Sow with cubs shoot or no?

[DBHAWTHORNE]

good info. I have never really been interested in shooting bears. Normally I just look at them. I killed a small boar 10 years ago cause of his color and shot at a very large boar 3 years ago. Guess I have never really given much thought to a sow with cubs cause I really only want to shoot a bear if "he" is real big. The last 3 years have really got my wheels turning though. Seeing way more bears where we deer hunt and way less deer. So we might need to pick out a few and shoot them this year. One problem I noticed is most of the bears we saw were sows with good size cubs. One had 3 big ones and the other had 2 big ones.

 

If there is anything that will motivate me to shoot a bear it's what you are saying above. In a few areas that I hunt I think they are seriously impacting the fawn/calf crop.

[Gutpile]

The most disturbing thing that I read here is that a lot of you "shooters" dont know $hit about bear biology. They are not deer, they are not coyotes or beef cows, they are not phucking wolves. All above mentioned animals offspring are ready to go within the first year. Bears are not. Bears breed every TWO years. They keep the young for a year and a half and boot them prior to or during the breeding season. Breeding season is in the summer. If the cubs are with momma in the fall they are PROBABLY first year cubs. Not always but probably. Of course there are exceptions but those are just the facts. If you kill a sow with cubs you have just killed 3 bears with one bullet. I myself think its pretty damn selfish and cant understand it. You folks who would shoot are the reason we have so many problems with non hunting legislation.

Now just because some of you love hypotheticals;
In my original post I was not talking about anything other than purposely shooting a sow with cubs. Not accidentally but purposely.

P.S.
Just to reiterate. Bears are NOT deer. Some of you think breeding biology of bears and deer is somehow similar, it's not. 

[billythekidrock]

The most disturbing thing that I read here is that a lot of you "shooters" dont know $hit about bear biology. They are not deer, they are not coyotes or beef cows, they are not phucking wolves. All above mentioned animals offspring are ready to go within the first year. Bears are not. Bears breed every TWO years. They keep the young for a year and a half and boot them prior to or during the breeding season. Breeding season is in the summer. If the cubs are with momma in the fall they are PROBABLY first year cubs. Not always but probably. Of course there are exceptions but those are just the facts. If you kill a sow with cubs you have just killed 3 bears with one bullet. I myself think its pretty damn selfish and cant understand it. You folks who would shoot are the reason we have so many problems with non hunting legislation.

Now just because some of you love hypotheticals;
In my original post I was not talking about anything other than purposely shooting a sow with cubs. Not accidentally but purposely.

P.S.
Just to reiterate. Bears are NOT deer. Some of you think breeding biology of bears and deer is somehow similar, it's not. 

 

[Machias]

The most disturbing thing that I read here is that a lot of you "shooters" dont know $hit about bear biology. They are not deer, they are not coyotes or beef cows, they are not phucking wolves. All above mentioned animals offspring are ready to go within the first year. Bears are not. Bears breed every TWO years. They keep the young for a year and a half and boot them prior to or during the breeding season. Breeding season is in the summer. If the cubs are with momma in the fall they are PROBABLY first year cubs. Not always but probably. Of course there are exceptions but those are just the facts. If you kill a sow with cubs you have just killed 3 bears with one bullet. I myself think its pretty damn selfish and cant understand it. You folks who would shoot are the reason we have so many problems with non hunting legislation.

Now just because some of you love hypotheticals;
In my original post I was not talking about anything other than purposely shooting a sow with cubs. Not accidentally but purposely.

P.S.
Just to reiterate. Bears are NOT deer. Some of you think breeding biology of bears and deer is somehow similar, it's not. 

Big time!   

[jackmaster]

The most disturbing thing that I read here is that a lot of you "shooters" dont know $hit about bear biology. They are not deer, they are not coyotes or beef cows, they are not phucking wolves. All above mentioned animals offspring are ready to go within the first year. Bears are not. Bears breed every TWO years. They keep the young for a year and a half and boot them prior to or during the breeding season. Breeding season is in the summer. If the cubs are with momma in the fall they are PROBABLY first year cubs. Not always but probably. Of course there are exceptions but those are just the facts. If you kill a sow with cubs you have just killed 3 bears with one bullet. I myself think its pretty damn selfish and cant understand it. You folks who would shoot are the reason we have so many problems with non hunting legislation.
  best response yet
Now just because some of you love hypotheticals;
In my original post I was not talking about anything other than purposely shooting a sow with cubs. Not accidentally but purposely.

P.S.
Just to reiterate. Bears are NOT deer. Some of you think breeding biology of bears and deer is somehow similar, it's not. 

Big time!   

[DBHAWTHORNE]

The most disturbing thing that I read here is that a lot of you "shooters" dont know $hit about bear biology. They are not deer, they are not coyotes or beef cows, they are not phucking wolves. All above mentioned animals offspring are ready to go within the first year. Bears are not. Bears breed every TWO years. They keep the young for a year and a half and boot them prior to or during the breeding season. Breeding season is in the summer. If the cubs are with momma in the fall they are PROBABLY first year cubs. Not always but probably. Of course there are exceptions but those are just the facts. If you kill a sow with cubs you have just killed 3 bears with one bullet. I myself think its pretty damn selfish and cant understand it. You folks who would shoot are the reason we have so many problems with non hunting legislation.

Now just because some of you love hypotheticals;
In my original post I was not talking about anything other than purposely shooting a sow with cubs. Not accidentally but purposely.

P.S.
Just to reiterate. Bears are NOT deer. Some of you think breeding biology of bears and deer is somehow similar, it's not. 

Copy all on the bear biology and how long the cubs live with mom... But where is the science that says killing a fall Sow is killing the cubs too? Everything I find say's just the opposite.

[Gutpile]

  I'll start by saying I found an orphaned cub one time during a spring hunt in an area where someone I knew shot a sow with cubs. This dummy was the most unwary little bear I've ever seen. Many times I ran into it and we took turns sneaking on it. He was oblivious and if he survived that season it would have been a miracle. Anyways I did a quick google and read 2 studies which pretty much agree that you are correct. Apparently at 5 months they can survive. This in no way changes how I feel about purposely shooting a sow with cubs. I love bear hunting andI want those cubs to get the best possible chance there is. I'll also leave you with this thought. Aside from studies that were done 30 years ago do you think it's responsible to orphan cubs in todays society when *censored*s jump at any chance to restrict hunting? I still say it's completely irresponsible and selfish. Frankly I don't fully trust these studies I read anyways there are too many unanswered questions. I can find studies that say the world will end this year. That there is global warming and that there isn't. That cow flatulence is eating a hole in the ozone so I need to be a vegetarian. So maybe they are capable, maybe they arent but what I do know is that if we start orphaning cubs and this starts hitting the news you can say bye bye to bear hunting or maybe they'll just make it illegal and turn you into a criminal if you accidentally shoot one.

[DBHAWTHORNE]

  I'll start by saying I found an orphaned cub one time during a spring hunt in an area where someone I knew shot a sow with cubs. This dummy was the most unwary little bear I've ever seen. Many times I ran into it and we took turns sneaking on it. He was oblivious and if he survived that season it would have been a miracle. Anyways I did a quick google and read 2 studies which pretty much agree that you are correct. Apparently at 5 months they can survive. This in no way changes how I feel about purposely shooting a sow with cubs. I love bear hunting andI want those cubs to get the best possible chance there is. I'll also leave you with this thought. Aside from studies that were done 30 years ago do you think it's responsible to orphan cubs in todays society when *censored*s jump at any chance to restrict hunting? I still say it's completely irresponsible and selfish. Frankly I don't fully trust these studies I read anyways there are too many unanswered questions. I can find studies that say the world will end this year. That there is global warming and that there isn't. That cow flatulence is eating a hole in the ozone so I need to be a vegetarian. So maybe they are capable, maybe they arent but what I do know is that if we start orphaning cubs and this starts hitting the news you can say bye bye to bear hunting or maybe they'll just make it illegal and turn you into a criminal if you accidentally shoot one.

As we speak I know the general location of a cub that was orphaned in the spring. I have been keeping an eye on him and see him almost every time I go into the area. Like you, I have noticed that he is very unwary and certainly easy pickings for anything that wanted to take him out. That being said he is certainly a healthy looking little guy.

Most of the studies I have read say 10 months is when an orphaned cub should be able to survive unders most circumstances. I would have to agree that it's probably best practice to not shoot a sow with a cub.

Like I have said earlier I am not a bear hunter. I mainly want to ensure that the facts are straight before we throw our fellow hunters under the bus just because they have a different view or go against tradition.

What I don't like is segregating members of the hunting community for something that is legal and may or may not (apparently no one knows) be ok for wildlife (in most cases I err on the side of less restricitons on hunters until proven otherwise). I think by ostracizing fellow hunters who are doing things legally we are providing ammunition for the Animal Rights activitst to take rights away from hunters. Another example of this scenario is the baiting issue..there is a bunch of opinions but ultimatley what you end up with is hunters standing shoulder to shoulder with animal rights activist to take away hunter rights and add additional unecessary restrictions.

[combs338]

  I'll start by saying I found an orphaned cub one time during a spring hunt in an area where someone I knew shot a sow with cubs. This dummy was the most unwary little bear I've ever seen. Many times I ran into it and we took turns sneaking on it. He was oblivious and if he survived that season it would have been a miracle. Anyways I did a quick google and read 2 studies which pretty much agree that you are correct. Apparently at 5 months they can survive. This in no way changes how I feel about purposely shooting a sow with cubs. I love bear hunting andI want those cubs to get the best possible chance there is. I'll also leave you with this thought. Aside from studies that were done 30 years ago do you think it's responsible to orphan cubs in todays society when *censored*s jump at any chance to restrict hunting? I still say it's completely irresponsible and selfish. Frankly I don't fully trust these studies I read anyways there are too many unanswered questions. I can find studies that say the world will end this year. That there is global warming and that there isn't. That cow flatulence is eating a hole in the ozone so I need to be a vegetarian. So maybe they are capable, maybe they arent but what I do know is that if we start orphaning cubs and this starts hitting the news you can say bye bye to bear hunting or maybe they'll just make it illegal and turn you into a criminal if you accidentally shoot one.

As we speak I know the general location of a cub that was orphaned in the spring. I have been keeping an eye on him and see him almost every time I go into the area. Like you I have noticed that he is very unwary and certainly easy pickings for anything that wanted to take him out. That being said he is certainly a healthy looking little guy.

Most of the studies I have read say 10 months is when an orphaned cub should be able to survive unders most circumstances. I would have to agree that it is probably best practice to not shoot a sow being a cub.

Like I have said earlier I am not a bear hunter. I mainly want to ensure that the facts are straight before we throw our fellow hunters under the bus just because they have a different view or go against tradition.

What I don't like is segregating members of the hunting community for something that is legal and may or may not (apparently no one knows) be ok for wildlife (in most cases I err on the side of less restricitons on hunters until proven otherwise). I think by ostracizing fellow hunters who are doing things legally we are providing ammunition for the Animal Rights activitst to take rights away from hunters. Another example of this scenario is the baiting issue..there is a bunch of opinions but ultimatley what you end up with is hunters standing shoulder to shoulder with animal rights activist to take away hunter right add additional unecessary restrictions.

I agree with your point 100% DB.

[mdbuck5x5]

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

  Exactly!

[boneaddict]

Like I have said earlier I am not a bear hunter. I mainly want to ensure that the facts are straight before we throw our fellow hunters under the bus just because they have a different view or go against tradition.

I won't only throw SWC shooters under the bus, I'll back it up and park it on you. then spin the tires. 

[DBHAWTHORNE]

Like I have said earlier I am not a bear hunter. I mainly want to ensure that the facts are straight before we throw our fellow hunters under the bus just because they have a different view or go against tradition.

I won't only throw SWC shooters under the bus, I'll back it up and park it on you. then spin the tires.

Spoken like a true extremist. 

[boneaddict]

I won't strap the bomb to my chest while driving the bus, but after I have spun the tires I might blow the bus up while its parked on the said deadbeat.    

[DBHAWTHORNE]

 

[boneaddict]

My version of an extremist