Every couple of months I find myself congratulating California for it's scientific minded and "fair chase" approach to managing wildlife.............Whether it be showing America that you do not have to hunt Pumas to minimize conflicts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,whether it be outlawing the trapping of Bobcats and Coyotes(save specific harm to human welfare)......................and now eliminating the use of hounds when hunting Black Bears, a state that does not get many things right gets an **** for it's co-existance policies!

http://blog.pe.com/environment/2014/01/02/black-bears-number-killed-by-hunters-declined-in-2013/#.UsZJUED5Hk8.email

BLACK BEARS: Number killed by hunters declined in 2013

JANUARY 2, 2014 BY DAVID DANELSKI

The number of black bears killed by hunters in California has declined since Go. Jerry Brown in 2012 approved a law that bans the use of dogs to track and chase the animals.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that in the  2013 season, hunters killed 1,002 bears, about half the 1,962 taken the year before.

“Doubtless this reduction was due at least in part to the fact that 2013 was the first year that California black bears were not harassed and cornered by packs of hounds, ” said a statement by the Humane Society of the United States, which supported the law.

in 2012, the society and  other animal rights groups had pushed for the change, arguing that the use of dogs was unsporting and cruel.  They said hounds chased exhausted bears up trees, so the hunters could arrive on the scene and  take aim for an easy  kill.

Hunters said using hounds to track bears is a time-honored tradition and that often they would not shoot a bear that had been treed.

In the Inland area, bear hunting is allowed in the San Bernardino National Forest.

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