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Facts Supporting a Ban on Hound Hunting of Bears |
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Written by Robert Fisk
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Wednesday, 28 December 2005 |
Hound hunting is unsporting. Finding a terrorized bear treed by
a pack of hounds and shooting it at point blank range is unsporting,
makes a mockery of the term fair chase and demeans all
hunting. The dictionary defines “hunt” as 1. “to pursue
(game or wild animals) for food or sport” or 2. “to seek out, to search
for”. Pursuit, the actual chase, precedes the kill, without it hunting
is merely killing. Hunting without restrictions on how we pursue game
loses it meaning. A hunter earns the privilege to take an animal’s life
by mastering the skills of the hunt. In hounding the only hunter is the
dogs.
Hound hunting is inhumane. If hounds overcome a bear that turns
to face them the mauling of the animal can be merciless and protracted.
Hounds can be injured, crippled or killed in bear fights. Bears shot
from trees may suffer broken bones from the fall and may endure brutal
dog attacks until the fatal shot is delivered. Bear cubs can also be
maimed or killed by hounds or permanently separated from its mother to
eventually die of starvation, exposure or predation.
Hound hunting is unnecessary. Of the 27 states that allow bear
hunting, 23 prohibit hounding, yet hunters in these states are able to
take their bear without the use of dogs. Fair chase hunting has
increased significantly in those states. In recent years, voters have
overwhelming approved citizen initiatives to ban hound hunting in
Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, states similar to Maine in forest
density and bear populations.
Hound hunting is not a tradition. Running a bear with dogs began
in Maine less than 25 years ago. In 1982 only 152 bears were taken by
hound hunting. The practice was driven by a few bear guides purely as a
financial endeavor.
Hound hunting has gone high-tech. Today’s hound hunter uses
radio telemetry and CB radios, along with packs of trained dogs.
Usually fitted with telemetry collars, the dogs can be easily monitored
from a distance as they chase and eventually tree the bear. Hunters in
vehicles track the dogs’ progress, coordinate efforts via CB radios,
and then go in for the kill at close range once the dogs have trapped
their prey.
Hound hunting is not needed for bear management. There is
considerable doubt as to whether managing bear populations is needed at
all, but even given the Department of IF&W’s contention that bear
management is necessary, hounding represents about 12% of the animals
taken each year, and therefore cannot be used as bear management issue.
Hound hunting is highly stressful to wildlife. Bear chases may
last from 10 minutes to a day or longer and cover many miles. Long
chases can severely stress bears, cause overheating and potential brain
damage. During chases, mother and young may become permanently
separated and the cubs may succumb to starvation, exposure and
predation. Treed bears are terrified by the baying hounds at the tree
base.
Hound hunting leads to trespassing and property damage. The
hounding of any animal can take an unpredictable course causing the
wild animal, the dogs and the hunters to become a nuisance or a threat
to public and private lands. Hounds will also chase, harass, injure and
kill other wildlife and domestic animals.
Hound hunting has little economic value. Hound hunting is done
by a relatively small number of guides. Given the nature of the
practice it limits the number of opportunities a guide can provide the
service. A ban on hound hunting of bear would have no meaningful
financial impact on guides, ancillary businesses or the State. Guides
in other states have significantly increased fair chase hunting, which
Maine guides can do as well.
Hound hunting is cruel to the dogs. If a bear turns to fight dogs
can be maimed, crippled, brutally mauled or killed. Dogs can be
severely punished for chasing non-target animals such as deer. A nearly
50-year former Maine guide, trapper and bear hunter reported: “I’ve
seen hunters beat their dogs so badly that it made me cringe. I used to
have friends who I would not go hunting with because they were so cruel
to their dogs. I’ve seen hounds kicked so hard or beaten with a stiff
club that ribs were broken.”
Hound hunting gives hunting a bad image. Hounds give relentless
chase until the frightened and exhausted bear climbs a tree in a vein
attempt to escape. Hounds are fitted with high tech telemetry collars
that allows the hunter to find the treed bear and then shoot it with a
gun or bow and arrow at close range. This unethical method of killing
is not a practice true hunters want to be associated with and it is a
practice that gives all hunting a bad image.
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January 2008
