Bear Hunt/Hound Training In WI Begins Today

For people in or near wooded areas in Wisconsin (campers, hikers, birders, photographers), and for wildlife of all species on public lands merely nursing their young, including wolves and coyotes - - today is the first day of the annual, state-sanctioned, two-month bear hounding chaos.

Complete with dogs baying, hunters zooming the roads tracking their GPS-equipped dogs chasing and treeing and otherwise frightening bears for some hunters' satisfaction.

A special 'thank you' to a legislature and DNR - - the agency has a program to teach kids to hunt bears - - in thrall to special-interest gun and hunting lobbies.

Who knows? This little cute fella might just be ready, after hounder training this summer, for what the DNR calls the "thrill" and the "harvest," or as the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association puts it, "the ultimate family sport."


DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp