Lifting the “pilot” off the…

Lifting the “pilot” off the spring bear hunt, will provide an additional, permanent “recreational” opportunity. Obviously this is in the stakeholders’ interest (hunters, outfitters, tourism industry, camp owners) as they focus on maximizing their hunting opportunities and revenue year-round.

As usual, the arguments are wrapped in assuring, feel-good vocabulary like small businesses and jobs, sustainable resources, harvest, outdoor recreation, wildlife management, sport, etc.
Did anyone also ask the bears about their point of view? They probably would use different words.

I am not a misinformed animal rights activist. For several other reasons - other than hunting - I am a supporter of the Ontario PC Party.

I am a mature pre-school educator. Instead of continuing to tell the children cuddly stories about mama bears and their cubs, I seriously consider telling them the chilling truth next time. (I assume the original Winnie-the-Pooh, an orphaned Ontario bear cub, also resulted from a spring bear hunt.)

The regulation to protect females with cubs looks good on paper but is difficult to implement in the field.

Can we effectively frame and regulate the spring bear hunt so that predictably only male grown-ups are targeted? I don't think so. Therefore, I ask the spring bear hunt pilot project to be terminated.