BigGameHoundsmen.com

Ok guys im not very good at math!!! BUT according to the DWR bear harvest report 75 sows hit the ground last year!!! WTF!!! Yes WTF stands for WHY THE FEMALES!!! Do you guys what bear hunting to end up like lion hunting????? This is ridiculous!!! Leave the females ALONE!!! Show me a TROPHY sow and ill show you a trophy DOE!!! Its way past time we stand up for hound hunting and protect the FEMALES in this state that produce the young so we have something to pursue with our hounds!!! Draw results will be posted soon please do your part and harvest only BOARS!!!

Of course normally it is good practice to let the females go. Although there are times it is better for the population for a few to be removed that are still able to breed. Others are not capable of it anymore. Of course no way to tell that when the trigger gets pulled most of the time.

However, I cannot speak for Utah. But I do know that is WI we will see them go well over 300lbs. Last year one of my sitting clients got one that dressed 276. Any formula would put that over 300 live wieght. Big does not always mean dry. Daughter shot one a few years ago around 200 that was dry, and old! Then last year I got one on a game camera with cubs. That I would say is easily pushing 500lbs!!! That one I want to see have cubs for years to come!! But, if someone was to shoot her this year. How could you blame them? Surely a trophy in any regard. Only seen her the one time. Not going to go looking for her either.

In 2012 there were 2172 females shot in WI. In just my zone 500 is the quota number supported to stabilize the growth of the population. 418 were harvested in 2012. Of course it varies greatly by state. IF! I could tell. I would suggest my clients not pull the trigger on a sow. Other than lifting the skirt, or seeing that it is with cubs, or wet. Can be real hard to tell high in a tree, or even standing next to you. Still got to try though. In the end it is the shooters choice. Real hard to tell them NO. If you see something that looks 300, and you dont know for sure.

It's a great practice, and I support it 100%. Just wanted all to think about the other side of the coin.

Ohh, since I know it's BS without pictures. So here are a couple to support my claims.

276lb dressed sow!



A REALLY BIG SOW!!

Dry sow, didn't know at the time but hell, #419 live weight, can't pass that up!! We have tapped #200 plus bear down to get a better look for tits and passed on a few last year. Problem is, one was around 250 and the day before we saw she had 3 cubs and treed her that day and passed but found out she was shot the next day by a different crew. Oh well, at least we gave her a chance and that I can live with. I believe the cubs were too small to make it on their own so that's 3 less bear around and many more for years to come.

Yes there are some states where food is readily available and sows grow bigger ...... in this state we have a huge problem with if it climbs it dies and hunters arent selective...... for the future of hunting we need to be sure what we are pulling the trigger on.... there is a major difference in a 150-200lb sow then a 350-400lb boar...... thats the point im trying to get across..... thanks for the awsome pics!

We have the same problem in NH. Most think that they are a hunter and a houndsman if they kill every thing that climes. Most don't know how to tell the difference from male or sow or just don't care. The justify it by making up some excuse. THEY ARE JUST EGO DRIVEN GAME KILLING HOGS.

if nobody shot sows their would be all kinds of boar bear to shoot and plenty of bears male and female to run for fun when training without a doubt.even bait hunters would see more bear on their sites .

There will always be sows shot by still and bait hunters but as houndsmen we can tell if it is male or female almost all the time and if you can't just go tree another one.

use your brain houndsmen! this is our sport and passion, leave the females alone!

Lets keep this going guys many emails with draw results went out today!!! Put the pressure on fellow houndsmen to be sure before they pull the trigger!!! IF IT SQUATS TO PEE LET IT BE!!!

The choice to kill a sow by a houndsman should be entirely dependent on the population in the area. If you got a pile of bear, it's not going to hurt to take out a few sows. Now if you're struggling to find tracks, well then you best leave them alone. We let a bunch go every year but usually we will harvest a couple, especially in areas where they are doing a decent bit of damage to farmers crops and such.

There are other times when the harvest can be influenced by the situation. If that sow is getting pretty wicked, well then it's best to get her out of the gene pool. We had a sow a few years back like this that and she put a bunch of good dogs on the mend list before we finally shot her bayed up. She actually treed pretty quick but bailed at the first tree, then it was game on.

Whatever area a guy hunts in, we should strive to have a good balance in the age/sex ratios. If it gets tilted too far in any way it's not good. Just my thoughts.

i agree with some of your viewpoints nolte such as doing in a bad bear ,and helping farmers who s living is in jeopardy ,but trying to prevent getting to the point of struggling to find a track needs to happen first not after to many sows are harvested.not shooting sows is good insurance that there will be plenty of bear more sows means more boars are born ,and maybe even enough to harvest 2 boars per hunter . my question is would you rather be able to harvest two boar a year ,because numbers are highgher or keep shooting sows.one boar bear can take care of alot of sows during breeding time.so sows getting bred shouldnt be an issue .call me greedy ,but i would much rather control the bear population harvesting boars . increasing what we can harvest for game management is always nice .if bears were starving because of overpopulation that would certainly change the issue .it would have to be a bad bear staving up dogs for me to kill a sow at this point.not trying to pick on ya nolte ,just trying to look at both sides of the coin and mull shit over.

Im just glad to see houndsmen all over the US are reading these posts and commenting. These are issues that effect every states future for hound hunting! Bears dont reproduce fast enough for a damaged population to recover!

kordog wrote:not shooting sows is good insurance that there will be plenty of bear more sows means more boars are born ,and maybe even enough to harvest 2 boars per hunter . my question is would you rather be able to harvest two boar a year.

kordog,
No worries about picking on me, I can barely read anyway so I just gloss over the big words.

It's a little different deal here in WI. We have public areas that are generally hunted hard by hounders and then private land refuges where bear filter in/out. I am pretty protective of the bear that hang around my training grounds, but much more lax on areas where we only go to in our kill season. There just isn't going to be enough harvest in those kill season areas because of access issues. Having two bear tags a year in WI is a pipe dream, it won't ever happen. We currently wait about 7-8 years for 1 tag so some of our protection is built in. Most of the time I don't want to harvest ANY bear. My last tag went unfilled. I let other people who had never shot a WI bear punch their tag. Our DNR wants a decent number of bear harvested because they field calls all summer long from cabin/resort owners that are ripping up garbage and causing a mess. It's a real hassle for them to call in the APHIS trappers to relocated them where most times they just come right back.

I do know one thing though, you whack all those smaller boars there ain't going to be many that make it to that turbo stage. I LIKE the ones that make it to be brusiers. Those can be the fun hunts to talk about around the campfire 10 years later. Lots of big bear have been saved by people punching their tag on a smaller respectable boars OR too many little bear hanging around in the area. It never fails that you end up on a little rat when you're trying to long cold trail a thumper.

All I ever here from our state and the surrounding ones is. WE NEED MORE BEAR TAGS!! Every single year you will here this around these parts. Would guess it to be the same in other states. For the most part this is nothing more than greed for the need to kill something. Very few understand or will take the time to understand why tag numbers are where they are.

In WI the harvest quoata is around 20% of the population. Most other states are right around this number as well. Give or take a point or two. A few points either way will result in the growing, decline, or stabilization of the population. The way it is done. A very good year for hunters in any of these states. Could be very disastrous for any game population. Since the tag numbers are based in past success rates. Some states could be hit hard by a good year for hunters. WI would not feel it as bad as say MI. WI has about a 60% success rate. Where MI has only a 17% success rate. Reverse those numbers for a year, and it will not be pretty.

WI will never be a 2 tag state. The population numbers needed to support that will just never happen. Our population would have to be as high as Ontario. Even then I doubt it. In my zone it takes 10yrs to get a take. Likely to go up again. Like many I believe the numbers to be way off. In one of the largest zones in the state. Although we enjoy the higher numbers as a result.

Not harvesting females is a good practice for the benefit of game populations. However, there still needs to be a balance. Because of human influence/interference. It is very easy for game populations to grow beyond the natural carrying capacity. Then all sorts of problems can occur.

Recently I watched an episode of Silent Draw Outdoors on WildTV. A Montana lion hunt. Where at the end they did an interview with a Montana game specialist. It was very interesting to hear about the relation of females in population, and the effects of too many in the population.

Sometimes our good intentions can back fire in ways we just dont know.

the boars that get to a big size got that big by being a step ahead of hunters and dogs during kill season. it is nice to get on a monster for sure. there always seems to be quite a few that get harvested that have slipped through the cracks some how .i also enjoy running the bear who can fly . not for the harvest ,but for the challenge .when my dogs are catching the runners and the bears tongue is hanging out ,because the dogs are smokin that is happiness for me.my personel opinion is that i think more trophy size bear are killed by taking sows than you will ever know ,because they are never born. game management is one thing that we as hunters can deffinately make a difference by being selective .pulling the trigger on a sow bear just seems to have a greater impact on the future of bear hunting . we as hunters have the choice to mold what the population will be for seasons to come good or bad. how many tags get handed out and why is deffinately different state to state . steve me my family and friends love bearmeat, bear hunting and the hounds it has nothing to do with having to kill .by baiting in your state if it is allowed deffinately increases the carrying capacity. alot of people are farmers without knowing it .lol.