Thursday, March 05, 2009
Bear license is about control, not revenue
Bill Cochran
Recent columns
Bear hound hunters last week advanced a long way toward getting something they’ve been after for decades: a separate bear-hunting license.
Members of the Virginia Bear Hunters Association say the license has potential to bring $300,000 in much needed revenue to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Maybe so, but it isn’t about revenue. It is about control. It likely would increase the number of bears killed by houndsmen and decrease the number killed by hunters out for whatever is legal, a reality houndsmen aren’t hiding.
Organized bear hunters believe that a bear is such a magnificent creature that it is best left to dedicated houndsmen. It should not, they say, become the incidental target of some deer hunter who blows it away just because he happened to come across it.
“Bear hunters don’t often take a turkey or deer, but hunters pursuing turkey and deer often take a bonus bear,” said David Steger, vice president of the 1,100- member bear association.
This is the philosophy behind the license and for some non-hound hunters it comes across with a bit of swagger. It is destined to become the hottest item amid 50 pages of proposed changes in hunting/trapping regulations under consideration by the DGIF.
The license recommendation will receive final action June 2 following a public input period. It has a price tag of $25 for residents and $150 for nonresidents. It was presented to the board by Sherry Crumley, member from Buchanan. The vote was unanimous, and came with little debate and no real support from staff wildlife biologists.
Houndsmen will gobble up the license, but what about other hunters? Will they pass on it and risk missing an opportunity of a lifetime when a bear strides by their stand?
One bear hunters expressed little sympathy. “If they want to participate they should pay,” he said.
It isn’t as if bear numbers are down; in fact, the kill is at a record high. Biologists say if bear aren’t kept in control these majestic animals could degrade to nuisance status. With that in mind, now may not be the time to chance reducing the pool of bear hunters through a new license requirement.
If the license leads to the polarization of hunters, then houndsmen will be harmed most of all. They are a minority under attack and they need the support of all hunters. That support isn’t likely to come from those who feel they have no stake in Virginia’s bear resources.
Even as houndsmen were promoting the bear license at last week’s DGIF board meeting in Richmond, a representative of the Humane Society of the United States appeared with the allegation that hound hunters are abusing their dogs. HSUS says it has 11 million members. No question, it is a formable foe even though it labors under a shroud of ignorance when it comes to hunting.
Hunters are going to make the tasks of such organizations easier if they isolate themselves into combative special interest groups.
While hound hunters rightfully laude the electricity and vigor of the chase, along with the melodious voices of good hounds and the comradeship of other houndsmen, who is to say that the still hunter or bowhunter in a treestand doesn’t earn his game during an experience that is just as meaningful?
Under the current setup, a hunter can buy an $18 big game license that contains tags for deer, bear and turkey, which is a great tool for recruiting new hunters. The bear tag would be eliminated and become a separate license under the proposal on the table. The big game license would become less valuable, but don’t expect it to be less expensive.
The bear license is an extra fee being imposed at a time when some hunters aren’t going to be able to afford it and when biologists say there is a real need for additional pressure on the bear population.
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