Busting Arguments Against Bear Hunting
Why bear hunting is crucial for maintaining healthy populations
Few topics are as controversial when it comes to science-based wildlife management as bear hunting. Some people believe bears are sacred animals. Others believe they are too adorable to hunt. However, for those who live close to bears, big bruins are considered a threat to property and human safety.
Humans have hunted bears for their meat, fat, and fur since prehistoric times. However, hunting them in modern-day North America is a polarizing topic. Anti-hunters present several key arguments against bear hunting. These fragile arguments rely heavily on emotion and are not based on sound science.
Argument #1: We Don’t Eat Bears
It is illegal to "wantonly waste or destroy usable meat from game animals” in most states. That means hunters aren’t shamelessly killing bruins, cutting off the hide and paws, and leaving the rest in the woods to rot, as some anti-hunting organizations claim.
Bear meat is actually delicious, and many hunters prefer it over venison.
Argument #2: Bears Have Strong Family Values and Social Structure
The anti-hunting community often depicts bears as having human traits and social structure. While mother bears are highly protective of their young cubs, that’s where bear family bonds end. When her cubs are about a year and a half old, the mother bear pushes them out of her life for good.
Mature males (called boars) are also known for killing cubs, even their own. They do this to force the sow to come back into heat so they may be bred again. In the human world, we call this murder, and the boar would be labeled a sex offender. Hunters target mature boars, and by doing so, they help young cubs survive to adulthood.
Argument #3: Spring Bear Hunting Orphans Cubs
Many anti-hunting groups condemn spring bear hunts because they claim hunters can kill nursing mothers, leaving their young cubs to die.
While orphaned bear cubs certainly tug at heartstrings, harvest data doesn’t support the claim. During Washington State’s 2021 hunting season, biologists collected and analyzed teeth from bears killed by hunters to determine their age and sex. Of the 124 black bears tagged by hunters in the Evergreen State, 45 were female. However, only one of those harvested females (called sows) was lactating, indicating she may have been nursing cubs.
Research from Manitoba, Canada, supports the relative rarity of cubs orphaned by hunters. After careful examination of the uterus and ovaries of harvested sows, researchers determined that the number of cubs left motherless during spring bear seasons from 1996 to 2000 was less than 2% of the estimated number of cubs that die annually of natural causes.
There is admittedly very little data on orphaned cub survival. However, a 1959 study of Michigan black bears concluded that cubs as small as 18 pounds could survive without their mothers.
Argument #4: Bears Are Cute and Cuddly
People have had a soft spot for bears since Teddy Bears became popular toys in the early 1900s. Since then, cute, cartoonish bears have been featured in children’s books and movies. They’ve even been used to sell everything from soda to toilet paper.
It is easy to forget that bears are wild animals. Their behavior is often unpredictable, and although unprovoked attacks on humans are rare, a riled-up bruin can inflict severe and life-threatening injuries.
Abundant bear populations also contribute to a sharp decline in prey species in some areas. For example, a study conducted in California named the black bear as the number one reason for a drop in the black-tailed deer population.
Argument #5: Bears Are Not Sustainable to Hunt
According to population estimates, there are more black bears in North America today than before European settlement. While a precise count is impossible due to elusive populations thriving in remote environments, biologists appraise the current black bear population between 850,000 and 950,000. Pre-colonial numbers were probably closer to 500,000 bruins. Under modern game management with often liberal annual hunting seasons, black bear numbers continue to expand by approximately 10% annually.
As for grizzlies, some 50,000 bears once roamed North America, with a natural range stretching from Missouri to California and Mexico to Alaska. By 1975, when grizzlies were initially listed as a threatened species, there were only 136 grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Grizzlies have made a tremendous comeback, particularly in and around Yellowstone National Park. Today, the GYE is home to more than 1,100 grizzlies.
GYE grizzlies have been delisted and relisted twice, first in 2007 and again in 2017. Even though the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s original population goal of 500 bears has long since been reached and surpassed.
Many animal rights groups, which are more often motivated by emotion rather than sound science, want the sustainability threshold bumped to 2,000 bears. However, many biologists believe that number is far beyond the GYE’s carrying capacity.
Quite frankly, given the history of many animal rights groups, there is no indication they would even be satisfied with that number. It is common practice for animal rights groups to advocate for the introduction of a predator species like grizzlies or wolves and present the idea that once the animals reach a certain threshold, management should be handed over to the state game and fish agency. However, when thresholds are reached, the same groups fight state management in lengthy, expensive legal battles. When states aren’t allowed to manage predators with science-based management, the result is not only a loss of prey species but also a reduction in conservation funding.
A regulated hunting season could be a valuable tool in managing grizzly populations, keeping their numbers within what their habitats can adequately support. Hunting would also provide another excellent revenue stream to support those habitats and keep them wild.
State wildlife agencies go to great lengths to ensure hunting doesn’t endanger population numbers. Hunting seasons and quotas are based on field research and harvest data. Once regulations are implemented, wildlife departments continue to conduct research, monitor the population, and adapt management strategies based on the latest available data. The season is shut down if hunt quotas are met early to prevent overharvesting.
The Truth About Hunting Bears
Narrowing Territories
Two hundred years ago, North America offered vast swaths of wild space. Travel corridors allowed crowded species to spread out and find sufficient habitat.
Over time, human civilization has fragmented the continent’s wild spaces. The result is isolated islands of suitable habitats that lack the resources to support unlimited predators. When left unchecked, wildlife populations can quickly exceed the carrying capacity of their habitat, causing species in those areas to suffer drastically.
Modern wildlife doesn’t have that flexibility, so predator populations, including bears, must be actively managed to protect prey species and keep predator species healthy.
Management Through Hunting is Humane
Humans have hunted bears for thousands of years. Only in recent human history has hunting predators like bears, wolves, lions, and coyotes been labeled cruel. However, compared to Nature, modern hunting is relatively civilized.
Nature has no moral boundaries. She kills, often indiscriminately, using floods, fires, starvation, and disease. Prohibiting the legal, managed hunting of bears will not prevent violent deaths.
In contrast, humans are the only predators on Earth who care about their prey. Humans impose bag limits, close hunting seasons, restrict the use of certain weapons, and prohibit the killing of females. Humans also actively restore and preserve habitats and painstakingly reintroduce species into areas once stripped clear.
Hunters also fund conservation programs through purchases of licenses, tags, and permits, as well as taxes on firearms, ammunition, and sporting equipment. Additionally, hunters willingly donate more than $440 million annually to conservation efforts by supporting groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimted, the National Wild Turkey Foundation, and the Mule Deer Foundation.
North American hunters are largely responsible for bringing most game species back from the brink of extinction. Without their efforts and financial support, we would not have the healthy and abundant wildlife populations we enjoy today, including black bears and grizzlies.
Glad to hear science-based arguments being published about this topic. Great piece.
Alice, this was an excellent article!