By Gabriel Goodwin,
Capital News Service
The Natural Resources Commission has changed bear hunting regulations for the 2009 season due to requests made by bait and dog hunters.
Most of the modifications were made to help reduce conflicts between dog hunters and bait hunters, said Richard Smith, of Marquette and editor of the Michigan Bear Hunters Association’s publication “Bear Facts.”
The changes include a five-day ban on training hunting dogs and a limit on bait sites available to individuals.
Other components include a reduction in licensing quotas and a slight modification in the bear season timetable.
The association supports the regulation changes and Smith said the group participated in drafting them.
Both dog and bait hunters came together and found a solution that will make it better for everyone, he said.
Adam Bump, bear and fur bear specialist for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), said the new regulations are intended to “try to keep groups from arguing with each other and enjoy bear hunting as much as possible.”
The five-day restriction on hunt dog training may be the most important, Bump said. Dogs cannot be trained for the bear season within five days of its start because of concerns that they’ll scare bears away from favorite bait sites.
He said some bait hunters place bait up to a month before the start of the season so bears can get used to coming to that site.
Smith said all parties agreed on the five-day restriction because dog hunters can train their dogs for the season a week earlier then last year.
In addition, Bump said there will be a 10 percent drop in licenses available for 2009 — 11,473 licenses — compared to last year. The reductions will be focused on the western side of the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula.
Smith said individual hunters expressed concern about bear guides who don’t follow through on their agreements.
Bear guides are paid to hunters them before and during the season because the hunters who don’t time to bait or don’t have a dog to hunt with.
Many times, inexperienced hunters from the southern Lower Peninsula that use bear guides, Smith said.
The “reputable” guides support regulation because it could “help weed out the unscrupulous guides” and reduce the potential for hunters to be exploited, he said.
The reduced quotas are based on previous hunter success rates and are designed to stabilize the bear population in the western U.P., increase it in the eastern U.P. and reduce it slightly in the northern Lower Peninsula, Bump said.
Adjusting the number of licenses also help control the harvest, Smith said. That way, the DNR can carefully control the number of kills.
DNR estimated that there will be 15 percent fewer registered kills this year because of the quota reductions.
The statewide number of bears killed last year was 2,346.
Smith said hunters are required to register their kills with the DNR and it gives the department a fairly accurate number of bears taken every year.
The department also will limit bait sites to three per hunter and a maximum of 12 for guides, who set up bait sites for other hunters.
The structure of the 2009 season will change as well.
Opening day will be available only to bait hunters, and two days were added at the end of the season that will be open only to hound hunting, Bump said.
In the U. P., the hunting season runs Sept. 10 – Oct. 21, Sept. 15 – Oct. 26 and Sept. 25 – Oct. 26. For Drummond Island, the hunting season is Sept. 10- Oct. 21 only.
In the Red Oak Management Unit in the Lower Peninsula, hunts will be Sept. 18-26 and Oct. 2-8 for archery only, while the Baldwin Unit season is Sept. 11-26 in the northern area and Sept. 18-26 for the rest of the unit.
The Gladwin Unit hunt is Sept. 18-26.