Alberta ban on spear hunting after American hunter kills black bear

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/american-hunter-draws-fire-after-killing-black-bear-with-spear-in-northern-alberta





The Alberta government says an online video showing a black bear being killed by a spear is unacceptable and it plans to ban the practice.

The video posted in June on the YouTube account of Josh Bowmar, who runs an Ohio-based fitness company with his wife, set off a deluge of outrage before it was made private.

By the time it was removed from public view on Monday it had garnered more than 208,000 views.

The 13-minute video shows the man launching a spear — with a camera attached — at a bear from 11 to 14 metres away and captures his jubilant reaction when the animal is hit.

***

Alberta Environment and Parks spokesman Tim Chamberlin called spear hunting an "archaic" practice.

"Work is well underway to update Alberta's hunting regulations. We will introduce a ban on spear hunting this fall as part of those updated regulations," he said in an emailed statement.

"In the meantime, we have asked Fish and Wildlife officers to investigate this incident to determine if charges are warranted under existing laws."

Bowmar said he was surprised by the reaction to the video. He said spears have been used for hunting since the "dawn of man" and the notion that the method is inhumane "couldn't be further from the truth."

He said the spear blade he used was 13 centimetres wide and about 40 centimetres long and penetrated the bear more than 60 centimetres deep.

Spear hunting is also illegal in Ontario and has been since forever.
 
Just a suggestion, but maybe we shouldn't be posting this on the internet for all to see. I am sure if we post enough bow hunting videos, we could get that banned as well.

Anti hunters dont care what you use to kill an animal, they just care its dead. Spears, bows, guns, it doesnt matter. Ban one, they'll just move to the next one on the list.

This guy killed a bear quickly and cleanly. I dont see any problem with what he did.
 
What isn't being talked about is the "New updated hunting regulations" that the NDPs are bringing out that will include a ban on hunting with spears,...It is going to shock some of you
 
Anti hunters dont care what you use to kill an animal, they just care its dead. Spears, bows, guns, it doesnt matter. Ban one, they'll just move to the next one on the list.

This guy killed a bear quickly and cleanly. I dont see any problem with what he did.

it looked like a gut shot to me (not clean), but no one will ever know how quick it was they didn't retrieve the bear until the following day. don't get me wrong I am all for hunting,but this guy and his wife are a bunch a f'ing idiots and shouldn't be allowed to hunt. I saw another video of his wife with a bow on a bear and she only wounded it.
 

no wonder everyone is outraged looks to me like it was a gut shot.

the spear penetrated 2 feet and tore through the diaphragm. The bear only made it 60 feet. They didn't search for it at night out of safety concerns. I doubt it lived longer than a minute or two.


I remember the deer I took a few years ago with a 30-06 from about 50 yards. I hit it square in the chest and it went down on the spot, but it still twitched for about half a minute and I could see the breath condensation coming from its nose the whole time.
 
It's funny how the typical anti hunter argument in hinting video comments is that hunting with a firearm is unfair and cowardly and people should be forced to use primitive methods to hunt. Now someone posts a video of themselves spear hunting and all of a sudden its barbaric and archaic to usr a spear. The hypocrisy here is over the top. Its obvious there is no pleasing these people. Even with a full hinting ban they would go find something else unreasonable to make their "noble cause". I can see it now "Taking pictures of animals is wrong because they can't consent. Everybody should be forced to use paint and canvas, not these high capacity aitomatic digital cameras."
 
There was another article on here...

http://https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/08/15/hunter-kills-alberta-bear-with-gopro-equipped-spear.html

Best part is when some media relations genius from the MNR said this.....

"In Ontario, it’s illegal to hunt with anything other than a firearm (which includes bows), according to Jolanta Kowalski, media relations officer for the ministry of natural resources. “A spear is not a firearm,” she said."

Is the implication that bows are "anything ther than a firearm"? Or is she saying they're classed as a firearm for hunting purposes? Either way it's wrong... Archery has very specific seasons and regs separate from firearms and is definitely allowed in Ontario. I'll be going black bear hunting in a few weeks with a compound bow and paying a guide....
 
Ontario classes bows as a firearm in the context of hunting, so her statement is accurate in that regard. Muzzleloaders and shotgun also have specific seasons and regs, and they are certainly firearms.

Hell, the federal government tried to have crossbows put on PALs as a condition for a while
 
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