Steve – Uh oh, portents of another massive topical side-trip here. Sorry, Andrew, but I simply must take Steve’s bait. 😀 In fact I have nothing whatsoever against fair chase black bear hunting. I don’t personally view baiting, of anything, as hunting. I like to keep the “hunt” in hunting. And with bears, at least out here in the RM West, they’re so embarrassingly easy to find if you just study their habits a bit, that to kill one over bait would be for me an admission of imcompetence and/or laziness, and with dogs, and shooting a treed bear, even worse. IMHO. But that aside, I’ve eaten (fair chase) bear and it tastes real good; just a bit of “mouth feel” difference, maybe “graineness” is the word, to get used to, but no biggie. I just don’t care to hunt bears myself, since if you have a chance to “get to know them” in the wild as I have, they quickly start seeming almost human. And the nonhuman part is a big dog. But again, I have no problem whatsoever with those who hunt black bear fair chase. Despite the rumors to the contrary, I don’t have a “My way or the highway” outlook, but just informed opinions. Like the song says, “I haven’t said enough, I’ve already said too much.” How about this: “Good luck on your fair chase hunt!” 😀 Dave
