Shooting Bear FAILURE- Prompts Attack, Hunter Injured

[Dug Silverman]

Hunting methods vary, for many reasons, from type of game to terrain and more, baiting, dogs, spot and stock, ambush. Tools as well, traditional archery, spears, compound bows, crossbows, pistols, rifles, black powder, shotguns. The beauty of this is all the choices in game as well as methods as well as tools. The tricky part is not dividing and conquering from within by developing snobby attitudes about your own choices and opinions as the best and only way for everyone else too. So as hunters, fisherman and outdoorsmen we need to stay mindful of these things. We need to understand we are happy to find choices that suit our desires at the time, while not looking down upon someone else’s choices at the time. You never know when you might want to try something new and you’ll be glad the options were available.

It’s common in fishing for fly fisherman to look down on bait fisherman. It’s common for bow hunters to look down on crossbow hunters and gun hunters. Common for spot and stalk or ambush hunters to look down on bait or dog hunters. Common for hunters who only kill for food and look down on predator or varmint hunters...despite the overall concept of wildlife management where you should maintain appropriate levels of all wildlife not just the ones we like to eat.

That’s a negative aspect to being an outdoorsman, or human really, as we do this it in all walks/levels of life. Just be aware and support the choices.

We seem to be brothers in the way we see the world. It can be a lonely place.

Disagreement with an entire practice because you don’t like the way dogs are treated in your area is akin to taking a sniper shot with a rocket launcher. Saying hunters shouldn’t legally hunt with hounds because of a few guys that shouldn’t own dogs in the first place is like saying we should outlaw cars because you didn’t like the way people treated them at the demolition derby. It makes no sense. There are dogs in cities that are abandoned and mistreated every day. I believe the people committing the crimes should be in prison with the rest of the criminals.

Hunting with dogs is a beautiful thing. It’s the culmination of your training coming together in a series of perfect moments. Training of your dogs takes more time than most people would ever be willing to commit to it, physical fitness training for both hunter and dog takes months at the minimum, usually years. Firearms training depends highly on the game pursued. All of these things need to be handled carefully and mindfully, and when it does happen, there’s no greater feeling.

I’ve never ran bears with hounds (mostly because there aren’t many bears where I roam) but I’ve spent a fair amount of time running mountain lions. If you’re sitting at your computer thinking about how easy and unfair it is to run lions with dogs, I dare you to give it a try before judging. You don’t have to kill it if you don’t want to. The best part of the hunt is taking pictures of an amazing apex predator in the tree right above you. Being in a tree with a mature Tom and spending time with some of your best friends while freezing in the snow is something you’ll never forget. When you cut a track crossing a road or trail, you turn the dogs loose with no idea if the lion is a hundred yards from you, or ten miles through some of the roughest rockiest snow covered mountains you can imagine, can leave a man with a feeling like most will never experience. You don’t know where you’ll end up, or when, but you’re committed because you just sent tens of thousands of dollars worth of dogs with combined years of training. You go until you get them back. No other option. Out here we love our dogs with a passion that can only be compared to the passion they feel for doing their jobs. Once in a while a hound will turn up, skinny and malnourished. This is never a product of neglect in my area. Usually it’s because that dog somehow got separated from the rest, and couldn’t be found. Usually someone I know already knows who the dog belongs to because the owner has spread the word. I’ve seen how happy the hound and houndsman are when reunited. Don’t ever try to tell me houndsmen as a whole don’t love their dogs. We won’t be friends.

My only experience with hounds and bears was last spring. I was on a project collaring Mule Deer fawns, and we got a call to assist with a bear nearby. The hounds already had the bear in a tree when we got there. I couldn’t believe the houndsmen were still standing when I saw the terrain and heard the story of how far they had been tracking their hounds. Lucky for me, we were able to get in from a road that was much closer than where they had started. We darted the bear, took our measurements, collared him and reversed the sedative. There was nothing mean or unsporting about any of it. It was an amazing experience that I’ll remember until the day I die. If people don’t agree with these practices, I would encourage you to stop armchair quarterbacking. Get out and meet your local wildlife biologists and see if you can tag along. You may like it, you may not. If you go, be in excellent physical condition and take a camera. You may be surprised about how much your perspective changes. If you still think it’s unsportsmanlike and unfair to the predators, then I’ll respect your opinion. Shooting from the hip with emotional responses doesn’t get us anywhere. Informed opinions based of solid research does.