I possess a hunting licence…

I possess a hunting licence and do harvest animals in Ontario for consumption. I am also the host of Hinterland Who's Who, Canada's longest running public service announcements - featuring messages of responsible stewardship of nature and conservation of wildlife. I managed a wildlife education centre with Ontario's largest collection of captive native wildlife, including black bears. I am not a member of OFAH because of my awareness of their misrepresentation of data and facts surrounding wildlife. I do not agree with organizations who promote hunting opportunities at seemingly any cost to the overall well being of natural systems as a whole. They appear to have too much power in influencing the OMNRF in decision making around harvests than they should. There are many independent hunters who believe in ethics and science/fact-based conservation measures as a priority, over providing hunting opportunities. I am frankly shocked that the proposed changes are even being considered, as I was when the pilot spring bear hunt was brought into effect. Many species are decisively not harvested when mothers have vulnerable young, who would be put at risk of suffering from starvation if their mothers were killed. Why this principle is not being applied to black bears is beyond me. It is a blatant disregard for ethics. I keep reading that hunters are prohibited from shooting mother bears with cubs and this infuriates me for several reasons. I have worked with black bears in captivity , as well as with OMNRF bear technicians in the wild and neither myself nor the techs could accurately differentiate male bears from female bears in the field. It is also common knowledge that mother bears stow away their young ones while they go foraging, so hunters who shoot lone bears could very well be killing mother bears unknowingly. I am obviously strongly against the proposed spring bear hunt or the continuation of the pilot spring hunt. If it is determined by research and science, and not due to pressure from the OFAH or other special interest groups, that a hunt is required to keep bear numbers in check, then all tags should be issued for a fall hunt, when young cubs have grown significantly and stand a better chance of survival. I expect my province to make decisions based on research and ethical practices only. Thank you for considering my comments.