Hunter shoots bear in its Den!

The most unethical thing in the world is a pure sportsman. A person who hunts for the pleasure of killing an animal with no intentions of using the game. He or she will make up arbitrary rules to make themselves feel good with their false morality.

Killing anything is an ugly matter. However if you kill to feed your family, then the killing is justified and for a higher purpose. This includes killing for furs if those furs are used to supplement your income.

How many people on this site are willing to crawl in a den with a 700# bear? I am willing to wager that even with a gun MOST on here would never even consider it.

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Originally Posted by klickitat

How many people on this site are willing to crawl in a den with a 700# bear? I am willing to wager that even with a gun MOST on here would never even consider it.

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Uh.... not me. I have no desire to go into an enclosed area of any type where more advantage is given to the animal than it already possesses. Bear are extremely fast too, for a short distance. Even faster than a Quarter Horse, which is one of the fastest Horses in a short distance. Dense bone, powerful, .... yeah it was not something I would want to do.

Poco made a great point about "trophy animals" and I think it is one of the most misunderstood terms to non-hunters. My best whitetail dressed out at 209 lbs and while I never scored it (cause we dont do that up here) I'm sure it is a 150-160 class buck. Not a bad animal...I turned him into meat just like the 115 pounder I got the following year. A "trophy hunter" can still be a meat hunter but one who has learned enough patience to wait for a good animal to take.

almost anybody can kill a sleeping bear with a gun,, now had he beat it to death with his bare hands,, well that may be worthy of a "Trophy" ;)

I just added another link that tells much more about the guy and the bear he killed. It will help understand what happened >> http://www.gjsentinel.com/outdoors/a...d_bear_attract

Well when it got to this point......

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“I went in about 6 feet, and I could just see the tip of his nose without a flashlight,” Kendall said. “He was growling and snapping his jaws at me.”

Kendall said that after he shined his flashlight on the bear, the bear laid back its ears.

“A buddy told me when they lay back their ears they’re usually going to charge, so I decided I better shoot while I have the chance,” said Kendall, who was carrying a .45-70 caliber lever-action rifle.

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I think it quit being about ethics, and became a matter of survival. At this point it is not about ethics or legality, but about whether you live or die. The bear is obviously awake, menacing, and not hibernating.

Presented with this situation, face to face with an angry large bear, It would not matter if it were hunting season or not, Game laws at this point are irrelevant. Judge on what was done prior to this point all you want, but at this point it is a done deal in my book. At this point it is "Me or the bear". I know who has my vote. Bye Bear. Callous of me? No more so than fishing for food, at this point, it's all about staying alive to see tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by kyratshooter

Say B, that's your second reference to testicular equipment, which is a personal jibe and has nothing to do with hunting.
You are right, it doesn't. My reference was in response to people mentioning cojones and balls as though what this nimrod did had anything to do with having any. I have NO idea why you took it personally and wouldn't even want to guess.

I know lots of female hunters, I married one from New York.

I do believe that your desire to do a sex change on hunters not making your prefered behavior list is quite unsporting!
Where on earth did I say hunters? And yes, turning a rooster into a hen would be as unsporting as shooting a bear in its den. THAT was the point I was trying to make.

All of those "Dont's" you point out are not laws, they are the standards set by aristocratic hunters on food hunters to seperate "sport hunters" from market hunters back in the early 20th century.

I was literally responding to what you said when I wrote: "...competing for a football/baseball/basketball trophy or being "the best" has squat to do with shooting a sleeping bear in his den and calling it "sport".

People that did not need to worry about having food on the table could be picky about when, where and what they shot. Somehow, modern people instantly take the stand that no one HAS to hunt so everyone should follow the "sporting" rules.
That's not my stand and NOwhere did I say anything remotely close to it.

This particular person may have mixed sport hunting with subsistance hunting, but he broke no laws. In one state hunting over bait is illigal, in another it is OK. In some states chasing deer with dogs is legal, in others it is not. In one state shooting deer with buckshot is legal, in others it is not. In my county I can shoot an unlimited number of deer, one county over I can only take 2.
And here I was quoting from the article which I happen to agree with: "There are certainly ethical standards within the hunting community: Don't shoot ducks on a pond. Don't shoot turkeys on a roost. Don't shoot bears in a den."
I also said that just because no laws were broken it didn't make it right.

It is up to each state to set their standards and sitting in KY or NY or CA gives me zero authority to tell Colorado what to do or how to write their game laws.

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Kyrat, if you are going to take issue with what I said at least read it. I don't make a habit of writing between the lines and hope people won't read it that way. And for the record, I only have a problem with frivolous "sport" hunting, which is anything but.

Poco, the guy went INSIDE the den. If he went home instead it wouldn't have been a matter of life and death.
Even legitimate hunters have a problem with what this guy did.

I agree B, I think this gives hunters in general a black eye,, just my humble opinion of course ,,, :)

I think the guy is more dumb than either ballsy or cruel... crawling into a occupied bears den?
like Sarky pointed out, smoking an animal out of it's den is a good idea... safer and easier than crawling in!
but as for "Anyone can shoot a sleeping bear"....... only somebody who has never tracked or stalked a bear would say that... I don't hunt bear anymore, because I'm Not keen on the taste.. but I can guarantee you that tracking a bear, and crawling into its den to kill it..... is NOT something anyone can do.

Right or wrong??... when hunting for food, I would see this as a crazy..not cruel... tactic.

Hunting just for sport.. well, I enjoy hunting, but never understood killing for" fun and sport" only.

Oh, and just because you get a trophy animal, doesn't mean you're a "trophy hunter"

This does not give a black eye to hunters. The sissy little girls who are upset about this are never going to be happy with any hunting, that or they are clueless.

The man spent big money on tags, licenses, fuel, equipment and food, just to go out and try and fill the freezer. He did not buy a canned hunt. HE TRACKED A BEAR AND THEN CRAWLED INTO IT'S DEN AND KILLED IT!

I would shake this mans hand while those who are chastising are not worth warm p!ss on a hot day.

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Originally Posted by klickitat

This does not give a black eye to hunters. The sissy little girls who are upset about this are never going to be happy with any hunting, that or they are clueless.

The man spent big money on tags, licenses, fuel, equipment and food, just to go out and try and fill the freezer. He did not buy a canned hunt. HE TRACKED A BEAR AND THEN CRAWLED INTO IT'S DEN AND KILLED IT!

I would shake this mans hand while those who are chastising are not worth warm p!ss on a hot day.

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wanna bet ? look at the comments given with the links to the stories above.

I think the guy is a chicken shi,,,, !

I have no problem with people hunting for food. Shouldn't matter if it is a trophy, exotic, or whatever as long as it's meant for food. I'd support a person shooting and eating a bald eagle if they were in dire need. I'd hope the same person would have the ethics (courtesy?) to shoot a wild turkey of the same size before the eagle, given the opportunity. But I believe this guy was just hunting for sport, to claim a title. I hope I'm wrong.

Well, two things. First, hunting and sports don't mix. I see no "sportsmanship" in it. I actually generally don't like the term mixed with anything but 100m Dash... That's just me.
Second, that's how we used tu hunt bear from two millenia ago all the way to late 20th century... If it's legal, go ahead.

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Originally Posted by Justin Case

wanna bet ? look at the comments given with the links to the stories above.

I think the guy is a chicken shi,,,, !

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If I gave you a gun, would you go into the den?

Folks, let's drop the name calling. The fact is what this man did was legal. Any and all other comments are, as I said in the beginning, opinion. Everyone is welcome to their own so stop the name calling.

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Originally Posted by Justin Case

wanna bet ? look at the comments given with the links to the stories above.

I think the guy is a chicken shi,,,, !

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Anyone can claim to be a hunter and then bad mouth him, right? Lets see a copy of their hunting license with their comments. The guy tracked this bear..he didnt find it with a radio collar or a dog. I am sure he would have rather shot it out near a road or stream but he shot it where he finally caught up with it.

I'm a tracker/stalker and have walked miles and miles to get a deer. You can be sure that if I find the deer I've tracked for 10 miles sleeping, I'm going to take it and I dont care what anyone who will never work that hard for a meal (or 60) has to say about my choice.

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Originally Posted by BENESSE

Poco, the guy went INSIDE the den. If he went home instead it wouldn't have been a matter of life and death.
Even legitimate hunters have a problem with what this guy did.

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True... but he also didn't know for sure that the bear was really in there from his interview. He only knew for sure once he went inside. At that point it was too late.

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Originally Posted by klickitat

If I gave you a gun, would you go into the den?

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I have a gun,,, and , No, I wouldn't,, but then I only hunt if i am hungry, I am just not into killing things for the fun of it, its not fun for me, and I dont think it was even a little bit "sportsmanlike" to shoot this animal as it slept in its den, just as its not "sportsmanlike" to spotlight deer. shooting ducks before sunrise, etc etc,,

I hate it when people dance.
If you were hungry and had tracked the bear back to it's den. Would you be willing to go into the den to get the bear or would you be too afraid to go in after it?