photo © 2010 Rick Cooper | more info (via: Wylio)
So now it seems we will be able to shoot bears for sport in Nevada.
And as usual, both sides in this debate trotted out rationale that makes no sense.
Proponents of the hunt claimed that it would reduce human-bear conflicts because the bears would learn to be afraid of people due to them getting shot at.
I'm kind of stunned that anyone would suggest such malarky. It would seem they don't know much about bears, and confusing them with herd animals like deer and elk.
Bears are mostly solitary creatures. So if you shoot one and it dies, it's not going to "learn" anything, and there's no Bear TV channel for the other bruins to watch the demise of their neighbors. The only way they are supposedly going to "learn" to fear humans through hunting is to be shot at and missed. So, we will be counting on Nevada's bear hunters to be lousy shots?
But even this is unlikely, since bears hanging around people have been getting shot at for a long time, with blanks and rubber bullets to scare them off. I've watched this in person, and I can tell you it doesn't work that well. Those same bears are likely to come back into human areas because their need for food is greater than a fear of loud noises.
On the other side, opponents contend — based on the same faulty reasoning — the hunt will chase bears from the wild into populated areas because they are afraid of getting shot.
I think both sides also overestimate how many bears will actually be successfully harvested in this hunt. Bear hunting is not easy. It's not like some yahoo walks out in the forest with a gun one day and bags a bear. Only serious hunters need apply.
All of this doesn't mean the hunt will fail to reduce human-bear conflicts. Certainly, if you reduce the number of bears in certain areas, it means there will be more food for them in their natural habitat, thus reducing the need for them to forage for human garbage.
But local bear guy Carl Lackey isn't likely get get much relief from the hunt, as he will have to keep chasing bears away from populated areas to keep them from learning bad habits. The efforts of people like Lackey do far more to prevent human-bear conflicts than any hunt will.
I predict in a year or two we will forget that we even have a bear hunting season.