Thursday, April 21, 2011

Peninsula hunters line up for bear-baiting rights

It was sort of a tailgate party, Alaska style, at the headquarters of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Soldotna on Sunday night as dozens of people lined up for the 8 a.m. Monday availability of more than 200 bear-baiting permits. Coffee, beer and hot dogs were shared. One man brought bear hides to use as blankets; several were wearing hunting camo. A T-shirt read "Bear Whisperer," reported the Peninsula Clarion. The first-come, first-served permit release is an annual event. Only a few dozen of the bear-baiting sites are easily accessible.


Getting a spot doesn't actually mean that you'll take a bear, though.
"To actually get a bear you got to put a lot of time in there," [Tim] Elder said.
In his 15 years baiting he's only taken four bears.
"I'm not out there to take every bear that comes in," he said.
An advantage of baiting is being able to size up the animal before shooting it. It is illegal to shoot sows with cubs.
Baiters use dog food, doughnuts and popcorn to try to entice the animals under their tree stands.
"Sometimes it's three to four days before you see a bear even though your food is gone," [Dave] Powell said.
"They're tricky," added [Stan] Kulich. "They're laughing at us more than we're laughing at them."

The permits are good only for shooting black bears. Sows with cubs are off limits.
"So there are a lot of photo opportunities, not shooting opportunities," Kulich said.
Read more at the Clarion.

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