Tuesday, September 1, 2015

WI eases bear hunting rules; DNR hopes for another big 'harvest'

Enabled by a powerful lobby, the State of Wisconsin has eased some bear hunting rules to facilitate another seasonal "harvest" kill in the thousands.
bear
Scroll down to the Wisconsin DNR's explanation:
The past six seasons have ranked as the top six bear harvests in Wisconsin history, and this trend is likely to continue with a record number of permits made available in 2015 (10,690). Wisconsin consistently ranks as one of the top bear harvest states in the country...
Bear hunters should be aware of a few important changes to bear hunting regulations in 2015. State law was recently changed to eliminate the Class B bear license; a Class B license is no longer required to bait bears, train dogs to track bears, act as a back-up shooter, or assist hunters with pursuing bears (provided that a person does not shoot, shoot at, capture, take or kill the bear unless acting as a back-up shooter). Any individual may now participate in bear hunting and training activities without a Class B bear license any time those activities are permitted and in compliance with applicable regulations...
In 2014, hunters harvested 4,526 bears - the third highest harvest in state history...
Gun hunters harvested 3,776 bears in 2014, while bow hunters accounted for 695 bears. A majority of bears were harvested using bait (3,395), but the use of both dogs and bait (995) and neither dogs nor bait (69) was also successful. 
Various DNR webpages reference the "thrill" of bear hunting or its "quality experience," and the agency's large carnivore expert told the Wisconsin Bear Hunter's Association in a pre-hunting season missive that the state provides a "high quality bear hunting experience."

For an adult, the license costs $49.

Speaking of bear hunting and dogs, another DNR webpage discloses that in the last few weeks, nine dogs training against bears have been killed by wolves; under a program unique to Wisconsin, the DNR will reimburse each hunter up to $2,500 per wolf-depredated dog.

Payments may go to repeat claimants, and scofflaws; by January, 2014, the amount paid out for bear hunting dogs lost to wolves was nearing $400,000, a comprehensive report had show.

Some details, here.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It should be obvious that while the DNR has had problems in the past, it is now a near totally corrupt organization. You can not believe anything it says. Cathy Stepp has succeeded wonderfully: She is carrying out her anti-environment, anti-wildlife agenda with great success. Open season on bears indeed, just so her "Wi Bear Hunters Assn" gets pay back for being republican. She calls our parks "Gems", then helps destroy them ... on and on and on. She and Walker are a disgrace. I guess the people of Wi got what they wanted,

lufthase said...

So, without buying any sort of license, somebody can now knowingly and carelessly run their dog(s) unleashed thru known wolf territory, and then when one of them gets torn up by a wolf (or I suppose gets abandoned or meets any kind of unfortunate end), they can say they were "training" and go ahead and collect $2,500 from WI taxpayers? And, nobody's going to ask them to pee in a cup???
This very selective concern for only some people's waste, fraud, and abuse is getting a little old.

Jonathan Swift said...

We hunt the bears for their arms.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

You maybe surprised that neither guns nor ammunition are not mentioned anywhere in the entire document.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the killerhunter can stock a bear baiting pit (and it's usually stocked with sugary cereal or candy, sometimes gummy bears) and then the wolves, bears, coyotes and other animals come around and the dog packs run to the bear-baiting place and then WATCH OUT!! they get in a fight with their cousins, the wild wolves (and somebody gets hurt). 4,500 bears killed by man/dog death squads up here in the northwoods last year...how many more this year?

The careless dog owners ride around in their trucks listening for their dogs running wild in the woods (which is called dog training). Why do humans "teach" their beautiful dogs to attack their canine wolf cousins? Because, when partaking in this dog-fight psych-o custom of "bear season" in Wisconsin, instead of being in violation of laws and regulations, the dog hunter/killers are creating the laws they want to follow (while ignoring basic, common sense responsibilities of dog ownership). And when his dog is killed the stoic, erstwhile dog owner accepts $2,500 from DNR for his now dead dog. That's the game. Game over.

Anonymous said...

We adapted a "bearhound" bluetick coonhound from the northern counties a while back. The owner knew the dog was there, he just didn't want to pay the $125 adaption fee. However,I am sure if that same hound was killed by a bruin he would go crying to the DNR wanting recompense.