Bills seek ‘civility’ for hunting bears Advocates want use of dogs, bait banned

AUGUSTA – Supporters of three of the five bear bills in the Legislature argued in a hearing Monday that Maine should add “civility” to its hunting traditions by prohibiting the use of dogs or bait and the selling of bear parts.

Ironically, opponents say these bills would actually send Maine back in time by removing the ability to manage the hunt and to efficiently bag a bear.

“Now, some record is being kept [of bear parts sold]. It makes sense to keep it out in the open rather than going back to the old days,” Maine Trappers Association representative Skip Trask said of LD 702, which would make the selling of bear parts illegal.

In addition to opposing the bill sponsored by Rep. Thomas Bull (D-Freeport), Trask also opposed LD 760, sponsored by Rep. Linda Rogers McKee (D-Wayne), which would make hunting over bait more difficult. He also opposed LD 1067, sponsored by Rep. Gerald Davis (R-Falmouth), which would prohibit the use of dogs or bait in hunting bear.

Trask, who was one of 13 in the audience of 40 to testify on the five bills, argued that supporters of these bills lack an understanding of hunting bear in their claim that is more cruel than other forms of hunting.

Others testified to the Joint Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife that bills like LD 760 threaten the management systems that help control hunting practices and wildlife populations.

“As landowners, we don’t want to encourage an extra fee. We wouldn’t be able to afford managing the sites. It would go back to the way it was,”‘ said Melanie Cote, the commercial use manager for the North Maine Woods, which manages bear baits.

Cote said that in the early 1980s bear hunters and commercial guides fought over bear sites. That ended, she said, when the North Maine Woods started to manage bear baits.

However, Robert Fisk, the president of the Maine Friends of Animals, argued that the selling of bear parts as well as the use of dogs or bait in bear hunting were simply demeaning to bears. He asked the committee to give the bears a “dignified existence.”

As McKee noted in her testimony when presenting LD 760, Fisk referred to many he knew who thought that hunting with hounds or over bait was cruel.

“Two-thirds of the public think it should be illegal,” Fisk said. “This practice is driven by the greed of commercial outfits.”

The fact many on the committee favored Maine’s bear hunting practices was indicative of some of the questions they asked, such as when Rep. Howard Chick (R-Lebanon) asked Fisk if he had any “on-site experience.”

“You don’t need esoteric knowledge to know that it is unfair,” Fisk replied.

Rep. David Trahan (R-Waldoboro) presented Trask with the same question, but he asked the former game warden of 16 years to speak specifically about the importance of hunting close to one’s prey.

“[This bill] flies in the face of the concept to get as close to prey as possible, and to kill as efficiently as possible,” Trask said. “Instead of making it more acceptable, it would make it worse.”

And Rep. Royce Perkins (R-Penobscot) followed Trahan’s question by asking Trask if increasing the distance a hunter can sit from the bait, as LD 760 requires, would actually help the perceived image of the hunt.

“Anyone it would help does not understand the hunt,” Trask said.

LD 761, a bill that would create a bear hunting permit, was the only bear bill supported by Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife deputy commissioner Fred Hurley.

Hurley said this bill, which was presented by Rep. Matt Dunlap (D-Old Town), was unlike the other bills, which he called “social policy issues,” because it was aimed more at the business of managing a population.

Trapper Michael Bresett also gave testimony in support of a fifth bear bill, LD 287, sponsored by William Smith (D-Van Buren), which would allow the use of cage traps for bears. Bresett encouraged the committee to consider this “more humane” way of trapping which he said would please environmentalists while helping to stop nuisance animals. Unlike Trask, Bresett said he hoped to see the future of trapping in Maine secured by avoiding the ire of animal rights groups.

Deirdre Fleming covers outdoor sports and recreation for the NEWS. She can be reached at 990-8250 or at dfleming@bangordailynews.net.