Gee, I wonder why they would get defensive? They put all the time into hauling in bait and setting up a stand to habituate a bear only to have some guy with hounds and ATV run through and chase it into the next zipcode.
Right. I would love to be able to watch my dogs work birds year round. But unless it's hunting season, doing so is considered wildlife harrassment. And for good reason. Birds who are trying hard to raise the next generation of hunting resource have better things to do with their time than waste it dodging my dogs. Ethics ... and common sense.
How about we ban bird hunting with dogs?
It is banned in the springtime.
Let's ban it year round. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Wake up. Hounds can chase cats during the designated season. In fact, as pointed out above, houndsman are allotted 90% of the quota. So should bird dog handlers be given 90% of the grouse harvest? Of course not. Wait! Better not be giving the guide association any new ideas!
one of the reasons hounds are important in our countryWe arent talking about quotas or Lions here.
I'm sorry what?
I would recommend going on a hound hunt or two for bears before judging it. A hound hunt for bears can be the most exciting and strenuous hardest best hunt you have ever experienced. It like any hunt can go easy or be the hardest hunt of your life. I have hounds and have only hunted lions for the last few years but also ran bears for years. I have hunted bears for 30 years in Idaho usually taking a bear each year by spot and stalk, over bait and only 1 or 2 with hounds. Most hounds men love having bears out there and once the bear is treed the hunts over. there is no need to shoot every bear. I like to let bears and lions free to run another day. Hound hunting is the only catch and release hunting method there is . If you experienced the distance and terrain Idaho bears run you would feel bad for the dogs and hound hunter lol. On baiting I never have to worry about a houndsmen running off my baits because I don’t place them right next to roads or trails. I would highly recommend running a bait in north Idaho by yourself and see how easy it is to pack thousands of pounds of bait in feeding bears when half of them are nocturnal. Baiting provides many benefits from having time to accurately judge the bear to taking enough time to adequately check for Cubs. Baiting actually can lead to increased population of bears in an area. The time and effort involved in baiting bears is monumental. I agree with your thoughts on spring spot and stalk hunting. I harvested by far my largest bear spot and stalk and have taken many bears this way. Part of the experience is getting deep in the woods without a lot of company. Unless you are road hunting(I don’t)or glassing from roads
There seems to be contradicting arguments here. Will hound hunters kill a lot of bears to help the ungulate population or will they let 99 out of 100 bears walk?
Reading the current bill text, it will be "as authorized by the commission."
Sooooo. Are you telling me that anything goes then?! Given the current commission.
Bueller, Bueller...
