Ovando Bear Attack

[Hammsolo]

So tragic and strange. I was just by there… How do we as hunters and conservationists get ahead of this escalating problem?

I won’t share my ideas yet. Sh!t, they’re probably hot garbage anyway.

Ovando Bear Attack

 

[Sioux33]

How do we as hunters and conservationists get ahead of this escalating problem?

How about a state-wide, or district by district, season that shuts down immediately once a quota's met? Similar to unlimited sheep or wolves down by Yellowstone. Use that tag money to fund livestock depredation and state bear management.

Everyone gets a chance, rather than a lucky few, there's significantly more hunting pressure applied to bears, and the state gets way more money to manage them.

 

[Hammsolo]

How about a state-wide, or district by district, season that shuts down immediately once a quota's met? Similar to unlimited sheep or wolves down by Yellowstone. Use that tag money to fund livestock depredation and state bear management.

Everyone gets a chance, rather than a lucky few, there's significantly more hunting pressure applied to bears, and the state gets way more money to manage them.

I like many of these ideas. I think the challenge is defining the boundaries. I like using the funds to manage the species. Griz have a place in the ecosystem just like us, and as science has shown we must collect data and manage them. It will make the bear more wary too.

I am skeptical of paying for depredation. It has had seriously mixed results in Washington. Ranchers pay under $3 pretty much everywhere per month per cow and calf on public land. Many spots have been overgrazed, had creek beds destroyed, had wild game displaced, and more. The government subsidized price isn’t nearly enough to pay for damage of all sorts, let alone depredation. Why do we pay for depredation on public land? Those funds should be shifted to managing the land and wildlife in my humble opinion.