As a resident of Golden Gate who coexists harmoniously with bears and other native creatures I am outraged and disgusted that another statewide bear hunt is being considered by FWC. The very idea that trophy hunters are pressuring for a bear hunt is appalling. I have seen less and less of the bears in recent years as development has encroached closer to our Eastern Collier rural homesteads. A significant number of bears are killed on the roads every year. Isn’t that enough of a take? Surely roadkill puts a sufficient dent in the bear population. And that number will only be going up due to additional roads being built across their habitat as developers, enabled by local and state policy makers, replace native wildlife habitat with more and more sprawl.
Have you heard about the proposed rule changes? Some pressuring for the hunt are asking to have baiting stations to attract the bears. Using baiting stations is not hunting, it’s luring an animal to its death when it comes for food. The right to use bow and arrows may seem to make the hunt more challenging but consider how many wounded bears will run away into the woods left maimed only to die a slow, painful and horrible death. Some want the rules to allow for dogs to be added to the mix. This hunting method would allow a pack of dogs to run down and attack the bears. When a mother bear is treed that would leave the small cubs to be ripped apart by the dogs.
Most appalling: some calling for this hunt want no check stations. Without the check stations at the last hunt there would have been no way of knowing when the quota was met (which by the way, was on the very first day!) FWC even admits the science isn’t there to support the bear hunt. The total number of bears in the state are not known. The bear population study won’t be completed until 2030. Yet the special interest groups pushing for this proposed hunt claim we have an overpopulation of bears…