Spring Bear Hunt back on? (nf)

[jayess]

I was surprised to see a CP24 news blip today about the spring bear hunt opening for six weeks in May. Usually, a ton of discussion about such things pops up on my outdoor forums. Either I was blind or this one slipped under the radar.

 

I was under the impression that re-opening this spring hunt would be next-to-impossible. Thoughts?

 

EDIT: A quick link for review:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/04/06/ontario_spring_bear_hunt_to_resume_wynnes_office_confirms.html

Edited April 7, 2014 by jayess

[Maverick]

This is old news. This happened back in the fall I think, only opened to residents of Ontario I believe and only in certain wmu's north of 17.

[ch312]

The spring hunt was cancelled due to political and emotional reasons, not because facts from wildlife biologists suggested it was a good idea. In fact, most were against cancelling the hunt. It was a long battle, but the spring hunt is FINALLY being reinstated in select WMU's as the number of nuisance bears have been increasing annually since the cancellation of the spring hunt.

 

I plan on heading north this fall, alone, for my first bear hunt.

[Fish Farmer]

Let the TREE HUGGERS deal with it now. They caused it, let them deal with it.

Be nice to see Bears & Coyotes rooming around in their back yard.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Fish Farmer

[jayess]

Thanks guys -- a friend with the MNR emailed me to clarify.

 

The bear hunt is a 2 year pilot project in Northern areas where bear populations are larger. MNR has a black bear management framework that outlines how MNR tries to manage for sustainable populations that also tries to mitigate the number of nuisence bear-person interactions. http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@fw/documents/document/274504.pdf

All public comments are welcome on regulation changes. I am not sure if the comment period is over yet, but check out the Environmental Registry to have your comments heard. http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/displaynoticecontent.do?noticeId=MTIxNTE3&statusId=MTgxOTg4

[Maverick]

Let the TREE HUGGERS deal with it now. They caused it, let them deal with it.

Be nice to see Bears & Coyotes rooming around in their back yard.

 

Ya, I saw them interviewing people on the streets of TO about the spring bear hunt. It doesn't affect their daily lives, they shouldn't be able to comment. They see bears in the zoo, I see them in the bush out back!

[dave524]

Unfortunately, I believe it is only for residents , most of the outfitter business was out of Province hunters, really bear hunting is not that popular with residents.

[Joeytier]

For residents of the WMU only, and bear hunting is quite popular with a lot of locals around here

[tb4me]

What do you do with the bears? Can you eat them? I have had bear once and I thought it was nasty..I suppose if I had to count on it to survive id like it..

[Gerritt]

It is an acquired taste... But those that I know, that hunt bear do consume the flesh. It is very strong in flavour and not to my liking.

 

G

[bare foot wader]

 

bear meat is delicious when cared for properly, and there are many uses for the fat...in most jurisdictions it is a legal requirement to keep the edible portions of the bear

 

being a muscular animal, it can be tough if not properly cooked and does best when ground up as burger, slow cooked ie: roast and of course sausages or smoked hams (my personal favourite)

 

as a general rule of thumb, salmon bears (not a prob in ON) and dump bears are not the best table fare...a fat fall berry bear is the best

 

black bears are not endangered, the hunt was sustainable in the late 90's and is sustainable today, even bio's supported the hunt....political propaganda tugging at the emotions of uneducated people is what killed the hunt.....sometime about 20's yrs ago hunters tried to compromise and hide what we do, but that backfired horribly...give the anti's an inch and they'll take a mile....the same stuff is happening on the west coast right now, all because the media and first nation's made a stink over an NHL'er who legally harvested a bear

 

90% of what P3TA spews is pure Bull and myths, the other 10% are "stats" either manipulated to support their own arguments or paid for by P3TA dollars in the first place....ask P3TA how much they donate to wildlife conservation or land protection

 

if you fish, you are cut from the same cloth as hunters, no different through the eyes of anti hunters (probably worse, hunters take home what they kill, anglers torture those poor fish and let them go to torture over and over)...everybody on this board should be supporting the black bear hunt

[Sinker]

Bear hunting isnt my thing, but I found the meat to be great! Im considering hunting for one this fall. The meat I tried was from a huge boar too....a 400lber. good stuff! Ive heard a spring bear is the best, as there isnt as much fat? I dunno....

 

S.

[Tootsie II]

As one bred and raised in the Timmins area, I bristled when that idiot Harris caved into political blackmail on the Spring hunt. That hunt meant hunting and fishing lodges had a better chance of surviving. It was a large economic loss to them. The clowns in Queen's Park tried to placate them by taking more moose tags away from the locals and the lottery system and giving them to the lodges which got everyone even madder. While I was surprised to see Wynne bring it back in part, unless the locals in the designated WMU's really get into it, I don't see mush point in it. Smaller Northern communities with nuisance bear problems won't get any relief.

[outllaw]

run yogi run.

[ch312]

What do you do with the bears? Can you eat them? I have had bear once and I thought it was nasty..I suppose if I had to count on it to survive id like it.

 

 

The bear likely wasn't handled properly after being shot leading to a bad taste. This could be from the meat getting too warm after harvest, contaminated meat from a gut shot not being disposed of and/or improper cooking methods.

 

The bears diet is also a factor as those who have mainly been feeding on fish or garbage are reported to have a bad flavor.

 

 

 

Many people are turned away from deer and moose meat due to improper handling and cooking methods when in fact it should taste almost the exact same as roast beef, and be just as tender, if handled and cooked properly.