how far away from a bear bait station to be legal?

[AK_Stick]

I've heard rumors that a couple of the guys who hunt in the same area I do (13) are thinking about getting black bear baiting permits.

My question, hunting where we do, we see both black, and brown bears, wolves, moose and bou.

How far away from their bait do I have to be to take a brown bear? I know the regs say you can't take a brown bear over bait, but is there an established area considered "over" bait?

The reason I ask, is we mostly spot and stalk bears, I want to make sure that we leave enough of a buffer to stay legal.

[CATMguru]

I got this out of the bear bait clinic. Hope it helps

Illegal to Harvest Brown Bears at Black Bear Baiting Sites

No person who knows, or who should know, that a black bear bait station has been established in an area can legally take a brown bear in that same area. If the movements or behavior of the brown bear have been – or could have been --affected by the bait laid out for taking black bears, the brown bear is not legal to harvest.

[AK_Stick]

Thats what brought up the initial question, I can't believe the whole area we hunt is closed to the taking of brown bears because a guy in the same valley has a bait station. Was just curious is anyone knew how far away from the station is considered "over bait"

[Daveinthebush]

It does not mean the same area, as in area 13. 13 is huge from Matsu Valley to Valdez. Basically if you are baiting and the bait has some affect on the brown bears movement and you use that to your advantage, it is illegal.

[pike_palace]

The trooper I talked to said if you kill a Brown bear with any notion a bait station is nearby, it's illegal and they WILL be ticketing you if checked.

[323]

The trooper I talked to said if you kill a Brown bear with any notion a bait station is nearby, it's illegal and they WILL be ticketing you if checked.

yep the trooper made it very clear as well. We even asked what if we pull our barrels everything out and go in the next day to shoot a brown bear. The answer was NO... Always good to ask the trooper themselves because fish and game in anchorage told some folks I know that it was legal to do that.

[MacGyver]

Because it is impossible for you to know the location of every bait station in an area, and the trooper does because he has their gps location. The only safe thing to do is ask for a lawyer if he ask any questions. Let face it how can you prove you do not know something? I have a bear baiting permit and I read posts about bear baiting, how is it possible for me to not know?

[terbear747]

Won't have to worry about that in a portion of 16B starting the 16th of this month :whistle:

[cubdriver55]

I have ask for a ruling on this before and there is no specific distance. I did bring up a mile and was told a mile is plenty under all circumstances. If it is not your bait and you have no knowledge as to where it is then you are ok. You can not be expected to know where every bait is. As long as you are watching a stream or glassing open country or any type of fair chase hunting you are fine even if someone has a bait near by that you are not aware of.

[Grizzly Man]

I started this same thread. You can check it out, but the final word I got from Fish and Game was "we'll see how the investigation turns out". Fogot the name of it, but check threads started by me and you should be able to find it.

[willphish4food]

There is no definition of distance. Use your noggin, don't shoot a bear that's coming into your bait or any others you know about. During baiting season, you may be called to defend your shooting of any brown bear in court. As long as you're ignorant of any baits in the "area," (could be the 50 foot area around the barrel, the valley the bait's in, etc- its not defined) the trooper would have to prove you're lying. Sounds fun, eh?