182 bears killed in first two days of N.J. hunt

NJ.com ^

[Sub-Driver]

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)

[sharkhawk]

Moles are pests, about on line with a rat. Are you against the killing of rats? How about other pests? Where did you grow up where your Father would actually make you eat vermin? Sounds more like child abuse.

[sandydipper]

Killed my first bear when I was 3 years old - it was a kodiak over 11 feet tall - came at me from behind a cypress tree down in the Okeefunookee Swamp. Tasted sorta like chicken.

[Aliska]

It would have ruined my day to see that little bear suffer and die along the highway like that.

If I had to I think I could kill an animal in self-defense or if it was threatening someone or perhaps if I were hungry enough. I'd have to be pretty hungry or have little ones who were hungry.

Sometimes I wish I didn't like meat, but I do.

[Highway Kind]

I think somebody has some unresolved issues...
BTW, does any of YOUR MONEY make it to YOUR local/state wildlife agencies?

[petuniasevan]

The photo is bogus.

This email tale, circulating constantly in one form or another since November 2001, seems to grow taller year by year. Ironically, the first two snapshots — the ones showing the hunter posing next to the carcass of an incredibly large bear — are authentic. We know where and when they were taken, and by whom. The origin of the third photo purporting to show the remains of the behemoth's last victim is unknown. It was attached to the already-circulating email by an anonymous prankster in late 2002.

In real life, the big grizzly measured 10' 6" from nose to tail and weighed in at an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 pounds — unusually large for the vicinity, says the USDA Forest Service, but not quite a world record, nor even an Alaskan record. It was killed on October 14, 2001 by U.S. Air Force Airman Theodore Winnen on Hinchinbrook Island, Prince William Sound. The photos were taken by his hunting partner, Staff Sgt. James Urban. Both were stationed at the nearby Eielson Air Force Base at the time.

Though the bear was within 10 yards of the hunters' position and moving towards them when he fired the first shot, Winnen says, it did not charge them, contrary to what the email claims.  "I don't know if the wind was in our favor or what," he told the Anchorage Daily News. "We were dressed in camouflage. He might not have seen us."  Winnen's weapon was a 338-caliber Winchester Magnum, not a 7mm semi-automatic as alleged. The first bullet pierced the bear's brain but left it standing; five more in the chest finally brought it down.

Was the bear a man-eater, as claimed in the email?  No, says the Forest Service, there is no evidence of that. When asked by the Anchorage Daily News to comment on the horrific image of what appears to be a partially-eaten human victim, spokesman Ray Massey admitted he hadn't even looked at it.  "I didn't want to see a photo of the body," he said. "I know it's bogus."

[Myrddin]

I live in the Pocatello area. All the folks here have to drive "up north" to get anything. Apparently, it was common in the past to have pretty decent hunting in this area. Since moving here in December 2000, I have managed to be in embroiled in a short fuse project and/or out of town on a business trip during hunting season. None of my firearms has done more than punch paper targets to date. My dad's old Stevens .22 bolt action rifle was my prize gun for taking cotton tail rabbits in San Diego. We enjoyed many fine dinners until the developers covered my hunting grounds with houses and roads.

I've seen 3 dinky rabbits and one deer since moving here. My wife did see 3 wild chukars on our patio roof. We also had a turkey wandering the neighborhood one morning.

[Lady Heron]

I've always wondered why killing animals for fun is considered by some people synonymous with conservatism. I guess it's because idiots can call themselves conservatives, too.

Sometimes the population needs cutting down otherwise they become a danger to the human population. Bear hunts are very controled by government to keep population in control and as to not endanger the species at large. They would not be allowed to kill this many unless it was needed and they were becomming a problem.

[Calpernia]

>>>When are you going to whip up a stew?

If I'm lucky enough to get my hands on any of that meat, I will whip one up ASAP!

[highnoon]

"What are you doin' Joe?"

As he takes a bite of his sandwich: "Servin' ten days."

[shotgun]

Well something or someone must have been hungry! I guess we can blame it on Hannibal Lector than...;)

[Coleus]

Genesis
Chapter 9

1 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: "Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.
2 Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered.
3  Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants.

I think God knows best on who is in charge of the animals on earth and what we humans are supposed to eat: animals

Meatrix

Free Farm Animals

Nobody said farming, hunting and preparing animals to eat was pleasant but that's what we have to do in order to survive and from the looks of the bible quote; I think God wants us to eat animals too. I love animals they taste delicious.

[Sub-Driver]

Update:

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1071067443285530.xml


218 bears killed in three days of N.J. hunt

By KRISTA LARSON
The Associated Press
12/10/2003, 6:37 p.m. ET


TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The bear count from the state's first hunt in more than three decades hit at least 218 animals Wednesday evening, according to the director for the state Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Martin McHugh said that figure was consistent with where state wildlife officials thought they'd be as the third day of the hunt winded down.

Hunters had brought in 36 bears by late afternoon, although several more hours remained for taking the animals in to stations, he said.

Wildlife officials have said they hope the hunt will reduce the estimated 3,200 bears living in the state's northwestern region by about 500. They plan to monitor the daily kill and determine if the hunt should last the full six days scheduled, although no decision had been made as of Wednesday evening.

"We want to see bears remain at a healthy population level, and also at a level that is more safe for our citizens, especially in that part of the state," McHugh told reporters Wednesday.

Hunters had an extra 31,000 acres to scout in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area after a federal judge lifted a temporary ban on bear hunting there earlier in the week. It was not immediately known how many of the 36 bears killed Wednesday had been hunted on federal land, McHugh said.

The number of bears killed each day has dropped, from 116 Monday to 66 Tuesday. Still, opponents said they remained disheartened after watching the bear carcasses being brought in to weigh stations.

"Even one bear is too many," said Doris Lin, who lives in Freehold. "We don't want to see any bear turned into a rug or trophy."

Lin was among about a dozen opponents of the hunt who gathered near the Statehouse carrying signs that included "Bears Need Homes Also" and "Bear Blood Stains New Jersey and McGreevey Doesn't Care."

Lin, who supported Gov. James E. McGreevey in the last election, brought a sign to the demonstration that she'd once put in her front yard with a small "ex" in front of the word governor.

Protesters also expressed anger over reports that a wounded bear cub had staggered out of the woods beside a busy highway around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday after being shot by a hunter.

West Milford police reported getting dozens of calls about the cub. The hunter was not cited because he had the proper state permit and had tracked the wounded bear out of the woods, authorities said.

Kari Casper was on her way to work in Lincoln Park when she saw the cub and was brought to tears.

"We love animals, so I was very upset just to see him there," Casper said. "He just looked like a big stuffed animal there that was sleeping in the snow."

McHugh called the incident "unfortunate" but said hunters were not actively targeting bear cubs.

"Most of the cubs that are coming into the check stations are well over 100 pounds," he said. "It's hard to tell a cub from an adult female for that matter, especially when you're in the field."

The incident also was cited in a letter sent to McGreevey Wednesday from state Sen. Joseph F. Vitale, D-Middlesex, urging the governor to end the hunt.

"There are many viable alternatives that give both animals and humans safe, peaceful environments," Vitale wrote. "As representatives of this state, we have a duty to make sure that justice and peace are fair, and this treatment of our state's animals is outright wrong."

State officials authorized the hunt because bears have been moving into populated areas, endangering human residents, pawing through garbage cans and killing livestock in the nation's most densely populated state.

Among the 36 bears killed was a male that weighed 551 pounds after being gutted, McHugh said.

Although no figures were available yet for Wednesday, the number of females killed by Tuesday was twice the number of males. McHugh said biologists considered that figure normal given the bear density in the northwestern part of the state.

A Sussex County hunter had become trapped in an icy swamp Tuesday, but McHugh said there had been no similar reports Wednesday.

Seven rescuers were taken to hospitals to be treated for exposure after they took part in an extensive rescue effort to locate Scott Seelagy, 42.

Seelagy, Sparta's deputy mayor, was admitted to the hospital Tuesday night for observation and treatment of hypothermia, his wife said.

___

On the Net:

N.J. Fish and Wildlife: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw

Bear Education and Resource Group: http://www.savenjbears.com

U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation: http://www.ussportsmen.org

[tcostell]

You seem to feel that it's OK to make a blanket statement that if it isn't of immediate necessity to your survival, then it's sick to hunt. If this is what you were getting at I'm afraid I have to disagree.

Hunting for me has never been about "proving my manhood" or relishing in the killing of some creature. In some ways it's more about being interconnected with the process of nature. In a way hunting has always been more of a humbling experience for me, and whether or not something is killed is incidental.

I view man's role as steward of the earth, and I think as a hunter I'm taking additional responsibility for that. I'm saying that I'm going play an active role in the chain of life. I won't rely solely on strangers at some Kansas factory to do my killing, I'll use my own hands and my own tools. I know you don't dispute that some of the animals are going to die, hunters or no. And you seem to hold only the motives of the hunters in contempt, but I don't think your blanket statement applies to me or the people like me, and you don't really leave room for that.

I moved to NJ a few weeks ago, and didn't participate in the Bear hunt but I will next year. Not because of some self congratulatory fantasy that you seem to think applies to all hunters, but because I enjoy the outdoors and it's part of my responsibility.

And if I get a Bear, then I'll use all of it that I can. I won't disrespect it by wasting it. That's what conservation means.

I'm sorry that your personal hunting experience had to be so negative. I hope you can get to a point where it's less of an issue for you and you can see it more the way I do. Not enjoying hunting was never supposed to mean that you weren't a "real Man" in spite of what you seem to have been told.

[tcostell]

As a hunter I think it's a shame than an animal had to suffer too. But if you only kill dangerous animals in self defense then pretty soon you have a lot of defending to do.

I'm not saying that we should wipe them out, quite the contrary. But I think we need to keep dangerous animal populations down to a level that is safe for both them and us.

I can't think of a thing more tragic than some of the documentaries I've seen of Alaskan Brown Bears getting accustomed to the sight of humans in the form of tourists. When that Bear feels more comfortable going into a town or someone's barn because of that familiarization it's going to have to be destroyed.

While if they had just left that animal with a healthy fear of people it would survive much longer.

I think that's part of the reason the NJ hunt is a good idea. The surviving Bears will no longer think NJ is safer then the surrounding areas, and will probably be more likely to stay away from people.

Better for us,... better for them.