Maine’s got too may bears

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Wendell

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Maine’s got too may bears

A major reason that the bear population has expanded is a decline in hunter participation and harvest. From 2005 to 2016, the number of hunters declined below 4,000 annually. Over the last decade, the bear population has increased by 2% to 4% annually and currently exceeds 35,000 animals.
<https://georgesoutdoornews.bangordailynews.com/2018/06/06/conservation/maines-got-too-may-bears/>

<http://handgunlaw.us/states/maine.pdf>

Bear Hunting
<http://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting-trapping/hunting-laws/bear.html>
 
I think they made their own problem. If you want to increase the take you have to increase the hunters or increase the success rate. Using their own numbers an extra 700-1400 would hold the population where it is.

To increase the number of hunters get rid of the meat recovery laws. Lots of guys don't want to eat a bear, but would go for a hide. That would likely do it by itself. Give away some free tags. Have a "kill a bear, get an extra deer tag" program.

Bear hunters quickly turn into trophy hunters because there's only so many rugs they want. Killing big males might even raise the population. Houndsmen would rather chase bears than kill bears. I don't blame them, their sport is about the dogs.

I see an easy answer with the snaring season. Why have a limit of one? That's stupid when you have too many bears. They require snares to be ground level or below, which means the Freemont or the Belisle. Oh, wait they don't allow the Belisle and the Freemont isn't much of a system. The best of the bunch is the M15 and they can't use that either. (I can think of one way, but not how it's usually used). Steel traps were legal until relatively recently, but they're gone now. It's like they don't want people to catch more.

Then there's the seasons. They have a bear season, a bait season, a hound season and a trapping season. How about just one season straight across. I think they micromanaged themselves right into too many bears. It's their own fault.
 
As a boy on the Quebec South Shore, spent a lot of time in the bush around Hemmingford (that's where all the refugees are crossing to give people a reference) and bears were not part of the local scene. They are well established now and the prevailing wisdom is they came from Maine, upper New York State and Vermont. This occurred since the mid 73 when I left QC. Turkeys are also everywhere now and unfortunately ticks everywhere.
 
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