Don't they feed them to keep them from from peeling trees?
they do, and you would think if it was effective they would just do that and not have the damage hunt at all since that is the very definition of why there is a spring hunt to begin with on timber land. my own personal theory is there not real interested in killing many bears to begin with. on this property theirs many "escapement" areas that are closed to vehicle traffic. bears being what they are and not liking human contact cause more tree damage in those areas. opening them up to 150 tag holders to drive through there keeps the bears moving around thus not concentrating damage in one spot. only about 8 to 14 of these tags get filled every year with the trend being closer to the single digits. if they really wanted to take a certain number of bears out they would either run them with dogs or give out say 30 bait permits and there would be 30 bears killed, or what ever the number they deem fit.
its a fun hunt but you really need to know it. or get lucky on back to back days walking up the same grassy logging road with your wife and kill two bears
i wont put in for it again till i draw a blues tag or they do indeed instill a bait season. if they did that you could pull a hog out of there if you know what your doing and where to bait.
