As a recomendation, you may want to add the other benifit of baiting for bear. And that is baiting is feeding. Feeding bear at a critical point in the annula cycle, the fall. Mother with cubs feed on bait sites and are not shot. Mother and cubs go to den strong and both have a better chance living thru the winter and next spring. The same can be said of theose other bear that feed on the bait and are never shot. They also go to den fater and have a better chance of living.
Baiting is also feeding.
The reason why I haven't addressed that issue yet is that referendum pushers are claiming the following on their website in an attempt to push for referendum passage...
baiting amounts to a massive supplemental feeding program that can lead to increased bear reproduction rates. Bears who build major fat reserves thanks to bait stations are more likely to produce cubs and add to the total bear population. The practice is self-defeating if the goal is population reduction.As it pertains to this issue though ...
A) Maine's bear population growth is primarily the result of clearcutting logging practices which subsequently result in thousands of acres of succulent plant growth, i.e. summer berries, in the years following logging.
and
B) With the exception of bear trapping, which is limited and has averages about 50-60 bear per year since 1982, most bear baiting ceases at the end of September, significantly before bears usually enter their dens, thus bears still need to rely on a significant amount of natural foods after baiting ends and before denning commences.
