Comments requestd on Bear Baiting Ban in National Preserves in AK

[ak_fisher_man]

https://www.regulations.gov/document/NPS-2023-0001-0001
The National Park Service (NPS) proposes to amend its regulations for sport hunting and trapping in national preserves in Alaska. This proposed rule would prohibit certain harvest practices, including bear baiting; and prohibit predator control or predator reduction on national preserves. Comments on the proposed rule must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 10, 2023. You may submit comments, identified by [IMPORTANT to reference in your Comments this RIN] Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 1024-AE70.

 

[Daveinthebush]

I'll definitely write them!

 

[SmokeRoss]

Feds need to stay out of Wildlife management in the state of Alaska. Too many Sierra Club types trying to make rules for us.

 

[4merguide]

Feds need to stay out of Wildlife management in the state of Alaska. Too many Sierra Club types trying to make rules for us.

Can you say "Woke?"

 

[Cheeser]

Thanks for the info. I sent a comment supporting the ban on baiting and ending predator control but requested exceptions for the disabled. Life is tough enough for them and we don't need to make it more difficult as part of an effort to prevent able-bodied types from semi-domesticating bear simply because they're too lazy to hunt.

 

[AKducks]

Thanks for the info. I sent a comment supporting the ban on baiting and ending predator control but requested exceptions for the disabled. Life is tough enough for them and we don't need to make it more difficult as part of an effort to prevent able-bodied types from semi-domesticating bear simply because they're too lazy to hunt.

ok so I don't want to start a big debate but I'm going to make a comment:
I baited for 3 years and never shot a bear, had bears come in but never had a chance at one. baiting aint as easy as it sounds. its a lot of work and lots of commitment. I would visit my site once a week adding bait, checking game cameras, maybe adding some new scent to try and get consistent bear action (we found that our spot did not get bears arriving until the last week of season).

I also spent more time researching spots for bear baiting then I've ever done for moose/caribou/goat/deer hunting. I mean you pick one spot and that's it for the season, really a couple seasons so you want to make sure you are in a good spot that has bears and less other hunters.

I understand the argument against bear baiting, on the surface it looks pretty simple, just go out set a station and shoot a bear, just seems to easy and hunter looks lazy. but the truth is there are lots of pros to baiting and it is far from easy.

 

[Kenaimike]

Thanks for the info. I sent a comment supporting the ban on baiting and ending predator control but requested exceptions for the disabled. Life is tough enough for them and we don't need to make it more difficult as part of an effort to prevent able-bodied types from semi-domesticating bear simply because they're too lazy to hunt.

Tell us you have zero understanding of bear baiting without telling us.

 

[4merguide]

ok so I don't want to start a big debate but I'm going to make a comment:
I baited for 3 years and never shot a bear, had bears come in but never had a chance at one. baiting aint as easy as it sounds. its a lot of work and lots of commitment. I would visit my site once a week adding bait, checking game cameras, maybe adding some new scent to try and get consistent bear action (we found that our spot did not get bears arriving until the last week of season).

I also spent more time researching spots for bear baiting then I've ever done for moose/caribou/goat/deer hunting. I mean you pick one spot and that's it for the season, really a couple seasons so you want to make sure you are in a good spot that has bears and less other hunters.

I understand the argument against bear baiting, on the surface it looks pretty simple, just go out set a station and shoot a bear, just seems to easy and hunter looks lazy. but the truth is there are lots of pros to baiting and it is far from easy.

Imo, the hard part about baiting is having the time to actually hunt over it. Once a week "usually" ain't gonna cut it.

 

[Daveinthebush]

I have taken 10-12 veterans and the same number of youth out bear baiting to harvest their first bear. It is a great teaching opportunity to inform them on judging size, looking out for sows with cubs, bear activity, rules and even safety as we treestand hunt. The kids really learn a lot. They may use a gun for their first and then only bow hunt if they want a second chance. Many are father/son hunts. I have even taken a military spouse out. Best archer I've taken out. If we don't introduce new people to hunting we're going to loose our lobbying power in all areas of hunting. There are aspects of many parts of hunting I don't agree with. We can either stand together or let division come from within our own ranks.

 

[iofthetaiga]

I understand the argument against bear baiting, on the surface it looks pretty simple, just go out set a station and shoot a bear, just seems to easy and hunter looks lazy. but the truth is there are lots of pros to baiting and it is far from easy.

The argument against baiting is that it habituates lots of bears to human food/associating humans with food.

 

[SmokeRoss]

If I am to take a bear with the spear I built, it will likely be over bait. I have checked everything else off my list. Bear with archery equipment, check, bear with handgun, check, bear with old lever action rifle, check, bear with modern rifle, check. None of those were over bait btw.

 

[Daveinthebush]

Most bear problems are in cities, not 25 miles away at my stand. Ban kitchen exhaust fans, garbage cans, fish smells in boats, leaving food in vehicles. What I do 25 or even 70 miles away from civilization isn't going to bother anyone. The olfactory senses only define what smells interesting.

 

[4merguide]

The argument against baiting is that it habituates lots of bears to human food/associating humans with food.

And I don't know how good that argument is. Close to cities, suburbs, parks, etc... yes, I most assuredly can see that. But miles from anywhere and anybody, I mean, it's not like a bear is going to walk up to a barrel full of dog food and say, "Oh look, people food!"

 

[AKducks]

Imo, the hard part about baiting is having the time to actually hunt over it. Once a week "usually" ain't gonna cut it.

right, the check was for bait and checking cameras, the idea was once we got consistent bears coming in we would start sitting at the stand/ hunting it. but never got that consistent hitting.

 

[Kenaimike]

And I don't know how good that argument is. Close to cities, suburbs, parks, etc... yes, I most assuredly can see that. But miles from anywhere and anybody, I mean, it's not like a bear is going to walk up to a barrel full of dog food and say, "Oh look, people food!"

It’s actually a terrible argument. The bait season is a handful of weeks, and then the food source is gone just like most food sources.
Then the small percentage of bear population that visits a site moves on to something else.
Killing boars in the spring is perfect timing to give moose calves a chance, too!

 

[SmokeRoss]

Let the bear population explode. They'll be begging us to hose them then.

 

[iofthetaiga]

Let the bear population explode. They'll be begging us to hose them then.

Without baiting in National Preserves will the bear population explode?

 

[Cheeser]

Tell us you have zero understanding of bear baiting without telling us.

It's not that complex. Even a child can figure it out. Heck, anyone who grew up around farms knows how to domesticate an animal.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

seems like if a top predator is not being preyed upon then their population would increase.

 

[SmokeRoss]

Without baiting in National Preserves will the bear population explode?

The brown bear numbers on the Kenai are a good example of how their numbers increase when hunting opportunity is reduced or eliminated. Used to have all kinds of black bears out north. Now all we see in person and on game cams is Brownies.