Attention WI Bear Hunters

[Steve White]

NBC- Makes some good sense there!

Only 31 days now!! I'm sure the fish wish it did start June 1

[Nolte]

NBC,

I agree with you on this for this simple fact. The amount of primarily "whitetail" guys in zone C is much higher than elsewhere. You will never change their mentality about dogs screwing up their bowhunting. Allowing a kill hunt during their early bow season would be a recipe for disaster. It is tough enough in northern areas where it is 75% public.

I think we should be thankfull to be able to just train down there. We have gained some traction with many landowners and such in the last 10 years. That took having enounters and realizing problem areas and guys who test the limits. It has quieted down a lot on that front in our area. I don't think we want to open that can of worms back up.

I know it's strange that you can yote hunt like crazy down that way and not bear hunt, but it's just because of the almighty whitetail.

[not color blind]

The "bear bill" got signed on Friday June 17th.

[lil wasper]

why would they change being able to train in kill season with a kill tag just curious

[bearintheair]

I love the idea of letting bait sitters go first every year, would save a lot of conflicts between houndsmen and bait hunters, in my opinion let them have the first week every year. Bait sitting does not affect hound hunting like running dogs affects bait sitters. No back tags would be great as would all the other parts of the bill. The only part I don't like is the training during kill season, we hunt in a highly pressured area and there are enough people out there with tags. If we want more training time then start the training season in June, there is no reason we couldn't start earlier.

[lil wasper]

shouldnt it be all about the hounds i mean the guys training with a tag arent takeing any bear

[Nolte]

Bait sitting does not affect hound hunting like running dogs affects bait sitters.

I have to disagree with you on this. Bait sitters only think it affects their hunting. It's simply an easy excuse. Most likely lack of activity results from natural food sources being ready. The only hunting activity that impacts the other is when a bear gets harvested, then it's one less to make a track or hit a bait.

Also, letting the bait sitters go first every year won't stop the whining. One week will turn into 10 days then two weeks. Before long we'll need a parka to hunt bear.

I honestly don't think the not having a tag deal will change much here. And we've got plenty of bear hunters. It might make it so you don't have to find some hunyuck with a tag to show up so you can hunt. I hate having to rely on someone else to show up to legally hunt. It's a PITA. Most guys aren't going to pound the brush so they can run a hundred pounder they can't kill, they'll sleep in a bit and just find something. Besides with gas at $3.65 gallon, how much checking will a guy training do before settling on a track to try.

I agree with you on the June deal though. I'd go back to the kill tag requirement if we could get the month of June to train. I thought I read in the outdoors news that they were talking about a spring bear season. Not sure what that means or how it works, but it's an interesting idea depending on how they do it.