When the new bear hunting …

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019-0022

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29823

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When the new bear hunting baiting regulations came into effect it was only mandatory for some ! The 200m distance from any road or marked trail was to protect the general public and keep them from the danger of feeding or attracted bear and I assume hunters.
Last year there was also a project to estimate the population of bear. There were signs posted on Chemical Rd outside of South River warning of the project
There were stations set up with bait attached to trees and it was surrounded by a 10m square knee high strand of barbed wire attached to stakes driven in the ground. I believe it was intended to take hair samples for DNA . How this allows someone to estimate numbers of the population of bear is considerably beyond my comprehension and knowledge.
My concerns are with the double standards on the regulations.
This station was less than 15m from Chemical rd. There were long orange ribbons marking the area at the road drawing attention to it.
The barbed wire itself is of great danger to all wildlife larger than a squirrel. It is not a normal item that these animals would have become accustom to and the dangers of being tangled are in my estimate very high. Especially for the inquisitive young trying to investigate the smell of bait causing loss of sight, limbs, and possibly life.
I was very disappointed in our MNRF and would expect that the ones making and enforcing the rules would at least LEAD BY EXAMPLE !