i have been hunting all my life, and i was taught if you kill it, eat it, and give back to the land in which you took. people that sit on the side of the road in their nice warm truck with tracking equipment and let the dogs loose on a deer are not hunters, they are wanna be's and i have no respect for them. thats a big problem in our state. i will be up around 4, in the stand by 5, and wait all damn day to see the one i want, if i ever see anything, and make damn sure when i shoot at it, it goes down and dont suffer

don't judge a book by what "you think" is their cover..
my friends are all hunters...

i know the dilemma
and i don't support the animal rights activists
who never have set foot in a forest...
i didn't side with them in the spotted owl scandal
and i don't support them now...

i never said i know everything, but...
i just think that 400 bears seems like
a very small population of bears...
for them to be tripping so much...

oh, and by the way....
i have a gorgeous rabbit fur jacket...

my purchase didn't affect the slaughter..
I bought it at a second hand store...


my opinion and i am sticking to it

I don't believe in baiting or using dogs! if you're gonna do it keep it fair. I don't use a tree stand either because it's the desert and don't have tree's for a stand so my method is spot and stalk, makes things a little more difficult. I agree with you thumper, I think the ones you refer to are what I believe "sportsman" are! to me there's a difference between hunters and "sportsman".

since i live on farm and wood land, i use tower stands and tree stands, or i use blinds

oh and by the way fellas...

i hear you ...
i agree with you..

it is just that
there are several ways of looking at things...

and thumper ..i really liked your last statement
that is a sign of a truly good hunter...

you are a very good man...

and you others too..
who don't want to see
an overpopulation of one species suffer.

and those other wanna be hunters with all the latest tracking devices
and so lazy to actually hunt a creature like a real man....
well... i think they should get EXACTLY
what they dish out to the deer and other creatures,
who don't even have a chance

I started this so let me step in here. I am not some whacko tree hugger. Where hunting is necessary to manage herds and prevent overpopulation I have no beef. But I happen to live in Maryland in the heart of the bear country and I have studied this issue. I can tell you, we do not have a bear problem here. There are very incidents of human-bear conflicts. Bears are after one thing- food. And they will take the easiest meal they can get. This is often the trash can or bird feeder of a human. This problem is easily remedied by not leaving your trash cans or bird feeders out. There are certainly occasional "problem" bears. These DNR should have the authority to deal with on an individual basis. Relocation or having it put down if necessary.

No one in this state has ever been harmed a by black bear. I have lived here for 8 years and seen only one bear. And I had to go looking for it.

So in short, I am not opposed to hunting. I am opposed to UNNECESSARY hunting. And this hunt, I can tell you, is unnecessary.

I'm sure MD. is the same as AZ. in that they have harvest objectives for each unit, meaning that each unit can only sustain a certain number of a particular type of animal. in this case bears. and you have to manage there numbers so they don't overpopulate. by selling tags and licenses generates funding for habitat restoration and other environmental projects.

I know I'm beating a dead horse, but more people show concern for BEARS than for the women and girls who are suffering. Why are we so afraid of offending the majority of Muslims by opposing the minority?

i don't understand it, dear Spider...

I don't like to see any pain inflicted on others

I am against injustice across the board

We have oodles of Black Bear. Wants some!!

Bears do what bears have always done...Survive! ..at all costs..

It is we who have encroached on their territory..Bear-human conflicts will happen until everyone is in tune with nature..

(Won't happen anytime soon) LOL..

I will not wear,or buy fur, but, if I kill a deer, moose, or elk for food..(as I have done for nearly forty years), I have no problem with using the whole carcass..i.e. Leather, sinew, and tallow..

BTW..What does the bear hunt have to do with suffering Muslims?

Just curious....Bob

it has everything to do with it...bob


injust treatment of people and unjust treatment of bears

injustice of living things....

how could you not relate the two?

Rapunzel,

Thanks, you completely nailed it.

I'll give you an example from my life. My boss was very concerned and angry about the dogs that died and suffered in Katrina. She felt that the Congress should pass laws protecting pets and requiring that they get evacuated in emergencies. I said that the Congress has more important work, like Darfur. The discussion evolved and eventually I said that we should stop trading with countries that allow slavery. She laughed and said nobody owns slaves anymore. Then I and an Indian (from India) co-worker explained to her that slavery is still very common and that raiding partys come from Pakistan into India to kidnap young boys to be sex slaves to Muslim men. She had no idea. There are some sects of Islam that teach that only the "bottom" (to use the gay lingo) is gay, the "top" is NOT gay. So men in these sects buy young boys to be "house boys" and they are worked all day and raped at night. When they reach an age that they are no longer appealing to their owner, they are killed by stoning for being gay. Those kinds of horrible things that happen in this world should come WAY before we start worrying about lost doggys in hurricanes.

Spider,

That is so sad & so painful to hear
what some humans do to other humans...

i was not aware of that abomination being played out...
although i know that the horrors never cease ...

i have such trouble assimilating the actions of others
and i have to keep in a constant state of prayer
because "vengeance is mine" sayeth the Lord...
even though i want an earlier judgement
for those who prey on & corrupt other people's lives

also Spider ,

to go along with what you are speaking of...

that we often have our priorities all wrong...

you can still find online...the sad sad story
about 14 years ago a woman jogger Barbar Shoener (sp?)
met her unfortunate fate
to the jaws and claws of a hungry female mountain lion ...
on a hiking trail in the back woods and hills
of eldorado county near placerville,
in northern California...
where housing has invaded upon &
encrouched on the wildlife there...

well, after that happened,
they realized the cougar
had a baby lion cub...


Barbara had a couple of little cubs, too ....


the public outcry was for the mountian lion cub

NOT the orphaned children of barbara shoener

more money was raised for the mountian lion cub
than for the orphaned young children
of a woman who was eaten by a mountain lion



that made me very sick.

In sad but expected news, Gov. O'Malley did not act to stop the bear hunt. Thity-six bears were killed on Mon. The hunt will continue until 50-70 are killed. In addition to the bears killed, there are also numerous cubs orphaned. What is their prognosis? Probably not very good.

Over the weekend, I attended the rally in Annapolis opposing the bear hunt. While there, I spoke with several people from the HSUS(Humane Society of the United States) who last year had spoken personally to then candidate O'Malley. Candidate O'Malley expressed to them in no uncertain terms that he was opposed to bear hunting. Based on this, Mr. O'Malley was enthusiastically supported. Now we find that the governor is not a man of his word. It is distressing that in today's political world there is no right or wrong anymore- only political considerations.

We could argue the point all day and night about whether this hunt was necessary or not. After examining the facts, I concluded that it was not. You may think otherwise. I was brought up to admire and respect animals. I was one of the kids who always rooted for the antelope to get away from the lion on Wild Kingdom.

I have a question for the hunters out there. I would guess you hunt because you enjoy it. No one has to hunt for food anymore. The supermarket meat counters are stocked full.

What possibly is enjoyable about blowing away a defenseless animal? Is it the blood? Is there some perverse pleasure in watching an animal gasp for it's last dying breath? Any psychologists out there have any theories?

Also, thanks to those of you who called and emailed the governor's office. We will eventually win this battle. There will be a bill introduced in the General Assembly this session that will put an end to bear hunting. If you are in Maryland, please call or write your state delegate and senator and let them know you support the bill. Things happen in politics because of relentless pressure. KEEP THE PRESSURE ON!

This is my last word on this subject. I will read your replies with great interest.

where do i sign up for this hunt? i wanna kill me one. lol

rambill....

MAC60