Bear Necessities

I can’t think of any wild animal that has been anthropomorphized more than the bear. Before anybody goes scrambling for a dictionary, that means attributing human characteristics or human behavior to nonhuman things such as animals. We have Teddy Bears, Care Bears, Pooh Bear, Smokey Bear, Yogi Bear, the Berenstain Bears, even the UMaine mascot, Bananas. So, any debate regarding the hunting of what is regarded as a furry, cuddly character is to be expected.

This month marks the beginning of the Maine bear-hunting and -trapping seasons. This includes hunting bear using dogs, with bait, and by trapping. The use of bait to attract black bears remains the most popular and preferred method for most guides and hunters in Maine.

Here’s why: Black bears, in general, are exceptionally wary and secretive creatures. Every year while bird and deer hunting I come across piles of berry-laden droppings and see where bears have clawed and rubbed against trees leaving telltale black hairs, but have not caught a glimpse of the creatures themselves. I have stumbled across den sites not far from my back door, but have never found the occupants at home. I owned a camp for six years right off Route 9 in Aurora, in an area supporting several bear guiding operations, and never saw a bear. In 20 years of wandering the Maine woods I have seen exactly one bear and it was walking across a potato field in Aroostook County as I sped past on I-95. The chances of encountering a bear by chance or while hunting by conventional methods is extremely slim, so you need to bring them to you.

It’s not hard to understand the general public’s ambivalence over the use of bait such as doughnuts, molasses-soaked grain, and other food products to lure bears to a particular spot. It doesn’t seem fair to many, and animal rights and antihunting organizations exploit that public reaction by trying to ban all bear-related hunting.

What critics don’t fully understand is that due to the dense boreal forest we have here in Maine, baiting is the only reliable method to successfully hunt and manage bear. In contrast, hunters and guides out west can glass wide-open slopes and mountainsides with spotting scopes and binoculars looking for bears. Once a bear is located they can implement a stalk; that’s nearly impossible here in Maine.

There are distinct advantages to hunting bear using bait from a tree stand. (The actual term hunters use is “hunting over bait.”) Having a bear steal into bait allows the hunter ample time to judge the size of the bear, determine if it is a sought-after boar (male) or a sow (female), and if it is a sow, whether it has cubs, in which case the hunter simply enjoys the show. The opportunity for an accurate humane shot, particularly with a bow, is increased by positioning bait barrels or logs concealing the bait at certain angles to the tree stand.

But why hunt bears at all? Aside from the fact that bear meat is delicious and a bear hide makes a warm blanket, bear hunting is a critical market for struggling Maine sporting camps and guiding services. In 2005, 2,873 bears were harvested in Maine (2006 numbers are not yet available); 2,247 of those bears were taken over bait, 318 bears by hound hunters, and 130 bears by trapping, with the balance taken by unreported methods or during the November firearm deer season. The fact that, in 2005, nonresident hunters killed 1,959 bears compared to residents taking 914 illustrates the attraction Maine bears have for out-of-state hunters and the revenue those hunters bring into the state.

Black bears are not a nuisance animal in Maine largely due to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife successfully managing the bear population—using hunting as a tool. Being a rural state also makes for fewer encounters between bears and humans. That’s not the case in more urban and less hunter-friendly states, where seeing bears going through backyard garbage cans, climbing onto porches, and tearing down bird feeders is becoming a common occurrence.

Maine has a thriving black bear population that is managed successfully using wildlife management science, not through emotion elicited through cartoon characters and children’s books. And that, I believe, is the way it should be.