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Here is a very interesting question....WHY is utahs bear harvest at an outragious 34% for females????? Can anyone enlighten me on this subject?? We have seen what over harvest of females did to our lion population!!! Dead sows cant reproduce!!! Seems to me if you dont know the differnce between a sow and a boar then you shouldnt be shooten!!! We continue to have this high of female harvest our bear population will fall 100 times faster then the lion did!!!!

Not trying to be a wise-ass but could someone with better words than I explain the differences between Boar and Sow bears to the newbies Please save the sows

Interesting, tonight i read a story of a study in MN. A sow is still alive at 36 years of age. Between her and her offspring, they said they have produced near two hundred bear to the population, and growing, very interesting article. All off one sow.

Thats a very interesting study....all the more reason to keep sows alive for 36yr....to have plenty of bears to run you have to have sows and cubs...

Bplott wrote:Thats a very interesting study....all the more reason to keep sows alive for 36yr....to have plenty of bears to run you have to have sows and cubs...

I read it quick at the hunting cabin last night, but if its something that would help at a meeting or if you have a club, pm me and I can make a copy and get it to you
Ron

My initial thoughts are that with it taking 10 years to draw a tag, people are going to do what they can to harvest a bear. With a shot at a decent bear next year, people may be inclined to let one walk towards the end of the season. What if they went to a harvest objective then put a 8-10 year waiting period before you could harvest another bear. It would make someone think twice before pulling the trigger. It would in fact encourage people to wait for the right bear. And give everyone a chance to hunt.

Why? Cause guys that can't seem to get a bear in a tree finally get a popup and she gets poped off, that's why. It's called "we better kill this one cause who knows if we are going to get another chance".



34% is pathetic.

very well put bgh it is very pathetic no reason a persons need to kill more then one or two bear in a life time, maybe one to make a rug and one for a mount so why in the hell would you want it to be anything but a trophy? maybe i am just two simple minded but i know you wont ever find a female "trophy" on my wall even if it ment waiting another ten yrs to draw. i think the ability to walk away seperates the houndsmen from the hunter if your truly in it for the dogs the kill means nothing. be interesting to see the percentages of whether they were being taken by houndsmen with thier own tags or guides with clients. i am so discusted with our current lion population i have refused to put in in past years now seeing how many females get wacked i decided i am better off putting in and fill a slot with a tom. just to make sure one less female gets whacked and i would be glad to help any tag holder do the same for free just to prevent them running to the local "guide" who will be glad to let them dump first thing they tree. sorry to get off topic but female harvest urks me to no end.

What kind of percentage would be a good female harvest percentage? I am not saying you guys are wrong, just wondering what is acceptable. I also don't think that 0% is a realistic target objective. How many females can be shot and still have a sustainable bear population?

I also think it would be interesting to see the percentages of bears taken over dogs, as well as the other methods of take. i.e. rifle, bow, etc.

You know, I'm not sure how your system works, In WI probably twenty years ago, our complete bear season closed for a year. Then it went to a point system. So each year you get a point for applying. I dont like it, but it does work, because since that time, our bear population is at an all time high. You wait 9 to 10 years to have enough points, your sure not going to take the first sow you came across, and if you did, i'm sure the dnr has a kill ratio they follow, point being, not to say the bear studies and population is always accurate, but they control the kills and kill tages, on the harvest each year. If hunters cant, I guess they stepped in and control it now, food for thought

I think some of you fellas need to look at the situation from other angles. It's not always an easy cut/dry situation.

Sow harvest is very dependent on bear populations. If they are scarce, well you better lay off them. If bear's are thick, it doesn't hurt one bit to take a few out. In fact if the population is looking good, I'd rather have somebody shoot a dry 270 or so sow and leave one of those 225 lanky boars alone. Give him a year and he'll be a turbo while she will most likely has topped out.

A guy can't simply say sow=easy try, boar= tough. Some of the meanest bear we've ever run have been owly sows that are just plain nasty. Likewise some of the big boars we've harvested were big easy cream puffs. It just all depends on the bear. Heck I've got a sow on the wall that was starting to cost too much money to have around, we got on her in kill season and took her out. I'd do it again if I had a tag in my pocket and was in the same situation. Just something to think about.

cat n bear,
your point system sounds about like ours and honestly it seems to be working at least i feel as our bear numbers are doing ok as of this year. not sure what a good female percentage should be but 34 seems high.

The thing is there was around 158 bears sport harvest and 53 was sows.....To me and the people that study bears here in the state no more then 20% females should be harvested...due to the fact that we don not have a very high cub survival rat here in utah due to food sources, drought, extreme cold, and longm winters..... NO WAY would a harvest objective for bear ever work in this state!!!! Thats the reason our lion got wiped out.... IT boils down to houndsmen ethics....NO matter if its a bobcat, bear, or lion all FEMALES should be left to run again and produce more young....Thats the way i was taught.

Hell ya, kill all the boars them sows will inpregnate them selfs Is that the satistic's every year or is the the way its going this year?Are you going off of actual wildlife biology facts or judging off of not seeing tracks,sign or dogs arn't finding them?cuz man if thats the case then that don't mean your state dosn't have a good population.JMO

I wish they would open up a doe season here its hard as hell to find a buck now days..

Well Guys, it sounds like a compound problem starting with cubs. As you know we can bait here, both for bear or our deer. I bait all summer, about 25-55 gallon barrels of cookies, which usually equates into 4 gallons per bait. I only run six baits all summer, as i like to rig also. We will get several sows and cubs in the bait, which i have avoided all summer, but still feed. Then in the fall, there is a corn pile ever quarter mile for sure, from the early bow hunters and deer, which give them plenty of fat, and protein to go into winter. We think nothing of a sow and two cubs, and I have personally seen as many as five cubs off one sow. Two or three is most common. I've observed this for several years, but two years ago, they banned the corn baiting because of cwd. I noticed the following summer, only one or two cubs at most. My point, a sow will produce if she is going into hibernation healthy. I believe i read somewhere, they are like a deer and if its two rough of winter, a doe's body will obsorb the second fawn to keep her alive, and a healthy fawn, same goes with bear, food for thought