I feel that the spring bear…

I feel that the spring bear hunt needs to be abolished. The government must make an effort to acknowledge that a spring bear hunt is not about community safety as originally stated in 2014, and align their views with its own pilot study showing that it does nothing to reduce human conflict with bears. Proper behaviour by recreationists and hunters alike - and its enforcement - will have the greatest impact on mitigating and preventing such conflict. Specifically, baiting should not take place; if it continues, baiting must end when the season concludes and not begin again until shortly before the fall season. Additionally, more stringent limits must be put in place to protect other visitors and wildlife from any potential harm stemming from this practice. All bait sites should be registered to ensure compliance. Baiting should not be permitted within a 2 kilometer radius from the nearest inhabitant or residential area, and all refuse must be cleared after the hunt. If the spring hunt is to continue, changes must be made to its term. It should last only 30 days, from June 1st to June 30th in order to protect females with cubs as well as the cubs themselves. Although bears do occasionally prey on moose calves, this is not habitual. Baiting must stop after June 30th and not begin again until September 1st, or 2 weeks prior to the fall hunt. The fall bear hunt would then begin September 15th and end October 30th throughout the province. Bear hunters going out in the spring make up a very small percentage of the people enjoying the outdoors during the same period. The Ontario government would need to hire more people for enforcing such initiatives, and this implies that the province needs more Conservation Officers in general. The best way to truly reduce the possibility of human/bear conflict is to manage people by ensuring their capacity to manage their own waste.