Archery Talk Forum banner

Some hunters are dirtbags

9K views 159 replies 87 participants last post by  ruffme 
#1 ·
.

I know it's not illegal to shoot a collared bear, but come on. Let's help hunter perception by not shooting these bears. It's not like there's a ton of them out there.




http://www.startribune.com/local/223827951.html




.
Hunter kills research bear near Ely

Article by: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated: September 15, 2013 - 1:48 PM

While shooting was legal, DNR has urged hunters to exercise restraint when it comes to radio-collared bears.



ELY, MINN. — A hunter has shot and killed a well-known research bear near Ely, the North American Bear Center said this weekend.

Dot, who was 13 years old, was shot Friday while wearing a radio collar with colorful ribbons, researchers Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield wrote for an online update for the Bear Center

“Dot was radio-tracked longer than any other bear in the study, beginning with her life in the den with her radio-collared mother Blackheart,” they wrote. “Dot had a great, gentle personality and was a favorite of many who got to see her in the course of her 13 years.”

Dot got her own radio collar when she was 1 year old.

It is legal to shoot a radio-collared bear in Minnesota, but the Department of Natural Resources urges hunters to use restraint.

“These animals provide long-term data on reproduction and habitat use that is invaluable for bear management across the state,” DNR bear research biologist Dave Garshelis said in a statement before the hunting season. But the DNR says officials recognize that a hunter may not always see a bear’s radio collar or ear tags.

The Duluth News Tribune reported that Dot was the second radio-collared bear to be shot during this bear season, which opened Sept. 1; a bear researchers had named Aster was shot and wounded Sept. 5. Rogers said he expects Aster will recover.

In Dot’s case, Rogers and Mansfield said that Friday afternoon, “her GPS locations showed her signal moved quickly from the forest to the town of Ely. We drove to Ely and located the radio-collar in the conservation officer’s truck awaiting delivery to the DNR office in Tower and eventual return to us.”

Rogers was told Dot was killed “in a hunting situation,” the researchers said.

The DNR did not immediately return messages seeking comment Sunday.

Hunters have killed least nine of Rogers’ radio-collared bears over the years, including two in 2010.

Earlier this year, the DNR revoked Rogers’ permits, and he was ordered to stop placing collars on bears and stop putting cameras in dens. But there was an appeal to an administrative law judge, and a temporary compromise allows researchers to have collars on up to 10 bears.

With Dot’s death, the bear center has nine collared bears, including Aster.
.
.
 
#4 ·
I agree with Skeptic. Maybe you should do a little research before posting.

There has been some controversy with this "bear researcher". His permit to radio collar bears was revoked by the DNR this past summer, only to be overturned by a judge.


Feb. 28, 2011

Why the DNR, as a matter of policy, won't give added protection to collared bears

By Tom Landwehr
Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

As the new DNR commissioner, I have faced a dizzying array of issues during my first six weeks on the job. The DNR's scope of authority ranges from forestry and mining to fishing and camping, and each area has issues where I sometimes must make an unpopular decision.

I recently made a tough decision on an issue involving a lot of public emotion, but one requiring me to balance research desires against pragmatism and private interests against public good.

The DNR received a request from bear researcher Mr. Lynn Rogers to make it illegal for licensed hunters to kill bears fitted with radio collars. Radio collars, which are attached around the neck of an animal, are frequently used to study bear habits. Mr. Rogers made the request because he was concerned his bear-research project would be compromised if collared bears were legally harvested by licensed hunters. DNR bear researchers use similar collars, so I understand Mr. Roger's concern.

This was not a decision I came to easily, but I ultimately concluded that protecting collared bears through DNR rule is not desirable. Here are my reasons:
◾While Mr. Rogers' research is popular and interesting, it is not essential to managing bear populations in Minnesota. As a matter of policy, our job at the DNR is to manage entire populations of wild animals, and singling out individual bears for protection is not a policy I support.
◾Making it illegal to harvest radio-collared bears would be largely unenforceable. Most bears are taken in low light at dawn and dusk. It is very likely a hunter could fail to distinguish a marked bear. In this case, when markings are hard to see, a hunter could easily miss seeing them and accidentally kill a collared bear. We don't want to prosecute people for honest mistakes.
◾It is nearly impossible to prove a crime. Even if markings are visible, it would be difficult for a conservation officer to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a hunter could see the collars. Also, a truly guilty party could remove collar flagging surreptitiously and further argue they were not visible.
◾Wildlife belongs to all Minnesotans. It is a public resource, and wild game animals are lawful to harvest under state law. Placing a collar and flagging on a game animal shouldn't "reserve" it for one individual or group. Even in the name of research, individuals or groups shouldn't be allowed to preempt legal harvest. It sets a terrible precedent for usurpation of public resources.
◾This issue is properly a legislative one. The DNR manages populations and doesn't set regulations regarding individual animals. If society believes individual animals should be protected, I believe the legislature is best suited to make that change to reflect the will of the people.

The DNR uses radio collars to study bears. The agency loses research bears annually to legal harvest, so our researchers understand the issue. We recognize, however, that in a wild population of wild animals, hunting is a function of their life cycle in a human-dominate landscape.

The DNR works diligently to make hunters aware that bears with radio collars are important for research. We will continue to request hunters not to shoot them.

We will also work with Mr. Rogers, local communities, bear guides and hunters in our public education efforts to protect radio-collared bears. We have received a high level of cooperation from this voluntary effort.

I firmly believe this is the best approach.
 
#13 ·
I do know the subject. I'm well aware of Lynn Rogers. You do realize he permit was reinstated, right? Since then his permit has not been revoked again.



Maybe you should do a little research before posting.





http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_23754275/researcher-lynn-rogers-gets-keep-collars-bears-now



.
Researcher Lynn Rogers gets to keep collars on bears - for now

By Dave Orrick
dorrick@pioneerpress.com
Posted: 07/29/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT


Ely bear researcher Lynn Rogers won a reprieve in court Monday, when the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources agreed to allow him to keep radio collars on 10 wild black bears.
.
.
 
#15 ·
#6 ·
The MN DNR has their own radio collaring program, these are the ones that provide them with research data, the AP article is misleading.

DNR asks bear hunters not to shoot radio-collared bears

(Released August 27, 2013)


The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) asks hunters participating in Minnesota’s bear season, which opens Sept. 1, to avoid shooting radio-collared research bears.

The bears are marked with large colorful ear tags or colorful streamers.

DNR researchers are monitoring about 30 radio-collared black bears, most of them in northwestern Minnesota, especially near Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area and the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. Additional radio-collared bears reside in and around the Chippewa National Forest, Camp Ripley, Cloquet Forestry Station and Voyageurs National Park.

Bear research also is being conducted between Ely and Tower near the Eagles Nest chain of lakes in northern St. Louis County.

“Hunters near these areas should be especially vigilant for these valuable research bears,” said Dave Garshelis, DNR bear research biologist. “These animals provide long-term data on reproduction and habitat use that is invaluable for bear management across the state.

“We’re asking that if hunters see ear tags or a collar on a bear, they refrain from shooting it,” Garshelis said. “Researchers have invested an enormous amount of time and expense in these individuals.”

Many of the collars have GPS units that collect and store data, which is downloaded by DNR researchers when they visit the bears in their dens. Long-term records of individual bears have been the cornerstone of information that helps the DNR monitor and manage the bear population, Garshelis said.

DNR officials recognize that a hunter may not be able to see a radio collar or ear tags in some situations. For this reason, taking a bear with a radio collar is legal unless the bear is accompanied by a researcher who has identified the bear to the hunter as a research animal.

Photos of some collared research bears are available on the DNR website.

Any hunters who shoot collared bears should call the DNR Wildlife Research Office in Grand Rapids at 218-327-4146 or 218-327-4133.
 
#10 ·
Heck I thought that was a band like they put on ducks....who gives a flock what the DNR thinks you should or shouldn't do. If it's not against the law their opinion and your opinion of what he shoots should be absolutely irrelevant to him. I assure you it would be to me...
 
#17 ·
Seems the real problem might be with the one who thought that this was a story. Seems like it's a regular occurrence based on the article. It's legal. The guy was not cited. I agree that if they really want to study the life cycle of wild bears they should want hunters to treat them like all others and harvest on whatever legal grounds they would normally choose. Otherwise, they'll just get a bunch of false data. Media making another non-story a story and not very clearly written at that.
 
#18 ·
we can thank that researcher for making the bear more noticeable with the ribbons and crap!!!!! The hunting of this animal can be part of the research......wild bears are not domesticated animals collars, ribbons, names ect. They make this story even more animal rights worthy by naming the damn thing....really pulls at the heart strings ya know:BrownBear:
 
#139 ·
Bears have very low impact on deer pop. They flat out cant catch them. The only time a deer is susceptibile is within the first 2 months of a fawns birth. The majority of a bears diet is fish berries and beaver.
 
#26 ·
I don't know the back story to radio collar system but I believe I would attempt to kill that bear. I do have my own moral code, I wish other would follow but try not to impose it, of trying to harvest mature deer and to not shoot cubs. I live in PA so bear opportunity isnt something you get every year and actually I have not killed one but we pass cubs when we can identify them as so. I said all that to say this, its hard to get an opportunity to fill a tag that fits the laws and your own code of ethics let alone that of a researcher limiting your chances further. Lastly I feel study would be inaccurate if bears were spared due to collars.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
 
#27 ·
I guess the problem I have is you called this guy an azzhole for hunting Dot the bear. Therefore calling every other person that legally bags a collared animal an azzhole. If it was gone about in a way, it wouldnt have become such a hot topic.
 
#31 ·
I shot a collared bear twenty-five years ago. He was a nice boar of about three hundred pounds, he even had ear tags. If it bothered the biologist who was tracking him he didn't seem to let on. He even sent me a detailed map of every encounter they had had with the bear which included where it had denned the previous winter. Almost twenty miles from where I shot it.

I got a twenty-five dollar reward for turning the collar in in a timely fashion. They don't want to be chasing bear that aren't in the field anymore. And you're not the first person to accuse me of being an azzhole, about half the people I know maintain you're correct. Presidents are elected on slimmer popular votes.
 
#32 ·
I look at it this way if you socialize bears so they do not fear humans and are doing "research" (aka fund raising) your research bears are going to get shot. The way the story is reported is slanted and wrong and seems to have an agenda. Mortality is part of any realistic study, to use the legal harvest of a bear as an outrage is wrong.
 
#34 ·
I would think they get plenty of mortality data... You know, every time a tag is filled. So the argument that this bear should have been taken in order to reflect real bear environment is pretty weak to me.

But wildlife habitat is under severe threat. As hunters, we care about this more than most. If I can help the DNR to understand what these animals need it terms of habitat and environment by letting an animal with a collar pass, then I'm gonna let it pass.

The dude isn't an Ahole though.. We don't know if he even saw the collar. He's a fellow hunter. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt.
 
#39 ·
But wildlife habitat is under severe threat. As hunters, we care about this more than most. If I can help the DNR to understand what these animals need it terms of habitat and environment by letting an animal with a collar pass, then I'm gonna let it pass.
Would I shoot it again? No. Sow with cubs though perfectly legal? No. Will I ever shoot another bear? Didn't plan on shooting the one I got this fall, thought I was all done taking bear.
 
#35 ·
If that many people are against shooting collared animals then maybe I need to look for a way to start collaring all the nice buck I get on trailcams... :shade:
 
#50 ·
Yep, and part of his contract was to share all his data....he never did...

DNR collars bears DNR collared bears get shot.....never been a single news story about it.
Rogers collars bears Rogers bears get shot, every single one has had a press release/news story.
Rogers got 3/4 million in donations over the last couple years....

Do the math...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top