Illegal to feed big game animals??

[billythekidrock]

It should be us as hunters putting these methods aside and giving the animals a better chance, (Level the playing field if you will)

Sometimes it is not about chance or a level playing field. Most of the time it is about wildlife management.

I can't help but notice that since hunting with dogs and baiting bears is illegal, there is a much better chance for me to see them in the woods and maybe there will be some left for my kids to hunt.

That is not a completely true statement.
Before 1996 we were on an upswing in bear harvests. We have more bears now (including in the 90's) then in the last few decades because of sound management. Bears were removed from varmint status and year round seasons by the F&G and hunters. That population continued to grow into a large base of mature breeding animals. That base help to expand the population exponentially. If I remember correctly the only year that we had a lower harvest rate was 1997. After that we killed more bears then the previous with out dogs or bait.

[billythekidrock]

That would be fine with me, What skills are you using when you turn on an electronic caller ??
It should be us as hunters putting these methods aside and giving the animals a better chance, (Level the playing field if you will)

It is not about skill, it is about options, safety and having adequate tools for game management.  But if that is the question then the skill is in the scouting, stalking and making the shot.

[popeshawnpaul]

I still think guns give the man the edge. If you don't take it with your bare hands you're a sissy.

People who want to put their ethics on everyone else is the problem around here and it is an infection across America. Mind your own business and the world would be better off. The last thing we need is another regulation. Some of you are too busy fighting the wrong fight and expending your energy because you feel compelled to appeal to the wants of other groups which do not hunt or make a distinction between the acts anyway. Or perhaps make a distinction in your approach to hunting animals which is superior in your own mind. If people are against hunting animals it doesn't matter how you do it; they are not going to approve. I'm not making appeals to any anti hunting groups and I would not call something that has been going on for generations a scourge that is a black scar on hunters. You've probably got too much energy and time on your hands that could be used more effectively if you had found some way to give back to the hunting community.

I never thought I would say this but I agree 100% with Huntwa/Ray.

Can we please stop making the connection that you must do something first to form an opinion about it?  I don't have to be hit in the face to know it will hurt.  I don't have to hunt bison to tell you I wouldn't like it.  I don't have to high fence hunt to tell you I wouldn't like it.  As long as you possess basic knowledge about the issue you have the right to form an opinion.  Now I'm not so sure I would share an opinion I'm not fully educated about... but to each his own. 

While many want this thread to die...that's what this forum is for.  If you don't want to read it then don't. 

Shawn

[robodad]

OK here is what I have learned about hound hunting and baiting ethics in here, it is not a good idea to bring it up, that is all !!!

[M_ray]

Robodad, I don't think you are a piece of *censored*!
  I'll tell you my experiences with baiting bears back when it was leagal. In short it was allot of hard work that started months before the season, a big fuel expense, and not as easy as people would think ... it's not like the bears would just run in to the bait! It was difficult to out smart the big ones and also afforded the opportunity to examine the bear up close as they are hard to judge from a distance. Young ones and female are easy to let walk when you can tell what they are from 25 yards. Now we are forced to hunt them over a berry Field and from long ranges, many females with cubs have been shot and those cubs will suffer a gruesome death at the hands of male bears after mom is gone, so shoot one mom with two cubs you didn't see and you have now killed three bears!
Back to the judging from a distance point since the change in law there has been more than one guy who shot a bear at 250 yards that claimed he thought "It was bigger than that!" and many young females are shot at distance as well and will not reproduce. I know this sounds long but I could write 10 pages of detail on how to and what to do once you get a hot bait going but all I know it was allot of hard work and rewarding and no different than you trying to out smart that whitetail from a treestand! Which by the way we hunted over baits with our bows too!

[Outfitter]

    M-RAY for president !!

[Coasthunterjay]

I think robodad likes to stir the pot up everyonce and a while.....

[billythekidrock]

In short it was allot of hard work that started months before the season, a big fuel expense, and not as easy as people would think ... it's not like the bears would just run in to the bait!

Baiting can be alot harder then calling, especially the physical parts.

[robodad]

Thank you M-ray, that is what I was after almost from the beginning, after stating that I had no experience with this matter except for what I have seen on the films and have read I asked for some real world experiences and you and  WAcoyotehunter are the only ones that gave me anything to think about and perhaps rethink my opinion around this touchy subject, I still may disagree with the practices but can also keep an open mind regarding this topic.

I will not likely engage in these practices and am realizing that I should not have opened my mouth again on this subject,

I think robodad likes to stir the pot up everyonce and a while.....

You are wrong, I was looking for some real answers and was having a hard time getting anyone to give them up.

It is all good, Just a matter of opinion and nothing more, I do it my way and you do it yours, no big deal. I won't call your method unethical any more until I have more information OK ....   

[Houndhunter]

Trapping - This is not about the killing of animals.  This is about teaching survival skills, linking our past with our present, and preserving a heritage that helped settle the lands that we now call home.  God forbid my children ever have to use these skills in a survival setting, but I want them to be able to deploy them if needed.  I want my children to grow up seeing the ways that animals may be used to benefit them.  I want them to respect the animal by skinning it out properly, caring for the hide or fur, and to be thankful that they were able to outsmart the animal.  It takes a heck of a lot more skill to set a stationary trap for a wild animal to walk into, then to hunt them with a rifle.  Modern legholds are humane.  They allow a trapper to release an animal unharmed if the wrong animal was trapped.  They do not leave an animal maimed or to suffer an agonizing death at a later date.

pretty much trapping is about killing animals, in a resourceful way. the only reason trapping is around today (in washington) is because you get animal population problems without it. it really has nothing to do with survival, or having it as a way to remember back then

And to add a bit more, modern traps are very humane. if i had a couple million bucks i would make a commercial and show them how animals react to traps such as a basic long spring or coil spring

just wanted chime in a lil

[M_ray]

Thanks for that Robo!

I was just trying to give you something else to think about and if you want more let me know there is much more detail of getting up at 3:00 am 4-5 days a week, collecting doughnuts, driving 150 miles RT, hiking 3 miles with your bait on a pack board & oh then it's time to go to work!

And if your bait is hot and it's a big boy you may have to step that up to a daily routine just to keep him interested. Not to mention you do all of this and then he's also a smarty cause trial timers tell you he comes in and eats 15 minutes after you leave the bait (so you know he hears you there) but you never see him when you sit in your treestand because he probably knows you are there too! So you have to figure out ways to out smart him if you even hope to get a look at him!

[M_ray]

   M-RAY for president !!

That's funny!!!!
I don't know about that one...but thanks outfitter.

[tlbradford]

pretty much trapping is about killing animals, in a resourceful way. the only reason trapping is around today (in washington) is because you get animal population problems without it. it really has nothing to do with survival, or having it as a way to remember back then

And to add a bit more, modern traps are very humane. if i had a couple million bucks i would make a commercial and show them how animals react to traps such as a basic long spring or coil spring

just wanted chime in a lil

Actually you are only talking about a specific type of trapping used for damage control.  Running a trap line in the middle of nowhere is not about population control, and today's fur prices usually make it a break even deal.

[Houndhunter]

no, damage control is for when things over populate. running a trap line out in the middle of no where as you say, is still all about keepin a speices in good numbers, so it wont over populate . and its not just bout over populating its about keep a speices in numbers that fit with its enivorment, keeping its proper holding compacity without effecting other speices

anyway you want to put it, its about killing animals to keep the overal enviroment intact

[tlbradford]

You don't need trapping in the middle of nowhere to regulate the population of a species.  The land will only hold a finite amount of animals.