Sow with cubs shoot or no?

[Gutpile]

Another thread prompted me to ask this question. A few people are saying since it's legal they'd do it. My stance is that if you shoot that sow you've just killed those cubs which is unacceptable. So since it's legal (your urged not to) would you do it? In Idaho it's illegal so I guess that makes it unethical there but here in WA it's legal. Does that make it ethical? Actually not trying to start an ethics debate, there's already a thread for that. Just trying to see how many of you would actually orphan those cubs on purpose

[boneaddict]

ABSOLUTELY NOT!   and I hope that if someone does it on purpose that they are cursed with bad Karma for the rest of their hunting LIFE

[Huntbear]

ABSOLUTELY NOT!   and I hope that if someone does it on purpose that they are cursed with bad Karma for the rest of their hunting LIFE

 

[Kc_Kracker]

no way, well uh, are cubs like veil? just kidding no i would not.

[pianoman9701]

Not a chance in hell, and that's where you should go if you do it.

[RifleRidge]

Hunters are urged to NOT shoot a sow with cubs. Sows may be accompanied by cubs in the fall
 ( 30 -50 ) that tend to lag behind when traveling, so please observe and be patient before shooting.

Making this illegal would help the cubs survive. 

[Gutpile]

True but making it illegal would also turn an accident into a crime. I passed on a bear during the 2011 spring season because it wasn't big enough to shoot and it was the first bear of the season. Had it been bigger I would have shot and accidentally orphaned the cubs. I watched this bear for 10-15 minutes with no cubs in sight but they later appeared. In a spot and stalk state I think that law would be unfair to ethical hunters who didnt know there were cubs.

[RifleRidge]

Good point...

[Guy]

Several years back I had my muzzle loader, up on a ridge, and saw a black bear coming towards me, following the ridge, from about a quarter mile away. I hunkered down and waited, anticipating a shot at 50 yards or so when it got closer.

At about 50 yards I noticed there was a cub following, maybe 100 yards behind mama. Mama bear had now closed to about 30 - 35 yards of me, and was headed straight towards me. I just stood up and said "howdy bear." She stopped, sniffed, woofed at me then took off for parts unknown, fast! The poor little cub came running up, looked around as if thinking "What the heck?" then followed Mama Bear into the deep canyon to my right.

I was real glad that I'd seen the cub before shooting.

Guy

[littlemac]

When I have bear hunted I have made every effort to shot a boar.

It makes no sense to me to orphan cubs to a certain death.

[MtnMuley]

Absolutely not.  End of discussion.

[mossy8352]

Where we hunt turkeys three years ago we came upon a sow with two cubs, this year she has three, two bigger ones and one smaller one. Eventually the cubs wil mature and have to move on which will propagate the area with more hunt able bears. No I would not shoot her.

[Atroxus]

I would like to say no...but then I am going on 3 years deer hunting with no success.(this is my first year with a bear tag) So I don't know that I would be able to pass on a bear if it was last day of the season and was looking like my last chance to put some meat in the freezer.  Would it be legal to shoot the cub instead if it looked big enough to eat?

[xXLojackXx]

Yes you can legally shoot any bear, including a cub. And people have done it to add a cub to a full size mounted sow. If you're doing it for meat, you won't get more than maybe 30lbs so it's probably not worth it. I wouldn't pass up a bear that didn't appear to have cubs, after observing it for a necessary amount of time. It's a tough call though because we all know bears are usually in some thick foliage.

[oldcamper]

I don't think you should shoot a sow with cubs, but it shouldn't be illeagel if you do. As they tend to lag behind.