Malcolm Kendall says he can’t stay silent any longer.

We snared one this year in NS at my camp in New Ross. I rifle hunted 2 weeks from the stand and the bear was nocturnal. Set snare in the evening when snare season opened oct 1 and next morning had him. They do a fair amount of churning the ground around the tree, but after a bit are just sitting. The usual way to dispatch is .22rf to the head. There was some bruising where the snare held him around the paw, but nothing too serious. If we follow his logic, next is all trapping, then shooting of anything. Is strangling a coyote or rabbit to death in a snare any nicer? I bet this guy has wounded his fair share of grouse and lost them, that is terrible to let an animal suffer.... Stand together or hang individually. Our big game biologist is a hunter too and hopefully the government will ignore this bs. Steve
 
Personally, I don't see a whole bunch of difference between a snare around the leg and any live trap.

Mr. Nette says he has seen three carcasses of bears that have been snared, and has seen no bruising or damage to the bear’s limb.
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As long as the animal is in no physical pain, the trauma of being held captive by a snare around a leg seems to be no worse and perhaps better than the live traps used on trouble bears. As long as they are checked in a timely fashion and the bear is dispatched quickly at the end, I don't really have a problem with it. I wouldn't partake of this particular type of activity myself, but don't have a problem with someone else doing it as long as it is done properly.

So what about "sticky" mousetraps? Do ethics only apply to large, majestic "game animals" or all living creatures?
 
SuperCub said:
Lots of things have been legal in the past. Sometimes it is good to change laws to reflect a better way of harvest. In my lifetime leg hold traps were legal as well, but were a particularly nasty means of trapping. I'm glad the conibear type trap is mostly used instead these days.

My father always stressed that a quick kill is imperative in hunting or trapping.
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Supercub, I hear ya, but consider this... What we are talking about here is a snare used to catch a bear around a leg... NB still allows neck snares for coyotes. I know this because I did my Engineering Degree in NB & trapped every year I was there. Death comes by way of an extended struggle to get free, NOT a nice sight! A bear caught in a leg hold snare will leave a catch circle, and have to be "dispatched" when the trap is checked, but I would argue that it is a more humane way to die than a snare set to catch them around the neck... NOT that I have ANY problem with catching animals by neck snares... I LOVE rabbit snaring as much as the next red-blooded guy!

vagrantviking said:
By this logic we should all be complete anarchists and fighting every law on the books as infringments on our freedoms. There was a time when it was legal to beat your slaves to death too so should we be fighting to repeal the laws that prevent that freedom?

Are not all ethical hunters and trappers not morally obligated to prevent all possible suffering? Why leave openings for critisism like this from those that will equate the most careful and skillful hunters with the occasional lazy slob trapper or even worse poacher, which is what Joe public will equate with snares.

Bad laws will undermine the entire system.
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Vagrantviking, please don't compare beating slaves & trapping, they are not even in the same league. That being said, I agree with you, bad law is worse than no law at all! However, no method of hunting OR trapping can prevent ALL suffering. Animals are wounded & injured by the very act of pursuing them, method irrespective...

Clayduster said:
We snared one this year in NS at my camp in New Ross. I rifle hunted 2 weeks from the stand and the bear was nocturnal. Set snare in the evening when snare season opened oct 1 and next morning had him. They do a fair amount of churning the ground around the tree, but after a bit are just sitting. The usual way to dispatch is .22rf to the head. There was some bruising where the snare held him around the paw, but nothing too serious. If we follow his logic, next is all trapping, then shooting of anything. Is strangling a coyote or rabbit to death in a snare any nicer? I bet this guy has wounded his fair share of grouse and lost them, that is terrible to let an animal suffer.... Stand together or hang individually. Our big game biologist is a hunter too and hopefully the government will ignore this bs. Steve
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A good example of HUMANE harvesting of a snared bear. Congrats on the LEGAL harvest Clayduster!

Cheers
Jay
 
I would be very careful here friends. The snare is set for us actually.

If one gives in to a newspaper article without reservation, rest assured, the antis will come out of the woodwork with other 'examples of barbarism' that we MUST address.
I grew up near Halifax and can honestly say, bambi-ism is alive and well in the HRM.
 
:)
blasted_saber said:
My grandfather is a trapper in ontario. He wont trap unless its by means of a killing device.
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Yes I see the point but I used to trap a lot of fox and coyote in my youth as well. Leg hold traps were best IMO as if an "undesired" animal was caught it could be released unharmed...less a mighty sore paw. Killing setups such as power snares only had one outcome. Also a dead animal in a trap can be eaten by scavengers or it's own kind.

I can't count how many times I had trapped a young scrawny fox or yote that would be have been worthless at auction. Would throw a tarp over the critter, spring the jaws a bit and the unwanted animal was off to grow up and mature.

Never caught any "family pets" but I've known guys that caught dogs and released them as well. Have to admit that without daily checking leghold stuff is cruel.

Back to the original post...yes I can see the guys point :)
 
My example is prehaps a bit extreme but I do think that it is up to those of us engaged in these pursuits to do our level best to live up to a high standard and possibly support laws that enforce some of those standards.

It is true that any sort of trapping and hunting is going to be less than perfect and I hope Claydusters example is the norm. Personally I don't have experience with bear trapping but I do see the utility of it.

We do need to be vigilant in keeping track of the anti-everything crowd and be pepared to stand up for our rights. At the same time we need to pick our battles and be prepared to admit to the possiblities of abuse of some of those rights. Or even that some of the things that have been done in the past might not meet the standards of the present. It can be a slippery slope but I truly hope that there can be a balance we can live with.
 
Like it or not in recent memory I can think of several defeats against NS Sportsmen:
-No to Sunday hunting
-No to the re-introduction of wild turkeys
-No to a spring black bear hunt
Are we going to add to this list?

Be forewarned though, each province I am sure has some hunting/trapping laws, that can be percieved as cruel/brutal by 'others.'

One international example: It is illegal to use bows to hunt any wild animal in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

It's interesting to note the "e" words, emotions and ethics. Both can be overdone.
 
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Touchy subject to some...but here's my thoughts...

Life is cruel sometimes, yes the animal might be in pain for a few hours. But we're all part of the life cycle and as much as we on CGN don't want to admit it we are barbaric animals like any of the ones we hunt. At the end of it all it is about killing an animal, just like a pack of wolves think when they circle a calf. Theres not much humane killing ethics in the wild...sure a bear has a cable cinched around his ankle and yes it would be terrible to have happen. But it's no different than shooting a bear in the heart with a rifle...dead is dead at the end of the day thats what it was all about, the kill. I'm not saying torture the thing...but I dont personally believe its inhumane and should be outlawed...:wave:
 
I dont' believe in snaring big game animals period, As far as Snaring goes I can see how some trappers might use them for some furbearing animals on their line but that' different. My dad snared us a few rabbits back in the day....I dont' think I would do it unless I unless id be in a survival situation.

I didnt' think anybody snared bears......at least I dont' think its done anywhere around here. We are damned nearly overun with the friggin buggers.
 
Pathfinder said:
....I dont' think

I didnt' think

We are damned nearly overun with the friggin buggers.
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Perhaps it's time to start thinking. Once you've experienced starting the day with your horse wailing outside with it's side ripped open you might have more respect for live stock. You sound like one of the Ministry of Natural Idiots I spoke with, bears don't do that they said.
 
TGC said:
Not much of a hunter who has to snare his game, might as well raise it as a pet than shot it.
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The same could be said about guys hunting over bait sites with automatic feeders. Some would consider it unethical, but it's legal in some areas, illegal in others.

Cheers
Jay
 
People get emotional about bears. Probably because they remind us of ourselves, especially in size. (Ever see a skinned bear? Its kind of eary how human the body looks.)

What goes through our minds is how we would respond in the bear's situation and knowing the impeding death that will come.

This is definitly a polarizing issue where even hunters take complete opposite sides on the issue. The fact is, it's a cost and time effective means of catching rogue bears close to the towns and cities . I think if it's a controlled practice for special purposes, which most trapping is, then so be it.

Would I practice this kind of trapping? No, but I don't have a problem bear running amuck in my neighbourhood either.
 
TGC said:
Not much of a hunter who has to snare his game, might as well raise it as a pet than shot it.
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Do you hunt with a gun, or a bow? Not much of a hunter are you?

You should be stalking your prey while dressed in clothes made of tree bark and killing them by leaping on them in the dark and tearing out their throat with your teeth.
 
TGC said:
Not much of a hunter who has to snare his game, might as well raise it as a pet than shot it.
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You're right, a hunter doesnt do that... a trapper does.

And I guess everyone who snares rabbits isnt a hunter/outdoorsman either and we should all have our own bunny farm? Do you only hunt with a handmade longbow and wooden arrows while wearing your loin cloth? If not, what kind of hunter are you? Might aswell use heat seeking rockets to hunt deer.
 
most guys do not no what a snare is made of .it is not a sharp wire that goes around a bears neck and chokes them .it is most times a cable with a snare lock that slides and holds a bear with out much damage to the animal at all .thy do not get cut from them at all and no target animals can be released with out an problems .the lack of knowlage is the bigest problem DUTCH
 
Applefarmer said:
Perhaps it's time to start thinking. Once you've experienced starting the day with your horse wailing outside with it's side ripped open you might have more respect for live stock. You sound like one of the Ministry of Natural Idiots I spoke with, bears don't do that they said.
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Respect for livestock ? Where the Fack do you get this stuff ? :confused:

My family owned Horses in the outskirts of town and once we had to dispatch a bear near the house....and believe me he didnt' die tied to a tree.

My brother's father in law has them come in once and a while and he can tell by how the horses behave....again he comes with a rifle and takes care of business.

Take a chill pill.....Protect your livestock and snare the crap out of your acreage if you want. We have mostly Crown land around here so its different.
 
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