Colorado may ban killing hibernating black bears

By Keith Coffman – Fri Mar 11, 12:13 pm ET


DENVER (Reuters) – Hibernating black bears will no longer be fair game for Colorado hunters under new regulations proposed for the state, after an outcry over the killing of a 700-pound bruin in its den last fall.

Even some hunters have described the male bear's shooting death as unsportsmanlike and unethical, because the animal was not in the open but was resting in a secure place.

Colorado wildlife managers proposed the new regulation on Thursday, and the Colorado Wildlife Commission is widely expected to approve the policy change in May.

Randy Hampton, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said the agency uses a "fair chase" standard for hunting rules, meaning an animal should have a fighting chance to escape.

"Most sportsmen understand when a bear is denned, you don't crawl in a hole after him," Hampton said. "That's the type of thing we want to avoid."

Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey also outlaw den hunting.

The killing of the bear in its den happened last November, when hunter Richard Kendall stalked and shot to death the massive animal near Meeker, Colorado, about 230 miles northwest of Denver.

Kendall told Reuters in a telephone interview that he and a hunting partner were looking for mountain lions, when they discovered bear tracks the size of his baseball cap.

They tracked the male bear to a cave and waited outside for the animal for several hours, he said.

"I was at the mouth of the cave and never crawled inside," Kendall told Reuters. "He started coming at me and I shot him."

Weighing in at 703 pounds, it was one of the largest black bears ever recorded in the state.

Although the kill was legal, Kendall was cited for shining a flashlight in the bruin's eyes and fined $68. Using artificial light to aid in hunting is illegal in Colorado.

The draft regulation before the Colorado Wildlife Commission states, "No person shall hunt, take or harass a bear in its den."

At Thursday's meeting representatives from two groups, the Colorado Trappers Association and the Mule Deer Association, spoke against the proposed rule change, citing their opposition to excessive regulation.

But a lifelong Colorado hunter, Joshua O'Manion, 35, told Reuters that he thought killing a denning bear "wasn't right."

"You don't shoot an animal that's sleeping. There's no sport in that," he said. "It's wrong unless you're starving and are going to eat the animal, and that wasn't the case here."

A male black bear, which is called a boar, usually weighs between 400 and 500 pounds and the female, or a sow, normally weighs around 200 pounds, according to University of Colorado biologist David Armstrong.

Colorado is home to about 14,000 black bears. Although they are called black bears, the animals cover the color spectrum, ranging from blond and cinnamon to brown and black.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Greg McCune)

Kinda goes beyond ethics. I guesss I never knew it was legal any where.

gee,I wonder how many here have shot bedded Deer????Naw they would wait for them to run cause thats the Ethical thing to do!!!!

A bedded deer can at least run, a denned bear doesn't have to many places to run.

quote:

Originally posted by OLBIKER:
gee,I wonder how many here have shot bedded Deer????Naw they would wait for them to run cause thats the Ethical thing to do!!!!

Totally different process. Mammalian hibernation as a specialized, seasonal reduction in metabolism concurrent with scarce food and cold weather. Black bears are considered highly efficient hibernators.

I have almost stepped on a dozing black bear while I was going over a large downed tree. That bear as well as deer in a bed is the same thing. Both fair game.

The state of hibernation makes it off limits.

My buddy woke up a hibernating bear once, he said it took about 15 minutes of poking it with a stick until it woke up. Then it was very groggy as it came out of the den, certainly in no position to hunt in any kind of ethical manner.

As far as I am concerned ,if it is not against the LAW,it is ethical and I am doing it!!!We can`t shoot denned bear here.I will not do it.We can bait them and and run them with dogs and I do.I have three bear dens on my property and have helped the DNR tag and collar bears.We tranquilize them before doing anything.That is why I am calling bullshit that you can poke a denning bear with a stick and they do not stir.Two years ago in Feb.We tranked a big Boar and that boy was up and moving right now.

Unless threatened, I'm not ever going to shoot a bear. They are just moving into our area from Ark and La. To date, I've never seen one on my ranch but it should be only a matter of time, I hope. All that said, most of us are hunting for sport, not food (although that is a nice end benefit), and where is the sport in killing a hibernating bear? Should it be illegal? I dunno, but it is unethical at best, in my opinion.

Doesn't make a dam differnts to the bear.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Doesn't make a dam differnts to the bear.

Of course not, but the bear is not a sport hunter, nor does he have any ethics.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Doesn't make a dam differnts to the bear.

In nature dead is dead... in fact dead is dead anywhere! The circumstances leading up to getting dead matter only to people. I know the story of den hunting bears from Mechach's Browning's "Forty Years the life of a Hunter" sound pretty exciting in their historical context. Not so sure having a 700lb. bear cornered is so unethical.

quote:

Originally posted by oupa:
In nature dead is dead... in fact dead is dead anywhere!

Why that sure 'nuff makes sense.

That's why I think all methods of poaching and out of season hunting is OK too!

Limits? Hell with that I'll just keep shooting 'em until I run out of ammo or daylight.

Wait..... I don't need daylight.... I can spotlight 'em!

It's nice to run into a bunch of like thinking "sportsmen" like y'all!

I don't guess cutting the head off of a road killed deer and claiming it as a trophy is illegal ergo it must be ethical. Yeah, right! And Clinton didn't have sex with that woman either.
I've never poked a bear with a stick, denned or otherwise, but I have read studies where the researchers crawled into the dens and took the bear's temp and checked his heart rate. The researchers said the bears were often awake but very lathargic.
IMO, it's sad that they even have to pass laws like this.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
IMO, it's sad that they even have to pass laws like this.

I agree. But you see some of the answers above....... and that's why they have to pass laws like this. Yes, it's sad.

quote:

Originally posted by DaMan:

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
IMO, it's sad that they even have to pass laws like this.

I agree. But you see some of the answers above....... and that's why they have to pass laws like this. Yes, it's sad.

Tell you what .Ethics and hunting ,killing do no belong in the same sentence.How can you say shooting a deer 200 yds away that does not know you are there is any less ethical than shooting a bear 6 yds away that does not know you are there.If you are hunting to do anything but put meat on the table is it ethical????Is fishing using live bait ethical????Or is it that some one that does something you do not like how you determine if it is an ethical act or not.Is merely hunting for the Sport of it an ethical act????I am sure there are many things you do, that myself or others would not consider doing.Dragging ethical into the fray is bullshit.If its legal. Do it if you want ,but do not judge others on what you think is right or specially when no laws are broken.

It's obvious that nothing I could say is gonna change your mind so I won't try. However, hunting and ethics in most people's mind can co-exist.
Few people today have a job or profession that enables them to trace their efforts from beginning to end. That is to say, food on the table. Rather we work and get money and buy food that we don't raise and clothes we don't weave. Hunting gives me the opportunity to fulfill the basal desire to provide for my family. Killing is part of my nature. But since my family doesn't depend on the game I bring home for food or clothing, I can codify my conduct. Assume a higher level as it were. And this isn't something I dreamed up. It is things that affect every facet of my life. I learned them from my father; from other people I admire and respect, just like they learnt them from people before them: you don't shoot a duck on the water, you don't shoot into a squirrel's nest, if you can't make a resonable killing shot, you let the animal walk, you don't shoot to cripple. The list goes on. But a good bit of it isn't legal or illegal. It's just how real sportsmen conduct themselves.
I don't think killing an animal, no matter how big, makes me a man or makes my dick bigger. How you act when no one is around determines whether you're a man or not.
Again, harking back to Clinton's actions: Just 'cause it's legal don't make it right.

Ol biker, around here the biologists can take cubs from the den while the sleeping momma continues her sleeping ways. Maybe it's because the winters are a heck of a lot colder around here that the bears go into a "deeper hibernation" Just 'cause you haven't seen something doesnt mean it isn't so or can't be done. Like you mentioned though if it warms up enough the bears do come out for a little look around and it can be at any time of the winter.

cheers

The headline and the facts as stated by the hunter don't match. If he followed fresh tracks to a cave and then shot the bear as it came out, it wasn't hibernating. It was an active bear and what he did was little different than shooting one from a hide or tree stand over bait (or not). If this is unethical, god forbid the hell that awaits those who trap and sell innocent feral hogs to the slaughterhouse.

I guess I'm with OlBiker on this one. Too much holier-than-thou on too little information.

quote:

"Most sportsmen understand when a bear is denned, you don't crawl in a hole after him," Hampton said. "That's the type of thing we want to avoid."

If you track a bear to his den and shoot him as he emerges that's a way different thing than killing one when it's hibernating.

We found a nice big den last fall and I hunted near there with my spear for a few days but the bear never did show up. If he'd have come out of his hole I would have used the spear in a heartbeat.