Spring Bear Season ?
Wisconsin
As a resident of WI, I know that there is a lack of money coming into the DNR. What if they opened up a very limited spring bear season that would have a separate system to build points and draw a tag in. The system would be more expensive to apply for and the tag would cost more. It would provide more money plus add a new hunting opportunity to a few lucky people that would draw the tag. Heck even make it a once in a life time tag.
Just a random thought to make some money and to have a chance to spring bear hunt in WI.
I don't think it would generate enough $$$$ to make a difference even if the price was raised. The DNR only give out a very small limited amount of tags as it is.
Forget it ....the bears get enough pressure already
It'll never happen and like Buckmaster said, ....the bears get enough pressure already!
Enough pressure alrady ????? Then push this bait starting time into August and dog training also. WoW that reduced alot pressure right there. Float a trial spring season one week to bait, one week to hunt. $51 application $459 tag fee. 200 tags zone A 150 B. 200 D. 350 tags C Thats $450,000 not counting the unsuccessful applicants monies.
Keep raiseing the applicant fees and tag fees with inflation or index to demand as long as there more applicants than tags up the prices. It's the American business model make bear hunting great agian.
At least try it in C since there not meeting kill quotas anyways.
Bad idea. With all the technology, and now modern crossbows, game animals need a break.
YEAAAAA just what I want more guys running dogs thru my property longer. I AM NOT AGAINST HUNTING WITH HOUNDS !!!!!
Maybe interesting to see a small spring allotment of tags. But HELL NO!!! to raising prices to make a money grab. It's not our job to infuse cash into governmental agencies!! They need to trim the fat and work within a budget just like a private business. I pay 10s of thousands in taxes and don't see a need to raise my hunting prices. My check is so taxed by gov before I receive it and then I pay tax and convenience fees to buy a license and in some states then have to buy a seal after I fill my tag. Forget that nonsense. If any of these agencies were in private sector everyone of them would be bankrupt and looking at federal indictments.
Sorry if I got off track but all these agencies complaining about money including the dnr are not our responsibilities
I asked this same question on here last year or the year before. A spring bear season makes sense. I vote yes.
But I would not support raising tag, license or application fees.
resident tags shouldn't be over $20 each.
I vote NO. The spring bear that my friend shot up in Canada tasted horrible, so I don't know what one would taste like coming out of hibernation in Wisconsin, probably not as good as one would in the fall. Allot of bears that come out of hibernation are rubbed. If your into it for just shooting a animal feel free to vote yes. Would rather put my tag on one fattened up, sweetened up, full hide.
+1 MF
I thought the same, how nasty that meat must be after receiving minimal nutrition for the last 5 months and the hide must be pretty beat up. I know what I'm like waking I'm the morning.... Can only imagine the rough shape a bear could be in.
Mindbender: that's 3 opinions.
wisconsinteacher: "As a resident of WI, I know that there is a lack of money coming into the DNR."
Decreasing budgets are due to politics, not license revenues. If you want a spring bear season, simply ask the Safari Club International, WI Bear Hunters Association, and NRA. They will have their legislators write a bill, then there will be a spring bear season.
Yep, all of those spring bears killed across Canada and Alaska have rubbed hides and taste? like crap. Not.
Just because we've done things one way doesn't mean we always have to do it that way. Your traditions started out as a crazy new idea that some cranky old guys objected to.
Never going to happen. You can't compare Canada and Alaska to Wisconsin.
Kevin, what would Wisconsin gain by a spring hunt? My Canadian hunt was one of the worst experiences ever. Every hunter that was in that Canadian camp were return hunters, they hunted years with this bear guide service, all were from Wisconsin. As each bear was skinned, I was astonished when they threw almost the whole carcass away, keeping only the hide and very little meat, I asked why and they said Spring bear is terrible to eat. I didn't believe them until the hunter I was with tried some from his own bear on the grill, he said he couldn't eat it, it was that bad. I guarantee you they will not taste as good as Fall time bears, how could they? or maybe you already now this. As a guy that's been in the bear business for years I should embrace a Spring Wisconsin hunt for my personal gain ($$$$$) but I wont. The way that Wisconsin has structured its bear season its "almost" perfect, its one of Wisconsin's best success stories so why fix something that isn't broken. Enjoy your Spring go turkey hunting!!!
Why would a spring season here be different than Canada and Alaska? It would seem the same.
I have no opinion either way about having a season. I do know that hunting them without bait in the spring would be very difficult. The places I have seen where spot and stalk can be done have public land with large areas of open country where you can glass them feeding.
Yeah sure, but do it in the spring. 2 week season April 1-15. Or, if worried about DNR revenue. Just make a donation to them. Spring season would be about the same thing anyway. June would be a summer hunt.
Would like to know how baiting in June/July is pressuring the bears!!
Really..... You think their is so much support for bear hunting in Wisconsin.. We have to fight to keep what we have. A lot more people in Wisconsin and most don't support bear hunting with dogs and baits. ..... We can't get a dam wolf season. Kevin You feel their is so much support for a spring season.... write up a resolution for the spring hearings. I believe years ago it was submitted..It had no support
#1 - There is no "Lack" of money coming into the DNR. There is a lack of proper spending of the funds raised by all of the DNR programs. Quit dipping into the DNR raised funds to spend them elsewhere. Am I the only one that remembers the rape of the stamp funds?
#2 - How are you going to tell the difference between a sow and a young boar? Many, many people can't tell the difference. In Ontario outfitters that hunt the spring hunt are limited on the amount of bait they use and it has to be placed in a bucket wired to a tree 6 feet off the ground so the hunter can determine if it is a sow or a boar. Plus the fine for killing a lactating sow carries a fine of up to $25,000 and a year in jail.
#3 - as far as a spot and stalk hunt in Wisconsin. Not enough big areas where you can get high enough to cover thousands of acres like in Colorado or Alaska. Unless of course you have a huge clear cut by the "Mountain" near Wausau or near Timm's hill. Just not enough variation to be successful with a spot and stalk type of a hunt.
#4 - Not meeting the harvest quota in Zone C. We will never meet the harvest quota, because it is set too high for the zone. The reasoning behind this is because they want to keep the population in check and keep the number of bears from spreading farther south.
As far as taste, I've had good and bad tasting bears during spring and fall hunts. I learned a long time ago that when you gut a bear and the fat is pure white, it's going to be a good eating bear. Yellowish or brownish fat means that it won't taste too good.
"Why would a spring season here be different than Canada and Alaska? It would seem the same." Skookumjt....Your not serious are you?
A Spring hunt might ensure a few thousand fawns might live to see the Fall.
Yes, MF. I am. Are WI bears somehow unique from Canadian and Alaskan bears?
For spot and stalk hunting certainly as I already pointed out. For baiting, not at all different. Nothing daft about that.
And it's locale. Apparently your grasp on spelling is as good as your reading comprehension.
Here we go again ^^^^
You ladies have fun.
"For baiting, not at all different" Where I went baiting technique was quite different from Wisconsin, in fact so different I brought a couple barrels of sweets up with me, "border guys couldn't understand why I was bringing my own bait". Every place you go its different. The guide service we had used only beaver "hung in a tree" and honey & oaks in a sealed barrel with quarter size holes cut out. Cubs were the only bears that were eating my bait, the more mature bears wanted the beaver carcass. It was strange how they wanted the meat rather than the sweets. It was a learning experience for me because it was so different.
Skookumjt...."Are WI bears somehow unique from Canadian and Alaskan bears" I don't know about Alaskan black bears but Wisconsin compared to Canada yes they are, I have found out since then (Canada) that they can be very bold so bold that in some provinces a guide is required to pick up there client when there done hunting for the night. This all depends on how much human contact the bears have, in Wisconsin bears have allot of human contact so they have adapted that humans mean danger. I always wondered why after watching bear hunts on video from Canada they drive there ATVs right up to the bait stations, other than for the heavy loads of bait they unload its for other reasons as well, its to scare away those bold bears that just stand there and hold there ground.
Steve - Baiting would not be pressuring the bears, but if hound hunting was allowed in the spring it would pressure the bears. I doubt they'll ever have a spring season, but if they ever did my thoughts would be they would omit hound hunting for that time. There could be conflicts with turkey hunters also. Just my opinion.
Bear with us on this one we're thinking about it!
I've eaten spring bears I shot in both Manitoba and Quebec several times as well as fall bears from MI and Ontario and there was no difference in the meat that myself or anyone else who ate could tell. In fact until I can draw a tag in Wi, maybe next year, I have no desire to hunt bears at any time other than the spring. You don't have to compete with natural food sources is a plus but the best reason by far is the spring is when the rut is and a great time to harvest a bigger boar than in the fall as their is no better bait than a hot sow. While it is true to some degree that you can run into some rubbed hides, that is usually only on smaller bears and sows. I haven't seen a big boar ever with a rubbed hide as they are usually chasing sows and don't have time to rub. One downside to a spring hunt though is the bugs in Canada can be unlike anything you've ever seen.
Count me down as "in" on a limited spring hunt in WI however I don't think it should be a higher priced tag.
My take on it is, Hibernation does not effect the skull size but it does effect the weight of a bear. It seems in Wisconsin a hunters goal is, the bigger weight of the bear the bigger trophy you have. There are seasonal differences in weight and fur conditions. When those bears come out of hibernation they can have lost up to 25% of there body weight and during the bears rut they can loose another 20%, so you can have a 500lb trophy fall time bear being shot in the spring weighing in at a little over 300lbs live weight.
When I hunted in Canada my friend (bear camp butcher) and cameraman thought I was nuts for passing up on a mature 400lb boar, but the big bear was badly rubbed, so I passed on him. If it would have been a fall time hunt that bear would have easily been a 500lb plus bear with a perfect black sleek coat and would be on my wall.
Bear hunting in general is awesome whether it be a Spring hunt or Fall hunt. I just don't think its a good idea for Wisconsin. If a Spring hunt was to happen in WI, I wouldn't like it but I am not going to let all the other guides have fun without me lol
