to bait, trap, or hound deer or moose, because these practices are cruel, unfair and remove the skill required of a fair chase hunt.
I can’t imagine the terror and pain these timid creatures, that have only known freedom, experience in an ever-tightening snare. And there’s nothing sportsmanlike about shooting a bear out of a tree, or over a dump site.
My friend whose camp is 8.5 hours north tells me stories about the stench of rotting pizza and doughnuts in the North Woods, as guides and outfitters dump millions of pounds of junk food into them, “guaranteeing” kills for poorly-skilled trophy-seekers.
There’s a reason National Parks, state parks and state agencies around the country ”“ even Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife ”“ sternly warn, “Do not feed the bears.” Yet IF&W carves out an exception for the feeding of bears on a massive scale, via baiting. Feeding bears habituates bears to humans, and makes it more likely that they’ll seek out food in neighborhoods. It creates nuisance bears. It also grows the bear population by guaranteeing bears many millions of pounds of calorically dense food, even during years of sparse natural food availability. These guaranteed calories ensure that more bears reproduce and have higher cub survival rates, and this grows the population. In short, we’re growing a bear herd ”“ a bear herd habituated to humans and more likely to cause conflicts.
During bear season, about 3,500 bears are taken out of a population of 30,000. With thousands of bait sites across Maine, many bears that are exposed to bait and trained to eat human food survive the season to become nuisances.
What is happening today in our woods is not hunting. It’s unskilled trophy-killing. It’s cruelty. And it’s beyond my comprehension that some are siding with the IF&W on Question 1. The fact that Maine IF&W is the only state wildlife agency in the country to allow bear trapping speaks volumes, and suggests there is more to the story than what “our” wildlife biologists are saying.
Considering these cruel and unsportsmanlike methods on one of God’s majestic creatures, and the fact that baiting seems to be doing the exact opposite of its supposed purpose as a “management tool” by actually increasing bear numbers, I am proudly voting yes on Question 1, and I urge you to do the same.
— Jennifer Comeau is a supporter of the Yes! on Question 1 campaign and lives in Kennebunkport.
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