Outdoor Corner: Practice safe, legal bear hunting

Gene Plihal
Special to the Express

On a purely volunteer basis and only because I sense that all local papers need an outdoorsman’s (or woman’s) perspective on matters, I have offered my services to write an occasional article relating to outdoor issues.

While hunting will be the principal focus of this column, my passion for gardening, conservation, wildlife photography and other items will probably make its way into this column.

I don’t purport to have expertise in these areas but just lots of experience.

Having held a professional outfitter’s license for 32 years now and having tried lots of techniques and gimmicks over the years in the outdoors, I will try to share what I know with whatever readers are really interested in this sort of thing. While being a nature lover and hunter seems like an oxymoron to some, I have always held that constant contact with nature is one of the most salient ways of identifying with it, loving it, and trying to help conserve it.

So for my maiden voyage, let me start this column with a discussion of bear hunting. Having now baited my stands and having seen a number of good bears coming in, I have a few observations about this spring’s bear hunt.

The black bear population seems to have survived this tough winter and seem fatter and sleeker than I have seen them come out of den for years. I have never personally “harvested” (euphemism for killing) a bear. Obviously hundreds of my clients have and unlike me have had a reason to harvest one.

A prerequisite for any hunter is having a reason to harvest any animal, be it for food or whatever. Bear meat is edible and since it is a member of the swine family, bear meat must be thoroughly cooked to eliminate or reduce the chance of disease (trichinosis) being ingested by the consumer. Actually, a bear roast is very similar in taste to pork roast.

Bear baiting was lambasted for some time before research came out from the University of Alberta and other institutions suggesting that the difference in survival rate of bears in areas that are not hunted and areas that are baited and hunted in negligible. The jury is still out on this issue until more research is done, so I won’t get into the ethics or lack thereof of such practice. It is legal in Alberta so I offer some suggestions to bear hunters out there on the baiting and hunting process.

First, bait used must be legal. Using deer, moose or other wild game carcasses, even road kill, is illegal. Why? Simply because it is impossible for officers to determine at a bait site if the game meat was harvested to provide bait for the stand or if the animal was in fact a road kill. So, the bottom line is, DO NOT USE wild game meat for bait.

What is legal are beaver carcasses, oats (one of the favourite tools of bear during the milk stage out in farmers’ fields), or corn (if you can find it). Bear hunters commonly also use popcorn, cookies, pastries, bread (mixed with restaurant grease), or scrap meat from grocery stores or butcher shops. If you can get it, candy is another commonly used bait. A bear is an omnivore so it will eat most anything.

Select a site to place bait that is at least one mile from any residence, preferably further. The more remote your location, the better luck the hunter is likely to have. Areas shrouded by heavy spruce or pine timber along a water body such as a creek or lake are favorite areas for bear to hang out. Beaver being one of their favorite foods, bears roaming near water bodies affords the best opportunity for them to catch a beaver out felling a tree.

Once you have decided on a bait and site, keeping in mind that being right next to another hunter’s bait is both annoying for the other hunter and reduces the chance of either hunter harvesting a bear, proper signage is important. Laws require that you post your identification, as a baiter, so that unsuspecting hikers, loggers, atv enthusiasts or campers do not inadvertently stumble across a bait and end up being mauled. In 32 years of bear hunting and nearly 20 years of baiting, sometimes in the late evening after work, I have yet to be assaulted by a black bear. I usually do not even take a weapon with me to the baits because of the cumbersome and dangerous circumstance of having both hands and arms full of bait and carrying a loaded weapon. Probably best to carry a weapon in one hand and bait in the other though I rather doubt, having observed the speed at which black bear assault moose calves and other game, that a bear hunter carrying a long gun would have time to drop his bait, aim and fire the gun before a stalking bear is upon him. Bears, though seemingly lumbering slow animals, are documented to be faster than a horse for a short distance. My cliche is that “I would rather take my chances walking down a path to a bear bait without a firearm than walk the streets of most any Canadian or U.S. city at night.” Most black bears avoid humans like the plague, and I might add with good reason. So put signs up to warn of a bait even though it is very unlikely, though possible, that bear on bait may attack an unsuspecting passerby.

Finally, after the season, clean up the bait area of papers and garbage. With the growing trend in the midst of this economy of people going back to gardening, there is no doubt in my mind that a return to hunting in the near future will not only be a trend as well but a necessity. So leave the wilderness clean and act responsibly.

As a hunter and outdoorsman you must care about the very element that sustains you. And, if you can afford it, buy a quarter of bush. It may be too late for that in light of recent land prices, but it is one of the best things you can do to ensure that at least a vestige in nature is left. Until next time, “Take a walk in nature and leave the heap parked.”

Next time, the new hunting regulations, seasons and draws will be discussed.

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