DNR asks bear hunters not to shoot radio-collared bears
(Released August 18, 2011)

Hunters participating in Minnesota’s bear season, which opens Sept. 1, are asked to avoid shooting radio-collared research bears.


The bears are marked with large colorful ear tags or colorful streamers.



Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) researchers are monitoring about 35 radio-collared black bears, most of them in northwestern Minnesota, especially near Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area and the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. Additional radio-collared bears reside in and around the Chippewa National Forest, Camp Ripley, Cloquet Forestry Station and Voyageurs National Park.



Bear research also is being conducted between Ely and Tower near the Eagles Nest chain of lakes in northern St. Louis County.



“Hunters near these areas should be especially vigilant for these valuable research bears,” said Dave Garshelis, DNR bear research biologist. “These animals provide long-term data on reproduction and habitat use that is invaluable for bear management across the state.” Photos of some collared research bears are available on the DNR website at http://mndnr.gov/bear.



“We’re asking that if hunters see ear tags or a collar on a bear, they refrain from shooting it,” Garshelis said. “Researchers have invested an enormous amount of time and expense in these individuals.”



Many of the collars have global positioning units that collect and store data, which is downloaded by DNR researchers when they visit the bears in their dens. Long-term records of individual bears have been the cornerstone of information that helps the DNR monitor and manage the bear population, Garshelis said.



DNR officials recognize that a hunter may not be able to see a radio collar or ear tags in some situations. For this reason, taking a bear with a radio collar is legal unless the bear is accompanied by a researcher who has identified the bear to the hunter as a research animal.



Any hunters who do shoot collared bears should call the DNR Wildlife Research office in Grand Rapids at 218-327-4146 or 218-327-4133.

FUCK 'EM!!!

The bears?
Hey no way! Not after reading the Yellowstone story.

Sure we need to be so careful about these precious bears. Until you read today's press release from the DNR.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is urging people to be careful after recent reports of aggressive behavior by black bears in the Ely area.

The DNR says some reports involve collared bears that are part of research being conducted by biologist Lynn Rogers.

A collared bear at Bear Head Lake State Park reportedly has approached occupied vehicles and put its front paws on vehicles. Another report involves a collared bear within three feet of a 2-year-old child near the open door of a vehicle. The child's mother scared off the bear with a wheelbarrow.

Rogers disputes that the collared bears are aggressive.

Early Monday, a homeowner killed a non-collared bear that refused to leave the homeowner's porch. That bear is not believed to be part of a research project.

And just what kind of good data does anyone expect to get from bears that are so habituated that they will go on "walks" with a researcher?

I don't have a problem from avoiding shooting bears, and the DNR's attitude strikes me as reasonable- ask politely that hunters not shoot the bears, but admit that it is legal. I just don't buy the researcher's statement that the research is worth anything.

Lynn Rogers is a anti hunting nut case. Who thinks bears are just like pets.

Sounds like a simple enough request to me. I'll agree that some of the research is silly and some is outcome driven but one of the reasons we have the wealth of hunting opportunities we have is because of information gained from research.

would depend on the size of the bear--- if its a dink, that i would not shoot-- ok. If its a big boar-- he gets wacked. They can always collar another one.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
Sounds like a simple enough request to me. I'll agree that some of the research is silly and some is outcome driven but one of the reasons we have the wealth of hunting opportunities we have is because of information gained from research.

I generally agree with what you are saying not all research is bad. That said, as p dog shooter alluded too Mr. Lynn Rogers is a unique case. First of all he doesn't work for the MN DNR or even some Federal Agency. He is just some guy who loves bears so much that he started tranquilizing them in there dens and attaching radio collars to them so HE could research them. He answers to no one and does what ever he wants. I don't know how it is even legal.

I am thinking of starting my own research project where I tranquilize all the deer in MN 12 points or larger. I will attach a radio collar and a pink ribbon around their necks and ask all deer hunters not to shoot them because they are for me only. Who do I talk too?

Rogers had to get a permit from the DNR to do his research, that said he has had conflictrs with them and that in no way changes his status as a kook. The DNR has also said in reguards to bear research mortality, reason for the death, is important. This was said in response to Rogers crying about one of his bears being killed by a hunter. The DNR's current response is/was caused by political issues with the legislature.

I don't have a dog in this particular fight. However, what starts out as a "reasonable request" can become a burden
after a while. 35 bears this year could be 70 next time....and more after that...etc etc.

I agree with buckeyeshooter, if he's a big boar...well, thats what I came to hunt.

I'm also told that the more a bear is handled by man, the more of a pest/ more agressive they can become.

Here is the latest news story about Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood... Make your own conclusions...


Bear hunting began Thursday in Minnesota, and in some parts of the northeast as many people might have been trying to protect bruins as trying to shoot them -- a different sort of opening day.

Weirder still, a $5,000 jackpot was announced that will be awarded to some lucky hunter at season's end, provided all 13 bears in the Ely and Tower, Minn., area wearing radio collars around their necks survive autumn with their hides on their backs, not on some hunter's floor.

A wacky week in bear country, to be sure; one that began at 2:21 p.m. Sunday when Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr hit the "send" button on an e-mail to Ely black bear researcher Lynn Rogers:

"I am aware that there have been a number of human/bear conflicts in the very recent past involving your study bears,'' Landwehr wrote. "I am very concerned about this and so am trying to arrange a flight to visit you tomorrow about this. I will send more information if/when I get it lined up. I would appreciate if you could keep your late afternoon open. We cannot wait until another person gets injured. Thanks, look for more info soon.''

Researcher Rogers, long known for habituation of his study bears and his ability to call them to his side in the wild, seems at times a magnet for controversy. He replied to Landwehr at 8:21 Monday morning, saying, in part:

"If you fly up, of course we would meet with you, but we are tightly scheduled. There is no urgent safety issue at hand. If we could wait until late October or early November, we could spend more time and come to a much better understanding. A phone call at this time might be better.''

At issue were a handful of recent bear-human incidents in the Ely area, two involving bears being studied by Rogers. A 10-year-old female bear Rogers calls June approached a stopped car (or cars) in Bear Head Lake State Park and placed its front paws on the vehicle, presumably looking for food. And a collared bear of Rogers' approached the open door of a car parked in a driveway. In the backseat was a child who screamed as the bear sniffed the area. The child's mother shooed the bear away with a wheelbarrow.

Landwehr subsequently said his primary concern is that a Rogers study bear might approach a person looking for food (because Rogers and his co-workers feed study bears by hand). Or perhaps a study bear might harm someone. The DNR's policy is to trap and remove, or trap and kill, problem bears, and both incidents involving Rogers' bears would qualify as "problems,'' Landwehr said.

But the DNR wants to avoid shooting Rogers' bears and in fact wants his research to continue, Landwehr said.

At the Monday meeting, Landwehr asked Rogers to remove from the wild the bear that approached the vehicle in the park, suggesting the animal be confined behind a fence at Rogers' North American Bear Center near Ely.

"I told him I wouldn't do that,'' Rogers said. "If the bear approached the car it was only because people have been feeding it along that road.''

Rogers operates under an annually renewable DNR permit. It's possible the agency might modify the permit next year to limit the number of bears Rogers can study and perhaps prohibit him from placing a "den cam'' in a bear's winter lair as he has in recent years to the delight of Internet viewers worldwide.

Rogers said Landwehr suggested Monday that a cub born last winter to a collared bear named Lily died in spring because Rogers and his colleagues disrupted its den too often.

Rogers counters the cub's death was probably attributable to a coyote attack and resulting infection.

Which brings us to 5:30 a.m. Thursday, opening day of bear season, when Rogers and six volunteers fanned out on backwoods roads in the Ely-Tower area to remind hunters not to shoot collared bears, which hunters legally can do if they choose.

The DNR also is asking hunters to spare study animals.

Few hunters were in the woods Thursday, Rogers said. None of his bears was shot.

And the $5,000 jackpot?

Posters in Ely and Tower say the money will be awarded in a drawing among area hunters if no collared bears are killed this fall. The cash is being donated anonymously by a supporter of his, Rogers said.

Bear hunting -- complicated as it has become -- continues through Oct. 16.

Dennis Anderson •

I stand by my statement about valid research but IMO, this doesn't sound like research, it sounds more like a circus act or an ego trip by this Rogers fellow. Kinda like that whats-his-name clown that got himself and his girlfriend eaten by a grizzly.

Let's face it, hunter sees a good sized bear, wants to shoot a good sized bear, he'll shoot it - collar or not. Hunter sees smaller bear with collar, might think twice. DNR request and/or a one in a million chance at a $5000 "jackpot" not likely to sway a person once they have black fur in the crosshairs.

There are certainly some researchers in the US doing good things, but it sure doesn't sound like this Rogers guy should get his permit renewed by DNR.


PS - get a load of the "jackpot" rules. Would you want this group getting your personal info?:

"To be eligible to win the Jackpot, hunters must send a copy of their permit to entry@bearhuntersjackpot.com or have their permit photographed by volunteers while they are in those hunting units, before or during the 2011 bear hunting season. The volunteers will then enter the permits into the drawing. After the hunting season is over, the drawing will be held using a random number process and the winner will be sent a cashier’s check for $5000. However, the Jackpot will only be offered if none of the research bears are shot or wounded during the hunting season. The e-mail addresses and names of the entrants will be held in confidence and will not be used for any other purpose than the drawing."

I think those of us here on AR should start up our own jackpot. Everyone put a few bucks in the pot and the winner is the first guy who shoots one of Rodger's pink collared bears.

MN Hunter are you going up to BWCA this year lots of problem bear reports.

I didn't put in for a tag to many other things going on.

I was out of town and did not get my bear application in in time this year. Did you draw for area 22 this year?

No I did not apply, I have other plans for this fall.

quote:

Posters in Ely and Tower say the money will be awarded in a drawing among area hunters if no collared bears are killed this fall. The cash is being donated anonymously by a supporter of his, Rogers said

"anonymously" donated? Who, PETA? HSUS? Follow the money? These idiots feed the bears, now they're going to get natural "in the wild" information from that...morons. Might as well sit by a garbage can in the Smokey Mountain Nat'l Park and research that.

quote:

Originally posted by L. David Keith:

These idiots feed the bears, now they're going to get natural "in the wild" information from that...morons. Might as well sit by a garbage can in the Smokey Mountain Nat'l Park and research that.

I'm with you LDK. What are we really learning about bears in the wild by feeding them, getting them to come when we call, keeping hunters away, and giving them all a name and a webcam?

Lynn gets money. No other reason for his BS.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Lynn gets money. No other reason for his BS.

I think the money along with his ego trip of thinking of himself as a modern day "Grizzly Adams" for black bears.

quote:

DNR officials recognize that a hunter may not be able to see a radio collar or ear tags in some situations. For this reason, taking a bear with a radio collar is legal unless the bear is accompanied by a researcher who has identified the bear to the hunter as a research animal.

Accompanied by a researcher? Does he hold the bear's hand too? Or does being in the bear's stomach count?

Just when you think Lynn Rodgers can't get any more wacky I read this in the paper today.

Now apparently he is upset that someone shot a bear who has had several collars and took them off each time. He claims that people are devastated! Are you kidding me. People were deviated after 9/11, people are devastated after there loved one is killed in Afghanistan. No one is devastated by a bear who was killed. How important do you really think you are!!!




Hope fades for a bear named Hope
Article by: KATIE HUMPHREY , Star Tribune Updated: September 25, 2011 - 8:36 PM
The black bear, an Internet sensation since her birth was captured by a "den cam," went missing last week after her family was seen near a hunter's bait.



Hope continued to dim on Sunday for a black bear named Hope with an international following online and a knack for slipping out of her radio collar. She disappeared recently near Ely, Minn., and researchers fear she may have been killed by a hunter.

Hope, whose birth two winters ago was broadcast online, has been missing since Sept. 21, when her family was spotted near a hunter's bait. In a phone interview on Sunday, researcher Lynn Rogers said he fears that Hope, who was not wearing a collar, was killed by that hunter.

"We e-mailed him asking if he shot Hope," Rogers said. "He responded to other questions but not to that one."

Rogers would not name the hunter, but he said the man was familiar enough with the area to know he was hunting near the research bears' regular territory.

"We're not trying to make hunters look bad," Rogers said. "We just wonder why do they sometimes make the decisions they do."

Rogers and his supporters lobbied unsuccessfully for special protections for radio-collared research bears. Instead, the Department of Natural Resources sent letters to hunters at the start of bear season, asking them to voluntarily spare radio-collared bears.

It's possible neither approach would save Hope.

She did not have a radio collar on when she vanished. Rogers said the bear had removed all four collars previously placed on her. "That is a problem," he said. Rogers has asked the DNR for information about any bear killed at the bait site, "just so we can have closure."

Hope has been in the spotlight since her mother, Lily, gave birth and thousands watched on the Internet via a "den cam." Hope was feared lost for a while in spring 2010, but researchers found her and she later reunited with her mother. Until her recent disappearance, Hope was usually found near her mother and Lily's younger cub, Faith.

Rogers said he has been fielding calls and e-mails from people who have been watching Hope grow.

"People are devastated," he said.

We have had this sort of discussion on the African Hunting Forum.

And I will repeat what I have said there.

Personally, I would not shoot ANY animal that is tagged.

A member posted that this could be abused - that more and more animals will be tagged in the future to stop them being shot.

When that point comes, I will re-think what I might do.

But, at the present time, I think it is reasonable to let those who are doing the research finish what they are doing.

Of course, as there is no law prohibiting these animals being shot, if you do feel like shooting one, it is entirely up to you.

But I thin k from a public relations point of view, complying with this sort of request far out weigh shooting a bear.

After watching part of the TV show about "hope" and her mother I'd hope that a collared bear isn't shot. The many non-hunters who watched this show could easily be converted to anti-hunters by the killing of the collared bear.

If you wanted to harm the image of hunting there wouldn't be a better way to do it than to shoot that bear if it had a collar.

"closure...." I'm growing to hate that word. And the type of shallow people that use it.

The so called bear hope was shot. It was not wearing a collar. It had removed collars that Lynn Rogers had placed on it 4 times.

I am beginning to wonder if Rogers set this scenario up on purpose to try to rile up the anti-bear hunting crowd.

One of the side effects of this collaring and web cam effort was that these researchers then put the photos and video on their websites, Facebook, etc. These were then picked up by the media and attracted an eager following of tens of thousands of people including kids in classrooms for school projects, etc. all over the world. Similar to people following webcams of animal births in zoos and other facilities.

When one of the bears was shot recently there was a great outpouring of rage about cruel hunters killing the bears over bait, blah, blah. Teachers and kids crying and what not. What better way for the antis to get young school kids all upset over hunting and mold them early in life against it. I see this becoming a bigger problem over time with the spread of social networking.