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Maine wildlife officials predict busy bear hunting
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Maine wildlife officials predict busy bear hunting season
By Associated Press, 8/18/2002
ANGOR - Biologists are predicting a high kill for the upcoming bear-hunting season.
The season starts Aug. 26 and already hunters are filling bait buckets with bear delicacies such as rancid meat, stale pastries, and even chocolates to lure the bears to within shotgun range.
State wildlife biologist Randy Cross said the bears' favorite wild foods, such as apples, berries, and nuts, are flourishing this summer, so bears may be less tempted by bait buckets.
Still, Cross said, the bear population and the number of bear-hunting permits are high, indicating a strong season ahead. The growing popularity of the annual Maine bear hunt has some biologists concerned about the bear population.
''We are concerned, but we're not alarmed,'' he said. ''We're keeping an eye on the harvest; the best word is vigilance.''
The number of black bears in Maine had grown steadily during the past decade, in part because of more restrictive bear-hunting rules introduced in 1990.
Numbers increased from about 18,500 statewide in the late 1980s, to the current population of nearly 23,000 bears.
The number of bear hunters has also grown.
Maine sold between 10,000 and 11,000 bear-hunting permits each year through the 1970s and '80s. In 1999, after the Canadian province of Ontario closed its hunting season, the number of bear hunters in Maine, most of whom travel from out of state, jumped to 12,524.
Last fall, interest peaked at just over 14,000 hunters, who shot 3,903 bears, rivaling the all-time record kill of two years ago.
''There are more bears out there, but there are also more bear hunters,'' Cross said. ''We're at a balancing point.''
Since 1999, biologists have been charged with keeping the bear population from falling below 23,000 animals.
Cross doesn't see the need to change hunting regulations for at least five years, however.
''The thing with bears is that they don't respond very quickly,'' he said. ''A single year is just a hiccup, but they're not able to rebound from major catastrophes.''
This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 8/18/2002.
c Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/230/metro/Maine_wildlife_officials_predict_busy_bear_hunting_season+.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Associated Press, 8/18/2002
ANGOR - Biologists are predicting a high kill for the upcoming bear-hunting season.
The season starts Aug. 26 and already hunters are filling bait buckets with bear delicacies such as rancid meat, stale pastries, and even chocolates to lure the bears to within shotgun range.
State wildlife biologist Randy Cross said the bears' favorite wild foods, such as apples, berries, and nuts, are flourishing this summer, so bears may be less tempted by bait buckets.
Still, Cross said, the bear population and the number of bear-hunting permits are high, indicating a strong season ahead. The growing popularity of the annual Maine bear hunt has some biologists concerned about the bear population.
''We are concerned, but we're not alarmed,'' he said. ''We're keeping an eye on the harvest; the best word is vigilance.''
The number of black bears in Maine had grown steadily during the past decade, in part because of more restrictive bear-hunting rules introduced in 1990.
Numbers increased from about 18,500 statewide in the late 1980s, to the current population of nearly 23,000 bears.
The number of bear hunters has also grown.
Maine sold between 10,000 and 11,000 bear-hunting permits each year through the 1970s and '80s. In 1999, after the Canadian province of Ontario closed its hunting season, the number of bear hunters in Maine, most of whom travel from out of state, jumped to 12,524.
Last fall, interest peaked at just over 14,000 hunters, who shot 3,903 bears, rivaling the all-time record kill of two years ago.
''There are more bears out there, but there are also more bear hunters,'' Cross said. ''We're at a balancing point.''
Since 1999, biologists have been charged with keeping the bear population from falling below 23,000 animals.
Cross doesn't see the need to change hunting regulations for at least five years, however.
''The thing with bears is that they don't respond very quickly,'' he said. ''A single year is just a hiccup, but they're not able to rebound from major catastrophes.''
This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 8/18/2002.
c Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/230/metro/Maine_wildlife_officials_predict_busy_bear_hunting_season+.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
I hope that's accurate. I plan on getting one but so do the other two going with me. I know what it is to come back empty handed. Out of 2 hunts to Ontario and 2 to Maine, the bears got me 3 to 1. We'll see what's in store for me this year. I did see a lot of bear sign when I was there 2 years ago. They were very active.