MN bear harvest down from '17

[Lee Borgersen]

Minnesota bear harvest down from '17

10/21/18

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Minnesota bear hunters took nearly 13 percent fewer black bears this year compared to 2017, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reported last week.

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Hunters killed 1,760 bears during the hunting season that ended last Sunday, down from 2,035 in 2017 and down 33 percent from 2,633 bears shot in 2016. It's the fewest bears taken since 2013 when just 1,624 were shot.

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The same number of permits was issued this year as last. So wildlife managers said the dip in bears shot isn't because there are fewer of them but because they were full. Ample natural food in the woods this year — berries, nuts and other mast crops — kept bears satisfied and less likely to eat at hunter bait stations.

 
This year hunters took 66 percent male bears and 34 percent male bears. That's still too many females, wildlife managers say, to be sustainable. Because the DNR's goal is to increase bear numbers in the quota area — including northeastern Minnesota — they'd like to see fewer than 30 percent of the harvest females, said Tom Rusch, DNR wildlife manager for the Tower area.

For that to happen, hunters will have to shoot fewer females, which are slow to mature and don't begin breeding until age 4 or 5. Most females shot are younger than that and so never had the chance to add to the population, Rusch noted.

Because it's hard to distinguish males from females in the woods, the only sure way to shoot fewer females is to shoot fewer total bears, which means fewer permits available for hunters and more years between permits due to the lottery system.

[deadeye]

"they'd like to see fewer than 30 percent of the harvest females, said Tom Rusch, DNR wildlife manager for the Tower area. For that to happen, hunters will have to shoot fewer females, "

Geeeze, I hope we didn't pay too much for that study...   

Anyway, I did my part and shot a boar. 

[K.O.W.]

I think the harvest # is always skewed anyway. The no quota is the problem. Where I live dozens get a no quota tag, hunt in a permit area, but have a friend/family a local to cover their story. I have land in permit Area 51. The people here hunt bear every year on no quota licenses in my area. If they get one they just claim it from the no quota area. The CO's and DNR have too many sneaky people to deal with. Since they send in a tooth etc they must have a "safe" no quota farm to claim where they got it etc. Some people will do just about anything there's a cheat in everything we can hunt in MN. Some people on the edge of no quota never have to apply for a bear tag. That's where the CO's need to zero in with bear Hunter's. The no quota is a free for all where I live. I have been told this is how you avoid applying for a tag and what to do if you get one. They usually will go as far as loading the animal guts and all haul it across the hwy and dress it out there for more proof. Think of the cheaters reading this going great he just told everyone how we cut the bear hunting corner.