Are We Educating Our Bears?

slamdunk · Tuesday at 8:48 PM

This incident got me thinking today, and there's actually another bear causing havoc in the Soapstone area as well.

Are we as hunters causing bears to invite themselves into public campgrounds scavenging for food waste by baiting during hunting season?

Increased tags, more hunters baiting, undeniable increase in humans inhabiting the mountains all summer, many of which are inexperienced and leaving food and garbage out.

Are we unintentionally chumming the bears during the "off season"?

elkassassin · Tuesday at 8:54 PM

If Most YUPPIES Knew What Was Going On In Campgrounds When The Lights Go Out I'll GUARAN-DAMN-TEE You They'd Change Their Ways!

Vanilla · Tuesday at 9:31 PM

I think regular campers are doing this education much more than bear hunters are.

If the bear baiting was causing this the bears would be staying at the bear bait stations and not in the campgrounds.

slamdunk · Tuesday at 9:43 PM

Vanilla said:
I think regular campers are doing this education much more than bear hunters are.

If the bear baiting was causing this the bears would be staying at the bear bait stations and not in the campgrounds.

However.....when baiting season ends, do they continue looking for these free man made handouts?

slamdunk · Tuesday at 9:44 PM

elkassassin said:
If Most YUPPIES Knew What Was Going On In Campgrounds When The Lights Go Out I'll GUARAN-DAMN-TEE You They'd Change Their Ways!

Place a few cams around the campsite and you might find Bigfoot is real!

elkassassin · Tuesday at 9:45 PM

There's One Thing you Don't Ever Wanna Under-Estimate On A Bear!

And That't Be A Bears Smeller!

And If He Finds Himself A SAMICH!

He'll Be Back Tomorrow Night For Another One!

And If You Ain't Got One Set Out For Him He'll Dig A Little Deeper & Find One!

grizzly · Tuesday at 10:30 PM

slamdunk said:
However.....when baiting season ends, do they continue looking for these free man made handouts?

I think it's a fair question. How would the bears not be assimilated to following their noses to the smell of human food and getting a full stomach for weeks at a time and then not go to the next place looking for free food when the previous source runs out or a larger bear pushes them off?

They don't know which human food they're supposed to eat and which they're not.

I don't see much of a difference in raiding a garbage can for doughnuts and raiding a barrel of donuts with a camera over it.

elkassassin · Tuesday at 10:37 PM

The Barrel & Cam Is Gonna Cost You!

grizzly said:
I think it's a fair question. How would the bears not be assimilated to following their noses to the smell of human food and getting a full stomach for weeks at a time and then not go to the next place looking for free food when the previous source runs out or a larger bear pushes them off?

They don't know which human food they're supposed to eat and which they're not.

I don't see much of a difference in raiding a garbage can for doughnuts and raiding a barrel of donuts with a camera over it.

hossblur · 2024-07-31T05:43:08-0600

Some of it is just the expansion of bear population.

Growing up here we rarely even thought about a bear, now we think about clean camps to not encourage them.

Slams idea seems not unreasonable

Robiland · 2024-07-31T08:06:53-0600

hossblur said:
Some of it is just the expansion of bear population.

Growing up here we rarely even thought about a bear, now we think about clean camps to not encourage them.

Slams idea seems not unreasonable

That is exactly what I was going to say. I NEVER saw a bear all my life until about 15 years ago. I saw 2 that year on Manti while elk hunting. Now, I dont go very often without seeing a bear or scat or tracks anymore. I see them way more often than I should. I do think the bear population pretty big.

2 years ago while helping a friend on he bear tag and baiting, we had 11 different bears come into our bait in a 2 week time. Granted, 2 of them were sows with 2 cubs each. One set was young little guys, while the other set were atleast 1 year olds. BUT that was alot of bears.

yoteduster · 2024-07-31T08:24:44-0600

Bears will be Bears..they are always looking for a grocery store

Muleman1 · 2024-07-31T20:18:40-0600

It’s the new Covid campers they have no clue how to camp or anything about it

Vanilla · 2024-08-01T06:41:02-0600

I’ve been camping for many decades, and people not knowing what they are doing is nothing “new.”

slamdunk · 2024-08-01T07:05:25-0600

And yet another....

MrShane · 2024-08-01T07:09:30-0600

Solution:
Add Bears to same list as Coyotes and Cougars.
#SaveOurMuleDeer.

elkassassin · 2024-08-01T07:29:55-0600

A few years Ago We Had A Bear That Got In To One Of The Campgrounds Hosts/Forest Service Run Around Truck!

He Was running Up & Down The River Looking For Groceries!!

He Opened The Door & Roughed Stuff Up A Little On That Truck!

He'd Hit Several Camp Sites For Quite Some Time!

I Set Up A Deal So He Wouldn't Knock The Door Off My Fifth Wheel!

He Hit It That The First Night!

And They Trapped Him The Next Night!

I've Had Bears Come In To Camp Numerous Times!

The Closet I've Came To Almost Having To Shoot One I Was In A Tent On A Bright Moon Lit Night And I Hear Some BS Going On Then The Shadow On The Side Of My Tent Looks As Big As A Grizzly,He's Right Next To My Tent & I Have The Trigger Half Back Knowingly I Was Probably Gonna Have To Shoot Him!

I Hollered & Hollered,That Wasn't Doing Anything!

I'd Holler & He'd HUFF & PUFF!

He Stuck His Nose Right On The Side Of My Tent Several Times & I Was Perty Sure With One SWAT He'd Be In!

He Finally Got Done FRICKIN Around & Left!

Some Of Them Are Perty Good At Knocking Doors Off Camp Trailers!

A Friend Of Mine On Elk Ridge Was Turkey Hunting Several Years Ago & Was Headed Back To His Wheeler & When He Got Back To The Main Road He Looked Down Where His Wheeler Was & Initially Thought Somebody Was Messing With His Wheeler,So He Started Running Down There & When He Got Close Enough He Could See It Was A Bear Just Ripping Things Up,Chewed The Seat Off,Chewed All His ATV Saddle Bags Up,Chewed His Bow Case Up,Done A Bunch A Damage Quick!

My Friend Said He'd Never Leave Another ButterFinger At The Wheeler Ever Again!

goforbroke · 2024-08-01T07:47:38-0600

I think hunting bears helps a ton. It helps educate the bears that humans are dangerous. I wish they allowed hunting grizzlies in island park. Those bears have no fear of humans.

Glad we live in a place where they will kill a bear instead of closing the campground indefinitely. Grizzlies have likely killed more humans this year than bears killed for getting into campgrounds.. I like MrShanes's recommendation. The fewer bears the better!

hornkiller · 2024-08-01T17:35:46-0600

If the ut "FISH" & game would pull there heads out of A$$ and double the tags people wouldn't have to wait 20 years to kill one and we wouldn't have a problem!