You're exactly right! Bears are naturally wary of humans and to feed a wild bear(yes,this bear was still a wild animal)is not only stupid and irresponsible,but dangerous as all hell. That bear wasn't knocking on doors. He wanted in to eat and I guarantee that if nobody opened that door,he'd get in The PGC found no wrong-doing by the hunter so going by the letter of the law....good kill
Please tell me you aren't talking about the thread from a year ago that I posted about my buddy Josh. If it is then your statement is grossly distorted compared the the plight of Bozo the Black Bear.
While I agree that most people in society dissapoint me anymore I also feel this happens alot more than we think. Feeding deer in the off season to watch them out your back door, salt blocks to watch them.... No most people dont feed them out of their hands or generally dont get pics of them with your arms around them but they still kill that "backyard buck " alot! We read about it all the time. A few years ago here close to me a giant was killed that gained national attention. People in a nursing home had watched it for years, had showed up in parking lots, was a known deer around town. But the hunter legally took it and did nothing wrong. I myself appreciate the "hunt" more than the "kill". So i prefer to do a little more work. While feeding a bear is wrong... Is it much different than putting a deer feeder out in the off-season for pics?? Those deer will probably come back to that spot after you remove it and are sittting in your stand.
The main thing I got out of this thread Is people are Idiots for feeding a wild bear In very close proximity's of their house. It shows their knowledge of a bear and It Isn't much. Dad always told me as a kid you can never tame any wild animal 100% and trust It.
There's a lot more to the story then is being let on. There was (maybe still is) a thread over on AT about it. A lot of rumors, inconsistencies, and details left out. Obviously it was a legal kill, certainly not the type of hunt I would partake in, but if it was legal, I suppose that's that. In reality this is more a matter of ethics than it is legality. Like others have said, the feeding is what is most disturbing. The picture of the landowner actually hugging the bear is REALLY disturbing. If anything, maybe this hunter got to this bear before he turned on one of the neighbors.
Ya know, when I read things like this I think about giving up hunting. I just don't want to be lumped in with that caliber of person. And we all know the judgements are out there about hunters in general. I'd like to think of hunters as a collective group of ethical, honorable men and women. I just can't when reading of this kind of thing. It truely makes me worry about the future of the sport. Although it doesn't seem as if there is much "sport" involved in this story. People suck.
I fixed that for you. The race to kill tha biggest and impress all of the other hunters with your "hunting skill" creates situations like this.
Greg....So would I. But, time has proven to me that the opposite is more realistic. I think Fran nailed it in his opener. Hunters (as the group you're mentioning) are the low-lives of the earth. The good stories are the rarities, nowadays.
I would disagree somewhat. The bad, sensational stories make the news. The everyday, honorable stuff just usn't newsworthy in today's sensationalist environment. I would be willing to bet that a whole lot more good stuff goes on than bad stuff. Look at the every day postings here. We post the bad with the good but there is a whole lot more good going on than bad. The guys that use their only buck tag to put an animal out of misery, etc.
Human Beings Are Mentally Challenged... The problem with human beings is that we are just mentally challenged. How long does it take for us to get the message? We are NOT supposed to try to domesticate naturally wild animals! Of course, it was a sweet little thing when this groundskeeper guy got the little bear at first. However, do we not know that little black bears grow up to be great big black bears? Do we also not know that the behavior of bears caught in the wild, can often be unpredictable? Do we not know that any naturally predacious animal potentially has the capacity to have its wild predisposition to one day dominate his "personality"? This is why we have Zoos. It's so that we can observe these animals from a distance. These barriers are in place because your safety can be practically guaranteed, due to legally mandated security measures. I don't blame this guy for killing the bear. Had the bear behaved like some do in the wild and attacked or killed someone, we then would be heralding him as some kind of hero. Please leave this guy alone... AND___Just one more thing: Please Don't Feed the Bears!
Bruce.....You believe everything you see posted? What about what DON'T get posted? Tony.....Why limit it to hunters? It seems to be the common denominator in the low-lives I've encountered, lately. In all fairness, maybe I don't hang out in the hobby airplane; bull riding or MMA circles much. So, it could be widespread that a disproportianate amount of their populus are low-lives, also. I can only speak to what I've been exposed to.
Was Bozo riding a unicycle when they shot him? Note to self: Don't post pics here of the buck I have tied up in my backyard, when I shoot him in 4 years. A lot of lame "hunters" out there. In MI last year, someone shot a huge buck in a city park. His dumbass got caught because he started showing it off, and everyone in the city had photos of this deer. The rack was very unique and easy to identify.
Jeff, give me just a bit of credit . My wife, when we may read about a dog that is being mistreated or during the Vick dog fighting time, will often say,"See? This is why I hate humans." Then I will remind her that humans run breed rescues (I used to help and that is where the dogs I have currently came from). Humans are the ones that took Vick's dogs and gave the dogs the end they deserved (adoption, dignified death, etc.) We read about the awful things done by humans after Katrina but I know of many more good things done by humans after Katrina. I personally took in a dog (Rottweiler) that was homeless due to Katrina. I personally donate money (not a deer carcass that costs them money to process) to Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry. As do many, many others. We saw first hand the goodness of humans when one of our own had all of his gear stolen. This very same fellow showed us the tremendous generosity and caring of humans when he took in a child in need. For every bad example of a human anyone can show, trust me, I can show you a hundreds of examples of the goodness in humans.
Because we do not police our own. We see hunters break the laws and we turn the other cheek. We make excuses for hunters to break the law. Baiting is my favorite excuse. Well if you speed you break the law, so if you bait it's no different then baiting. I get called a rat because I call the DNR when I see hunters breaking the law. Hunters worst issue today is hunters IMO. For a lack of a better phrase, we need an ethnic cleasning in the hunting world!!
Bruce: I have faith, too. I just got off the phone with a guy this morning that goes in 1/2 with me on donating meat to a family (we split the processing fees). He's not a hunter, though.....lol. I get your point. But, it seems I'm exposed to more and more "hunters" ever year. The number of them who disappoint me far outweighs the number that doesn't.....or the "agnostic" ones. I'm just jaded, as time goes by. It doesn't help that we had a discussion about this very thing, when I visited the bow shop, last night. The stories I hear are sad/stupid and some just make my blood boil. I truly think the bad has become more "acceptable". Start a poll and ask how many are (if they'll be honest) sitting at their computers and KNOWING one or more of their "fellow hunters" has been involved in illegal activity (this season or in the past). Make it anonymous. I think it's boiled over into law enforcement, too. I don't think they have time to worry about what most seem to consider "minor" infractions. There's the "normal" rearing its' ugly head, again. I'm telling you.....people are just not ashamed or afraid of lashback. It's sad.
With inconsistencies in the "law" and its enforcement from state to state, again, what do you expect? The norm really isn't the norm, and what's normal constantly shifts. The idea that "one size fits all" is misguided. If we were to apply the law correctly (in the case of Bozo), then the groundskeeper would have been cited years ago. The issue would not be the issue that it is had this happen, right? It getting easier and easier to get away with murder.
Can I ask this questions? Is shooting the bear any different then a guy shooting a huge buck on managed land? Where the buck is fed to be "bigger"? The land is altered to hold the deer? Like the Drury boys do?
