We like to kill bears in Humboldt County. The
Daily Triplicate
tells us that Humboldt ranks fifth among California counties for bear kills (117 were 86’d by hunters last year), while noting that its own county — Del Norte — has felt a diminishing appetite for bear over the years (just 29 killed last year, down from an average of 50 a year in the 1990s). The writer suggests steep terrain may have something to do with Del Norte’s gun (and arrow) shyness toward bears — but have the mountains there really been growing, getting more rugged, so fast? And have we not the same jaggedy challenges here in Humboldt?
At any rate, we think Humboldt’s penchant for bear has more to do with the nascent locavore trend that’s gained such tenacious purchase here. You know, our own home-grown bear meat.
Recall the joys
.
Then read
the
Triplicate
‘s story
.
This article appears in Nobody’s Fault.
Killing black bear for sport. It’s just wrong.
Can you elaborate Andrew? I think most hunters eat ’em, at least the ones I know.
I doubt the majority of hunters who shoot black bear in California consume their kill in its entirety. I feel it’s for trophy. Please feel free to prove me wrong.
Do you even know a single bear hunter Andrew?
I DOUBT that your FEELings on this come from anywhere but your preconceived notions and biases.
Not that you’re incorrect, but you made up your mind and are hunting for evidence.
I’ll let you prove yourself wrong, we support our own assertions around these parts.
I once got a nasty gash on my head from a motorcycle mishap way out in Redwood Valley, and the kindly neighbor offered to use needle, thread and bear grease to sew me up. I politely declined.
Bear is pretty oily to eat, but with a good chile verde sauce…Mmmmmmm
Also, isn’t Baloo a brown bear? We need a picture of Smokey instead!
Andrew Bird, if your opinions is what passes for reporting around here, no wonder we can’t get a real god-damned story with these strange and wonderful things called “facts”
Most people who hunt, eat the meat. But by using your cop-out phrase “consume their kill in its entirety” lets everybody know that you are covering your ass. How many farmers “eat their crop in its entirety” using your weasel-words?
AnonRMous, you are always such an agry little bear– I don’t need you to bring a gun to my knifefight here, let’s have this chat with hugs and kisses.
Harvesting any subset of wildlife, from bears to redwoods, isn’t inherently wrong. You just gotta be a good steward and think about the effects.
Like, there are about 4 million too many deer in my neighborhood, and somebody needs to thin the herd.
So far neither of you have proven me wrong. Keep trying though.
Careful when eating bear. Bob Doran has disgusting worm larvae crawling through his body for the rest of his life.
Andrew,
Yes, your values-based assertion (killing bears for sport is wrong) cannot be logically disproven. That’s why it’s values-based.
I think AnonRMous addressed your “entirety” claim pretty reasonably, and as to a “majority,” well, asking for a known-unknown (i.e. unrecorded/non-recordable statistics)is a pretty hackneyed argument. You know better, you’re a reporter and a smart guy, give us the grown up version of your argument or tap out! Standard format calls for an assertion followed by two supporting facts. I will accept one.
You’re really not even trying here. AnonRMous bars the door, I politely open a window for you to crawl out and you smugly say you’re not cornered. Whatever dude.
Hank,
Why don’t I remember reading that one–what a great story, that Bob has done some interesting stuff.
I guess maybe I’ve got trichnosis too—zombies beware!
JMan, the assumptions that both you and rmous make about my experience and notions regarding hunting and hunters are so far from the truth and it’s not worth my time to debate it with you. It is interesting to read your attempts to disprove my assertion that most black bear hunted in California is for trophy rather than food. Neither of you have come close. But, again, keep trying.
So Andrew thinks the idea of hunting the black bear is wrong. OK, it is his opinion. Of course his opinion is not shared by the people who run the Department of Fish and Game. These are the people who sell the hunters tags to kill bears. Judging by the numbers of kills in the state, they sell a lot of tags.
Maybe one day the California Department of Fish and Game will see things Andrew’s way.
-boy
You guys get awfully hyped up about this.
“Andrew Bird, if your opinions is what passes for reporting around here…”
Anon-R-Mouse appears to have blog comments confused with news articles.
I feel compelled to stick up for another under represented group in this arena.
Killing traffic/road signs in wrong!
-boy
Killing traffic/road signs is wrong!
boy,
The DFG was perfectly willing to sell permits to kill mountain lions to trophy hunters until voters put a stop to it in 1986. The DFG and its five-member commission is heavily influenced by the hunting lobby in California.
When a mountain lion mauls the wrong person, those permits will be back in vogue.
That point aside…Andrew is right. If the “DFG” wants to put a stop to killing bears, then it will happen.
-boy
boy,
How many people have been killed by mountain lion maulings in the U.S. in the past 10 years? Twenty years? Hundred years? Hundred and fifty years? That should be easy enough for you to research.
Black bear pose even less, far less, threat to human safety than mountain lion. Black bear are a non-aggressive ominvore. The California grizzly, a much more aggressive species, was hunted to extinction 80 years ago. Yet this is the animal, the golden bear, that is our state symbol, gracing our state flag. What a paradox.
Ok, Let’s compromise. We keep the bear hunting, but you must use a bolt action 22LR and eat the toenails.
How did I get at the bottom of this rabbit hole, I thought we were talking about bears?
Have a great weekend everyone!
crikey hank…enough with the consumed by the worms imagery. ACK.
I blame myself for trying to argue with the smartest kid in class.
to clarify my point: Mountain Lion attacks aside, a political football toss could bring back the legal right to kill the Kitties, regardless of the data I have been sent to research.
I am sorry I am not a hunter, or else I might care about the plight of the California Grizzly, who now only adorns our state flag.
Bears are just not as sexy as mountain lions, and therefore we could (if we pay the DFG) shoot them if we want.
I don’t like that much, but hey, hunters buy those licenses.
– boy
Hugs and Kisses?
You have to admit, much rather be the person bringing a gun to a knife fight, then the other way around.
So I heard the other day that they had pull kids from outside their school because of Mountain Lions running around Arcata again. Ask how housecats and kiddies taste to them, and do they use all the “entirety” of their kill?
Actually since 1900 black bear have killed five times more people than mountain lion, for which about 10 human deaths have been attributed, I am told by a source I trust.
That’s because they are much more numerous and being that we are both omnivores black bear come into contact with humans more frequently. But black bear are not an aggressive animal, like mountain lions. If they attack, it’s usually out of fear, self-protection, or probably most commonly a mother protecting her cubs.
My source, who is a hunter, says he doesn’t like bruin meat and doesn’t hunt them, but he knows hunters who covet the meat from young bear and these hunters kill for food. That said, he doesn’t dispute that there are hunters who go after bear for trophy.
I’ve had bear meat. I didn’t like it. I don’t think it’s a meat that suits the modern human’s taste, and that is why I believe more bear are harvested by hunters for trophy rather than food.
Well, that’s pretty much a given Andrew. I’d say that the number that your source gave you is wrong, it’s much higher than that. From the North American numbers alone there was 25 bear kills to 3 cougar kills.
What’s with the “modern human’s” taste bit though? Seems borderline elitist and could be taken as racist as well.
Translation: Andrew forms opinions based on truthiness.
Well, I’m a bear hunter and I eat all of the bear, including the penis. I throw the pelt away. Ever tried to eat hair? No thanks.
Many of the bears are also killed by timber companies. Bears have a bad habit of eating and scratching the bark off of redwoods and can quickly destroy large areas, many times killing the trees themselves or seriously stunting and deforming. Something, as you may or may not appreciate, a timber company does not like.
“I feel it it’s for trophy” Even Steven, since those are your feelings and not interpretations gained from observation and fact, you need to prove your statement.
sorry that last comment was for Andrew Bird.
I don’t know of anyone who hunts black bear who doesn’t harvest the backstrap, ribs, haunches, heart and tongue. The lower leg and neck meat can ba tricky to get at but it’s also salvageable. The taste is very dependent on season and diet. We are allowed five black bears a year in most areas but I don’t know anyone who does that.
All that being said, let’s not kid ourselves that anyone is taking these bears out of self-preservation. Perhaps out of property preservation. You need more bears, not less. You need wolves and grizzlies and all the species you once had. You need to get your cattle off public land and get your wild buffalo back. You may find your deer overpopulation problem will fix itself too.
But, you won’t ever do that. I expect that you will continue to add people and farmland and leave little pockets of “wild” California where people can visit like a zoo. The bears will become like Ishi and likely suffer his ultimate fate.
Please, stay where you are. We view you like a disease that must be quarantined. Enjoy and keep your state and have your debates over whether a few dozen bears is enough. Enjoy us on Discovery channel and we will enjoy your equally accurate depiction on Baywatch reruns.
“Harvest”… why can’t people get real and say kill? I guess harvest sounds more civilized.
Alaskahunter, I agree that we need to reintroduce native species to their former ranges but your assholish remarks about Ca. don’t help. BTW, if this place gets overrun with development then we may be having this conversation again in person.