Shooting bears

[captain cojones]

I guess the more people you get, the more likely you are to get those who want to foist their morals on others. .

 

thats sort of been my point all along.

There are many people it seems,that "british customs" set some kind of "benchmark",that other countries to look to.

Anything different is seen as inferior in some way.

Setting British customs and culture up as a benchmark must be the same thing as sitting in a greenhouse and throwing stones!

There are many good things,but also bad,exactly the same as in other countries.

I would not have shot the bear myself,but its your country,with your laws and environment,your choice.

P.s we have wild bears here too.

[kleinboet]

We are all debating the "cruelty" of an animal being killed in another country. As was rightly said in another posting on this thread that Fox hunting has only recently been banned, and that there is STILL a debate on whether it was right to do so.

 

So are we are now adopting a "holier than others" because legislation bans us killing animals?

 

It would appear that killing people is O.K. - look at the newspapers. We have a "knife and gun culture" in this country (it has emerged that young adults are carrying knives to even the odds in a fight) with violent deaths being reported on a DAILY basis!

 

It has been pointed out that most of us still eat meat - that a lot of people still shoot Rabbits - WHY?

Do you think that the lamb, mutton, pork and beef we buy comes from animals that have died naturally? We put dogs down for "attacking" sheep! That is instinct, something that has tried to be bred out of us for thousands of years.

 

It is NOT unnatural and savage to kill animals for meat or protection of your food and family - this happens several times on a daily basis in other parts of the world. We are lucky we don't have predators big enough to kill people, what would happen if we had crocodiles that attacked and killed anglers?

[chesters1]

fox hunting banned ? no! changed yes very slightly! the fox still dies in the main along with many more that never would have

 

 

"what would happen if we had crocodiles that attacked and killed anglers?"

 

we wouldnt if we had them they went with cave bears a few thousand years ago ,theres a vast difference between here and america ,america has wild open spaces full of animals we have the highlands of scotland full of midges ,if you want to hunt midges go ahead

Edited June 5, 2009 by chesters1

[snakey1]

But roach and carp don't make good rugs..........

Said in jest but remarkably true for many people who are quite happy to complain about the killing of anything cuddley that has been anthropomorphised by the popular media but then quite readily tuck into their burgers and sausages not bothering to think where the meat comes from, save the cute animals but stuff anything that doesn't fit that criteria, live baiting ? no problem. shoot a bear & the worlds going to come to an end, save the whale he said as he tucked into a nice juicy steak, at least PETA are consistant with their criticism.

Edited June 5, 2009 by snakey1

[Elton]

Shame we never got to see if the bear crapped in the woods or not. I've been asked that question so many times.

[Guest Rabbit]

And you'd want that fizzog staring down at you from the wall over your devilled kidneys and kedgeree?

Pardon?

But...

The killing of such a creature to serve someones flagging ego is nothing short of pathetic, I have searches a bit on the subject and nearly 90% of these bears are killed for trophies, and from what I have read the vast amount of public opinion is against this pointless killings...not here but in Alaska and N . America, it is hardly surprising that such barbarism is greeted with such distaste over here. I don't have a problem with hunting for food by the indiginous peoples one bit, but for some rich so called 'hunter' to gloat over their bravery' is sick. Obviously this posters ego need to be satisfied via Utube all the graphic detail of the death of a magnificent creature, surely as humans we owe a lot to these bears, there habitat is in decline to man and to kill them in what is the last remaining area they could survive is nothing short of pathetic.

Look at the demise of the buffallo through a policy of hunting to extinsion on the plains of N. America, will we never learn?

[corydoras]

what would happen if we had crocodiles that attacked and killed anglers?

Ask Bobj. I believe that in Oz, where they do have crocks that eat people, the crocs are protected by law.

[Vagabond]

what would happen if we had crocodiles that attacked and killed anglers?

 

Quick answer - "Very little in the long run" All but the extremely timid would continue to fish.

 

Norma and I have fished in many places where there are crocodiles (or alligators, or bears, or big cats, or sharks) capable of causing death or injury. So have thousands of other anglers. Its something you adapt to.

 

There is nothing particularly "brave" about it but you become just that little bit more alert and aware of your surroundings. Part and parcel of your watercraft if you like. The additional "danger" is miniscule unless you do something extremely stupid and put yourself at risk. Only the gullible watchers of "Bear Grylse" and "Extreme Fishing" think otherwise.

[Worms]

I am in infrequent poster so I don't know all of the board's rules, but it appears my previous topic was "closed"? A couple of observations and follow up comments:

 

1. In Prince William Sound, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game requires that hunters salvage the meat from black bears up until June 1st. The black bear hunting season remains open until June 10, but meat is not required to be salvaged.

 

2. My experience is that the meat from the bears, even before June 1st, is best made into sausage, but even steak or roasts are not too bad.

 

3. I am glad to see my English mates have done a good job debating the pros and cons of bear hunting. I do find it distasteful to shoot any animal solely for trophy purposes and try hard to eat what I shoot. Some of the anti hunting posts, however, did make me chuckle and understand the loss of the hunting tradition in England; if I recall correctly didn't you even loose your hundreds year old tradition of fox hunting? I guess the more people you get, the more likely you are to get those who want to foist their morals on others. I am glad Alaska only has about 650,000 people, we have time yet.

 

So why was my original post "closed"?

Hello kcedar,

 

I think (from my point at least) initially the stand alone video of your wife shooting the black bear was seen as a 'boastful, look at me I can kill an apex predator and laugh about it' post.

 

I will try and precis some of the reasoning of the subsequent posts (some people may not agree).

 

In the UK we (historically) have hunted to extinction all of our large predators including bears, wolves and lynx in a bid to protect our farmed animals. Subsequently, in a lot of Empire controlled countries in the Victorian era we did our best to relieve other countries of their large predators (and anything else) as scientific specimens, predators of farmed animals and trophies.

 

The UK (and Europe) now has stringent legislation regarding the protection of wildlife be it large or small and, gun control and hunting is also very tightly legislated and enforced.

 

The size of our country, the density of our population and the loss of connected wildlife habitat and pollution of what is left is of major concern here.

 

I for one, not having been to Canada or the USA did a little homework on the Prince William Sound area and found that bear and deer hunting of "The Big Four" (alongside photo-hunting) seemed to be quite significant as regards the economy of the area.

 

Perhaps unfortunately, the repeated theme was "sport" and "trophy" hunting. References to the requirements of (bear) meat salvage and use were not alluded to. I was not aware that the bear meat was eaten and assumed that the hunting was entirely for "trophies".

 

The upshot of all that meant that I saw a video of someone apparently shooting a bear for fun and a nice rug

 

Your post here does clarify issues somewhat and I thank you for that (next time just stick the relevant information with the bl@@dy video! ). Having said that the only shooting of bears that I would do would be with a camera.

 

I fish and take the odd one for the table and I also shoot pigeons, squirrels and rabbits for the pot. A friend culls deer and I have no qualms eating them. Over here all of the above are classed as agricultural/arboricultural pests.

 

The reason that your original post was blocked was that the American moderator, Newt,took exception to some of the comments. My reason for starting this thread was that I was annoyed that he had closed the thread by saying that the replying posters were "idiotic" and that was then tempered by Newt to "ignorant" and "inappropriate". The fact that this was delivered with little grace or attempt at explanation to we "ignorant" Brits didn't help matters in my opinion.

 

Again thank you for the explanation behind some of the hunting regs and, my personal apologies to yourself and your wife for any offence caused by any of my posts.

 

Nick

[yorkio]

My experience is that the meat from the bears, even before June 1st, is best made into sausage, but even steak or roasts are not too bad.

So what did you do with the meat from that one?