Alaska expands aerial shooting of bears (McGrath: to buy, college, living)

[RedJacket]

In a new package of policies criticized even by some hunters, the Alaska Board of Game on Tuesday opened the door to aerial gunning of bears by state wildlife officials. It also debated a measure that would allow more widespread snaring of bears — including grizzlies, which are officially considered threatened across most of the U.S.

The controversial "intensive management" moves are the latest in a series of increasingly aggressive control methods targeting bears and wolves in Alaska. In some parts of the state, wolf pups can be gassed in their dens, bear cubs and sows can be hunted, and wolves shot from helicopters.

Alaska expands aerial shooting of bears - latimes.com

One of these days the animals in Alaska are going to get together for a beer summit and devise a plan to get rid of all the humans.

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by RedJacket

One of these days the animals in Alaska are going to get together for a beer summit and devise a plan to get rid of all the humans.

They are working on this now. I ran across one of these gatherings last fall. But then all the bears boycotted it and went to bed leaving the wolves to fend for themselves.

[starlite9]

Well about ten years ago they had a bear eating moose and their calves around McGrath. So instead of just shooting the bears, they darted about 350 of them and put them here in my back yard for the most part. Not only did we already have a high bear count, they really ratcheted it up with the new bears. Out moose population dropped like a rock.

McGrath had around 10,000 moose in the area, and by the time the State got around to controlling the predator population, they had about 3,000 moose left. When they don't do their job, the bears eat/kill everything like the wolf do, and then when the food base is gone, the bears start to starve and it goes down hill from there. And the worse part is, they didn't tell anyone until it was all said and done. So now I have bears all over the place and not very many moose.

Yeah, I know all the tree huggers will cry about shooting a cute bear or moose, but until they live in these areas and can see first hand what the predators do to a healthy moose population, I could care less what they think! I live here...

[LadyAuke]

I live here.
This whole situation is totally out of control. Mother nature is awfully good at regulating populations on her own, when the government steps in all you get is a mess, just like with everything else.

Kill the bears because they eat the moose, what's going to happen? Too many moose! Then all those moose will get hungry and soon enough the bushes and grasslands are stripped bare.

Instead of killing bears because there's too many, maybe figure out why there's too many bears to begin with? Dollars to dimes it's because of the last time we messed with the population dynamic. But I only studied biology in college, what the heck do I know...

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by LadyAuke

I live here.
This whole situation is totally out of control. Mother nature is awfully good at regulating populations on her own, when the government steps in all you get is a mess, just like with everything else.

Kill the bears because they eat the moose, what's going to happen? Too many moose! Then all those moose will get hungry and soon enough the bushes and grasslands are stripped bare.

Instead of killing bears because there's too many, maybe figure out why there's too many bears to begin with? Dollars to dimes it's because of the last time we messed with the population dynamic. But I only studied biology in college, what the heck do I know...

Too many moose? With the number of wildfires we have each year, there is more than plenty moose habitat. In reality, allowing moose populations to thrive by reducing the number of wolves and bears is to the benefit, in later years, of the wolves and bears.

Now, what I disagree with is with the idea of some F&G officials to reduce the number of moose on Units 20A and 20B by allowing hunters to kill antler-less moose.

There has been several scientific reports published about some of the muskox herds in Alaska, and how grizzly bears have learned how to break though the herd's defenses, and how these animals can't adapt fast enough to survive. That's when F&G has to intervene, otherwise the herds disappear.

[krazykids]

im not a big hunter, but I would like to hunt a bear while Im in Alaska, use as much of it as possible, meat, claws skin ect as would have been done years ago, I would also like to have one moose the same, not for a trophy or anything but as an experience that I would never be able to replicate.. I have lived in the south and never really hunted deer here becuase there are a million and its cheaper to buy the meat at the store than all the equipment needed to hunt my own.. I do feel in Alaska it would be worth the investment.

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by krazykids

im not a big hunter, but I would like to hunt a bear while Im in Alaska, use as much of it as possible, meat, claws skin ect as would have been done years ago, I would also like to have one moose the same, not for a trophy or anything but as an experience that I would never be able to replicate.. I have lived in the south and never really hunted deer here becuase there are a million and its cheaper to buy the meat at the store than all the equipment needed to hunt my own.. I do feel in Alaska it would be worth the investment.

If you want to hunt a bear in Alaska you will have plenty of people giving you advice and all the best hunting spots. You won't find that for moose but almost any hunter will tell you good places to get a bear. It's much easier to find a legal bear than it is to find a legal moose primarily because any bear without a cub is legal to shoot as long as you are hunting in season.

If you want to eat it, I would recommend hunting in the spring or hunting in areas away from large fish runs. I have never eaten a fish-bear but that's what they tell me. I have eaten plenty of bear meat from both Grizzly and Blacks and I can tell you it was good meat. I hope to get a black bear this spring for the meat.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by krazykids

im not a big hunter, but I would like to hunt a bear while Im in Alaska, use as much of it as possible, meat, claws skin ect as would have been done years ago, I would also like to have one moose the same, not for a trophy or anything but as an experience that I would never be able to replicate.. I have lived in the south and never really hunted deer here becuase there are a million and its cheaper to buy the meat at the store than all the equipment needed to hunt my own.. I do feel in Alaska it would be worth the investment.

A lot of people from the lower-48 come to Alaska to hunt. But for certain animals, which include grizzly or brown bears, and probably sheep, you won't be able to do it legally unless accompanied by a close family member, or a guide. This in turn would be prohibitively expensive (somewhere from $5,000-$10,000 for grizzly). Moose would not be a problem since you and a couple of friends could try it, but last year a hunting license for an out of state resident cost $500.00. Now for hunting moose and other animals, to increase the success rate it's best to fly out of town to a remote location, or to be assisted by a friend, Alaskan family member, etc. Regardless, think about spending a couple of weeks hunting.

[LadyAuke]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Too many moose? With the number of wildfires we have each year, there is more than plenty moose habitat. In reality, allowing moose populations to thrive by reducing the number of wolves and bears is to the benefit, in later years, of the wolves and bears.

Now, what I disagree with is with the idea of some F&G officials to reduce the number of moose on Units 20A and 20B by allowing hunters to kill antler-less moose.

There has been several scientific reports published about some of the muskox herds in Alaska, and how grizzly bears have learned how to break though the herd's defenses, and how these animals can't adapt fast enough to survive. That's when F&G has to intervene, otherwise the herds disappear.

But that's the point of evolution. If the muskox cannot adapt and are hunted to extinction by the bears, then they were not fit enough to survive as a species. Perhaps enough of them will adapt enough to survive and the species will take on that adaptation, or they will go extinct. It's sad, but it's how the world works. When did it become our job to circumvent natural selection just because we think something is tasty?

I agree with you about the antler-less moose. I read an article in the paper about it and it seems like F&G is only doing that because people want more moose to kill and eat. I am 100% in support of subsistence hunting, and a cornerstone of subsistence living is to not take more than the population can support naturally. What they are trying to do is the hunting equivalent of fishing out of a stocked lake.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by LadyAuke

But that's the point of evolution. If the muskox cannot adapt and are hunted to extinction by the bears, then they were not fit enough to survive as a species. Perhaps enough of them will adapt enough to survive and the species will take on that adaptation, or they will go extinct. It's sad, but it's how the world works. When did it become our job to circumvent natural selection just because we think something is tasty?

I agree with you about the antler-less moose. I read an article in the paper about it and it seems like F&G is only doing that because people want more moose to kill and eat. I am 100% in support of subsistence hunting, and a cornerstone of subsistence living is to not take more than the population can support naturally. What they are trying to do is the hunting equivalent of fishing out of a stocked lake.

Yes, that's the point of evolution in a pristine wilderness where there aren't any humans around. But we have no choice, in some cases, to intervene and help moose and caribou populations to rebound. It would be nice for hunters to be able to kill some of the bears, but the areas where bears and wolves are shot from the air are very remote and difficult to reach unless done by aircraft.