# Chasing a Bear from a Winter Den to Shoot It



## jafurnier (Jun 7, 2008)

I was watching Muzzy's Bad to the Bone tonight. The host was hunting bears in Alberta. His guide was trying to chase a bear out of its den to shoot it...but when they got to the den...the bear was not in it.

I have shot bears over chum. I know people who have shot them out of trees with dogs.

Maybe I am splitting hairs...but waking a bear up and shooting it when it steps out seems a bit questionable in my mind.


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## Musket (May 11, 2009)

Hopefully, It goes without saying that would be illegal to do here in Michigan. I have no idea as to what the laws are in Alberta. As for ethical. NOT


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## jackbob42 (Nov 12, 2003)

Musket said:


> Hopefully, It goes without saying that would be illegal to do here in Michigan. I have no idea as to what the laws are in Alberta. As for ethical. NOT


I agree.
Some people will do anything for a little bit of money , or to be on TV.


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## Beaverhunter2 (Jan 22, 2005)

Musket said:


> Hopefully, It goes without saying that would be illegal to do here in Michigan.


By default- our seasons are closed when bears are denning.

John


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## Musket (May 11, 2009)

For the sake of argument. I can't really tell you what the Muskrats are doing in October, nor would I try. However, I can tell you that weather dependent, Bears will start to den up for winter while Bear season is still open. Hence the reason for the laws on the books.


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

jafurnier said:


> I was watching Muzzy's Bad to the Bone tonight. The host was hunting bears in Alberta. His guide was trying to chase a bear out of its den to shoot it...but when they got to the den...the bear was not in it.
> 
> I have shot bears over chum. I know people who have shot them out of trees with dogs.
> 
> Maybe I am splitting hairs...but waking a bear up and shooting it when it steps out seems a bit questionable in my mind.


My first reaction was disgust....But on second thought, think about some of the methods we use to hunt/trap other species, Or even some of the methods used in the Southern States such as deer dogs.....Why will we bait deer of bear, but not turkey or ducks are they more worthy. What about advanced weapons....

No matter how much window dressing we put on it, We are all looking for an advantage to KILL something. Who are we to condemn what may be a common/traditional method in Alberta. While other groups look at the blood on our hands in disgust.

Personally I wouldnt hunt dens. And putting it on TV for the anti's to watch is probably a bad idea.


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## GrizzlyHunter (Jun 17, 2005)

Seems a little unethical to me...

Hell I don't like being woke up...let alone woke up AND shot!


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## WoodTick007 (Jan 6, 2006)

You people are applying human emotions to an animal..... Its a "bear". end of story. Is feeding the deer 5 gal pails for food or planting food plots totally ethical....... Oh. hey! Lets grow some stuff that deer like so we can trick them here and blast them with a 300wm or 7mm Mag at 50 yards. Don't get me wrong, I am not against hunting what so ever..... How many of you would sit on the edge of a food plot waiting for a bedded deer to wake up and then blowing it to smithereens? Do you think that deer felt any better about getting torqued by a 405gr bullet from a 45-70 by someone who tricked it there? How about hunting during the rut? Fair? Oh, hey! Lets wait until the bucks are horny and stupid....then will will trick them in with a grunt call and blast them! Just saying.


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## Nostromo (Feb 14, 2012)

Driving a bear from its winter den? I prefer to shoot them while they are eating my bait. As long as they buy their license, and follow the rules in place at the time. I don't see any reason to pass judgment on our fellow sportsmen. 
N


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## GrizzlyHunter (Jun 17, 2005)

I guess I didn't think of it as passing judgement on my fellow sportsmen. My bad-it came off that way.

Howwwwww-ever...I think it's better for us to police ourselves, and hopefully we won't have to let others do it for us.

I still don't like it...and the last time I checked, I AM still entitled to my own opinion. A baited deer, or bear, at least has their full senses about them. I don't think I can say the same about a bear that's been woke up from a six month power nap. But "IF" it's legal...then it's legal, but I really doubt the public is going to be in favor it.

Just my $0.02.


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

It would be more ethical if a mod would get rid of this before all of the wrong people read it.


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## Nitro225Optimax (Feb 13, 2011)

I don't hunt bear because I have no desire to at this point in my life. I wouldn't use the meat most likely and have no need for a bear rug, I can buy one if I want I suppose. I ventured into this topic because I saw it as a discussion on hunting ethics in general. 

With that being said, I have to agree with some of the comments above. Dead is dead and killed is killed. I find some of the high fenced ranches more unethical than tracking down a bear in a wide free ranging area and killing it in it's den. It's in the wild. 

If no laws were broken, then fire away. The only thing that has ever stopped me from shooting a deer in a waterway is the law, then the fact I wouldn't want to go in and get it. I have hunted over streams and small rivers before. I see the deer cross the waterway, rise up on the bank, get on flat ground, and bang, down they go. They are still dead. Did I have an unfair or unethical advantage had I dispatched them a few moments earlier? No, but the law says I can't therefore I don't. 

Furthermore, many of us hunt for "sport". Sure, some of us use the meat, but many are after "trophies". Talk about unethical! We are debating hunting a live animal for sport and to put something on the wall (some, not all do this), but it isn't ok to kill it while it is sleeping, swimming, etc. Think about the native Americans centuries ago. Would they hunt the bear in the den? Absolutely. They needed the food and warmth from the fur. So, in some of yours' opinions, Native Americans were unethical. We had "gentlemen" ride trains and shoot buffalo until they could shoot no more...

One last thought...many of our hunting laws are not necessarily in place to prevent "unethical harvesting", but merely to preserve the resources we have. That is why we can't go netting trout and walleye runs by the dozens, why we have bag limits, and laws like shooting deer in water, etc. Many of the laws, I have come to realize, are not necessarily saying it is "wrong" to do something a certain way, only illegal because they want to either increase the odds of survival for the animal in question or regulate the success of the hunter/fisherman. 

I hate the doomsday prepper show, but imagine what would happen if this country ever did collapse and people were starving...you wouldn't find a squirrel left alive in this state, let alone a bear or deer. If you were starving, you would have no "ethics", you would do whatever it took to be successful to feed yourself and your family. Thankfully, it will probably never resort to that.


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## HTC (Oct 6, 2005)

2 years ago my dad was hunting at our camp in the Adirondacks of northern NY in late November. He was walking along the top of a high ridge know locally as, "Little Blue" in a heavy snowfall. He is standing there taking a breather facing a large blow down about 10 yards away. The blow down has a large mound at the base where the roots have partially pulled out of the ground. All of a sudden a bear sticks its head out of the root base then goes right back in...Up comes the gun....(a bear tag comes with your big game license automatically in NY) After waiting for what seems like minutes the bear's head appears slowly in his scope, pauses then goes back into the den...By himself and a long ways from the truck he decided to pass on the shot. He slowly retreated and gave the den a wide berth.

Had he shot the bear would it have been ethical? I think so.


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## stormsearch (Mar 2, 2005)

It would be illegal in MI:

It is unlawful to disturb a bear den or disturb, harm or molest a bear in its den.


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## Nostromo (Feb 14, 2012)

stormsearch said:


> It would be illegal in MI:
> 
> It is unlawful to disturb a bear den or disturb, harm or molest a bear in its den.


I think thats the crux of our debate here. Where its legal, a hunter should feel free to shoot. Here, where it is illegal. We should pass. Ethics revolve around clean kills, and using the animal to the greatest extent possible. For bears, a rug, and some very tasty meat is available. If you cant afford, or dont want a rug. But, take the meat. I think youre an ethical hunter. Provided you took the bear in accordance with the laws.
N


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## Sasquatch Lives (May 23, 2011)

jackbob42 said:


> I agree.
> Some people will do anything for a little bit of money , or to be on TV.


Yeah, those guys on that show sound like a couple of pansies desperate to kill a bear on tape by any means and then be able to beat their chests about it. Unethical and disgusting IMO.


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## WoodTick007 (Jan 6, 2006)

Sasquatch Lives said:


> Yeah, those guys on that show sound like a couple of pansies desperate to kill a bear on tape by any means and then be able to beat their chests about it. Unethical and disgusting IMO.


Ca you please explain how you see an ethical bear hunt? I would like to know as I am not a bear hunter. I am not saying I agree or disagree with what the men on TV did or didn't do.


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## Sasquatch Lives (May 23, 2011)

WoodTick007 said:


> Ca you please explain how you see an ethical bear hunt? I would like to know as I am not a bear hunter. I am not saying I agree or disagree with what the men on TV did or didn't do.


 
I am not a bear hunter either but shooting a bear after chasing it out of its hibernation den sounds OK to you? In Michigan it is illegal. Any hunting I do is fair chase only.


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