Bear hunting while walking with dog?

[ashbeckt253]

This seems like a grey area. Lately I have been scouting a new area for Deer and Elk for late season archery. I enjoy taking my Lab with me. Now if I was to carry my rifle and shoot a bear would that be considered hunting with a dog, even though dog was not actively chasing or persuing a bear. Only thing I can find in regs is no hunting with bait or hounds. Obviously by definition they are the same, but hound is more often received as dog used and trained in hunting other animals. I know the easy answer is leave the dog at home, but honestly not a big fan of being alone in woods. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Cougartail]

You will get a ticket!

[h20hunter]

If you are hunting big game the dog stays back.

[ashbeckt253]

Thats what I thought but figured I would check. Thanks

[WildW00d]

Correct. I called wdfw a few weeks ago asking the same question. I was told that having a dog with you would look bad if you ever shot anything and hard to prove to a Game Warden that you weren't using it for hunting. Better to ask first than end up in a ticket

[Meathunter06]

If a warden thinks you are using a lab to hunt bears he should probably be looking for a new job because this one isn't working out for him 

[spadebit]

If given a ticket for this, wouldn't it get thrown out?  Assumption is not evidence. 
I get it may look bad, but it is one lab, not five hounds. 

[aaronoto]

If given a ticket for this, wouldn't it get thrown out?  Assumption is not evidence. 
I get it may look bad, but it is one lab, not five hounds.

The burden would be on the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were using the dog to hunt bear.  I would say it’d be hard to prove, but that doesn’t mean I’d try it.

[Hillbilly Zen]

I think the bigger question would be what could happen to an untrained dog in a wounded bear scenario?

[ashbeckt253]

Im glad this is sparking some thought and not just treated as a stupid question. I am the type of guy that tries to see a position from all sides. That is why I asked. Again thanks for the responses.

[Hectocotylus]

I did it the other day and thought about how it could look later. Won’t be doing it again. I bet you wouldn’t get in trouble at the end of the day but you might have some hot water to wade through to get out of it. Technically I’d say it’s illegal.


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[ashbeckt253]

I did it the other day and thought about how it could look later. Won’t be doing it again. I bet you wouldn’t get in trouble at the end of the day but you might have some hot water to wade through to get out of it. Technically I’d say it’s illegal.


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This was pretty much my exact situation. I went to spot with rifle and dog. Chose to leave rifle in truck and just walk about with dog.