I wasn’t a hunter back in 1999, but I do recall hearing about the cancellation of Ontario’s spring bear hunt on the radio.
It made little sense to me. Why cancel the spring hunt but keep the fall one, and if populations were healthy, why cancel anything?
I later learned that the “orphaned bear cubs” argument was a campaign strategy used by those opposed to hunting, not a concern raised by wildlife managers. It was a dark day for all when politics trumped science. The cancellation of the spring bear hunt wasn’t just a blow to hunters, it negatively impacted many northern Ontario outfitters and their communities.
When I went to work for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) in late 2007, I quickly saw that a spring bear hunt was still very much on its agenda. Despite losing a court challenge that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federation – backed by its members – did not give up the fight to have it reinstated. Yet it would be eight more years of advocacy, and a two-year pilot spring hunt, before the glorious news.
On Friday, October 30, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) announced (in two locations, no less), its proposal to extend and expand the spring bear hunt!
Almost 17 years after its cancellation, the hunt is close to returning to all wildlife management units that have a fall hunt (88 in total) and reopening to non-resident hunters, at least until 2020. These changes are key, because Americans made up a significant percentage of spring bear hunters prior to 1999, and their return will provide economic opportunities in northern Ontario.
A little concerning is the proposal to regulate baiting. The Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) suggestion that bait contents be limited to 10 kilograms seems both too small an amount and virtually impossible to monitor. It will be important to get this section right, as the regs will apply to both spring and fall bear hunts.
If you are a bear hunter, or just an engaged hunter, I encourage you to go to the EBR website, hit the “Submit Comment” button at the right hand side of the screen, and fill out the simple online form to share your views on the proposed hunt. Your government is promising to take all input into consideration in finalizing its proposal. Note: the deadline is Nov. 30, 2015.
An expanded spring bear hunt is great news, and will mean more sustainable hunting opportunities and economic benefits, both for northern Ontario communities and the government itself. Caps off to the MNRF for doing what’s right, and to the OFAH and its members for their persistence on this issue.
this is a great bouns yes, however dont be fooled. the same people that took the spring hunt away Liberals are the ones bringing it back conviently near election time, and seems convient with all the moose tag cuts that the government is trying to supplment tourist operators, only for 4 years about the next election time, the people making these decisions spend little time in the forest these days ,thus there information is inaccurate, the numbers are all scientific , and those numbers came be munipulated any way they like, in my area bears have been very low for a long time and moose numbers thrive however the mnr states different as of this years moose hunt start ive seen over 30 moose more then ive ever seen inn 35 years
your statement is wrong. Mike Harris Conservatives cancelled the spring bear hunt.
You are correct that Mike Harris’ conservatives cancelled the hunt. The anti-bear hunt campaign, and threats of further action during an election campaign that was running at that time, were the reasons behind his doing so.
imporant note for all hunters…a recent fall search for bait for hunting found me at a local tim hortons in search of coffe ,dounuts for me and our black furry friend and i also inquired about grease? the response to me was mind blowing and i quote from the manager “im sorry sir we dont fry our dougnuts there yeast dougnuts, so we dont have have any, however even if we did have oil we COULD NOT give it to you its TIM HORTONS poilcy that we dont support bear hunting” personaly ive stop supporting them to. just some food for thought for all you hunters out there.
You can bait bears quite successfully with ten pounds of bait. I did it for years by using used cooking oil, preferably that had been used to fry bacon, as a scent post by painting it on trees.
The scent soaks into the bark and lasts all season long.
Then hanging ten pounds of beef or pork scraps in an onion bag as the positive re-inforcment.
Once a bear hits the bait freshen it up every day or you will lose the bear. Once a bear has hit you tie the bag tightly to the tree so the bear cannot run off with it.
Then cut the contents of the bag into small pieces so when the bear opens the bag he must hang around to pick up the pieces giving you time for a shot.
However there is nothing wrong with putting out lost of bait. The sows have nothing but ants and grass to eat in the spring so if you feed them all spring ehy have more and healthier cubs and they have them at a younger age.
That way baiting can produce more bears than you shoot. Baiting is a good idea in the spring when there is lttle food for bears in the bush..