Is bear baiting the worst kept secret?

[Fl0und3rz]

He told me that girlfriends and daughters made up for more than 50% of the leads leading to poaching and game violations.

Mm hmm. What the woman doesn't know can't hurt you.

I disagree Pman. Many may break a law that they feel is unjust or completely wrong and never break any other law.

This.  People are not unthinking automatons; they can make a conscious choice about which laws they think are unjust.  This is not a normative statement.

Is this the worst kept secret?  It is for this guy.

[bhawley76]

Only a fool tells on himself!

[h20hunter]

Oh I don't disagree. However....I'm sure there are many many members that are close to a zero post count that watch, read, and just hang out. Somebody that does this and tells their gf who then runs their mouth may just be that dumb.

[Buckmark]

I said "no". The question should be, "is poaching the worst kept secret?" Although I disagree with the ban because baiting is an effective way to keep bear populations under control, we voted it out and I disagree with poaching more. If baiting bear is OK, then baiting turkey and waterfowl is OK. Shooting an extra elk when you don't want to buy meat is OK, too.  If the guy'd told me directly that he was baiting, I'd be turning him in. People who break the law are rarely doing it for the first time and will rarely not do it again. My 

Incorrect, non hunters etc voted to ban baiting...

[runamuk]

Really after thinking more on this its not much different than justifying breaking the speed limit.  I mean they are hunting with a tag in season simply using a technique that has been prohibited.  So about the same as the guy in his car that feels 70mph is just not fast enough to get him where he is going. There are those who will get caught those who will speed and never get caught and those who just choose not to speed.  I'd say the bear thing is about the same.  Most the baiters will never get caught.  A few will be brazen enough to get caught and others will simply abide by the regulations.

[pianoman9701]

I said "no". The question should be, "is poaching the worst kept secret?" Although I disagree with the ban because baiting is an effective way to keep bear populations under control, we voted it out and I disagree with poaching more. If baiting bear is OK, then baiting turkey and waterfowl is OK. Shooting an extra elk when you don't want to buy meat is OK, too.  If the guy'd told me directly that he was baiting, I'd be turning him in. People who break the law are rarely doing it for the first time and will rarely not do it again. My 

Incorrect, non hunters etc voted to ban baiting...

When I said "we", I meant a majority of WA voters. I didn't vote for it, but "we" did.

[Stein]

I don't thing baiting can hold a candle to over limit crab or shrimp.  Both of those can't even touch texting while driving.

[pianoman9701]

I said "no". The question should be, "is poaching the worst kept secret?" Although I disagree with the ban because baiting is an effective way to keep bear populations under control, we voted it out and I disagree with poaching more. If baiting bear is OK, then baiting turkey and waterfowl is OK. Shooting an extra elk when you don't want to buy meat is OK, too.  If the guy'd told me directly that he was baiting, I'd be turning him in. People who break the law are rarely doing it for the first time and will rarely not do it again. My 

So a guy gets a pile of apples off his neighbors tree and transports them 50 yards to his property tucked back in the brush,  sets up a stand hunts bear in his back yard.  He's not having much luck so he drops a bag of dog food on the pile of apples......success! 

Now he's going to poach 2 Elk?


Too big of an assumption to make, each crime must be done on it's own merit if LE jumped to the same conclusions as you freely make then we'd really see some hollering from you on all the cop threads..."you're a speeder, so you must be a bank robber too!!    FREEEZE!!

My point is that anyone who can justify breaking the law once will justify it again. Ask any LE on here their opinion of whether r not someone willing to kill a bear over bait will be willing to break other game laws.

I actually used to agree with you,  until they introduced wolves then I changed my mind.

I think there's a lot of folks who'll poach a wolf, but wouldn't dream of breaking any other game law (and a lot who don't even hunt or fish; not sure how that fits into this debate).
So I must apply that to bear baiting.  It's a seriously sore subject to some that used to bait bear and when it was made to be illegal they then made the decision to not follow that singular law.


"If guns were made illegal, then only criminals would have guns"    I think you'd be a criminal at that point am I wrong?  Doesn't mean you'd start shooting up malls though.

Two completely different scenarios, pot & bear baiting. The prohibition on pot was a government regulation passed because of backroom deals, unlike the prohibition on alcohol, because there was no Constitutional Amendment for making pot illegal. The feds, under pressure from private businesses which were being hurt by hemp, just made it illegal. There's a great deal of speculation about whether its prohibition could have survived the Constitutional super-majority test. Bear baiting, on the other hand, was a vote of the people. A majority of our citizens decided they no longer wanted bear baiting.

Comparing it to gun ownership is also an invalid comparison because gun ownership is Constitutionally protected, at least for those of us who don't have criminal records. Taking away our right to bear arms would take a super majority of states to pass. And, the 2nd Amendment is a right, not a privilege, such as hunting.

Wolves are also an invalid argument because there is no hunting allowed of them at all in WA and in the western 2/3s of the state, they're federally protected, as well. Bears are not protected in any respect (except grizzlies). If you're poaching wolves, you're an idiot. They've put a whole lot of money into protecting them and chances are good you'll be caught.

The method of using bait and/or hounds was deemed illegal because a majority of people who voted thought it was unfair, unethical, barbaric, or cruel - whatever. Now I have to hunt bears using calls and glassing hillsides. If someone else is using bait to kill bears, I find that not only unfair to me, but an indication that this person feels they're above the law for no good reason. If I see someone baiting, and that means someone other than one who is reacting to damage of their property (and then, they could get a damage permit), there's a good chance I'll turn them in. I do feel that if they're willing to bait bears, they're willing to do a lot of illegal and unethical things. Sorry. That's not just me, though.

[pianoman9701]

I don't thing baiting can hold a candle to over limit crab or shrimp.  Both of those can't even touch texting while driving.

So, what's your point, that it isn't that big a deal so breaking that law is acceptable because texting is worse?

[Biggerhammer]

Who cares!

[KFhunter]

Bear baiting, hounds and body gripping traps were lost due to outside money and special interest running television ads and duping ignorant non-hunters of Washington.


Takes a lot of sting out of some backyard baiter trying to get that troublesome fruit tree destroying garbage bear because all WDFW would do was direct them to the "living with bears" website.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/bears.html#conflicts

[pianoman9701]

It's not difficult for someone with bear damage to get a removal permit. And there's a big difference between someone baiting a problem bear and Jethro baiting a bear because he thinks the law doesn't apply to him.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Here is how I see it  I know what you are all thinking  here he goes again .. All these rules they continue to pursue are just ways to not make you successful . That's it . Think about the wolves for instance . They make us draw a tag to shoot elk but the wolves can kill anything they want and do not have to eat it ..I can almost guarantee you if someone is baiting deer there is a good chance they are having bears come in ..Now I wonder how many of these bears get shot  I am sure a few  and as far as this individual your talking about I bet he is baiting deer and a bear just showed up ..the women most likely has no clue what is really going on ..she just heard the word bear and told you and instantly a guy is doing something illegal    Out of sight - Out of mind .. that's how some people do things now ..and thank the state for that 

[KFhunter]

I'd like to see WDFW not worry too much about the backyard baiter unless it's egregious, (garbage all over etc)  and nail the crap out of those poachers selling to Asian markets.


You know,  those guys who kick a bear off the side of the road with nothing but a small cut in their sides (remove gall) and missing paws.  Some of you have seen this for yourselves.



UCWARDEN wrote the book on this illegal trade in WA, and I think that's where the focus should be!

[pianoman9701]

Here is how I see it  I know what you are all thinking  here he goes again .. All these rules they continue to pursue are just ways to not make you successful . That's it . Think about the wolves for instance . They make us draw a tag to shoot elk but the wolves can kill anything they want and do not have to eat it ..I can almost guarantee you if someone is baiting deer there is a good chance they are having bears come in ..Now I wonder how many of these bears get shot  I am sure a few  and as far as this individual your talking about I bet he is baiting deer and a bear just showed up ..the women most likely has no clue what is really going on ..she just heard the word bear and told you and instantly a guy is doing something illegal    Out of sight - Out of mind .. that's how some people do things now ..and thank the state for that 

Really BH, she told a perfect stranger he was out hunting bear over a bait and you think it might be a mistake? Uh-huh!