A new Trump administration rule allows hunters to bait bears on federal lands in Alaska with bacon, doughnuts, meat scraps or other human foods typically used to help kill the trophy animals at close range.
Opponents say the practice will cause bears to be more aggressive around humans, and allege that the rule change is a political gift to largely rightwing trophy hunters. The rule replaces a 2024 Biden administration rule that banned the practice, and environmental groups criticized the move as “indefensible and inexcusable”.
“We are discouraged to see this rule come back, specifically the bear baiting piece which is cruel and dangerous, not only to wildlife but the public as well,” said Drew Robertson, senior regulatory specialist for Humane World for Animals.
The US interior department on Friday published the rule on the federal register, and it will take effect in mid-November. It marks the latest in a series of rule changes at the state and federal levels since 2023 that allow trophy hunters to use what critics say are barbaric and unethical practices to kill animals.
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Big hunter guys need to bait bears into their camp site because walking around in the woods is scary and hard. They probably hire someone to collect and process the carcass for them; I’ll bet they’re in and out of bear habitat in a couple of hours. They probably don’t even have to carry the rifle themselves.
All to make gun-brained dentists and chiropractors feel like they hunted a bear.
Yeah bait them with human food thats a great idea you fucken dolts. “Augh! Why are these bears trashing my town!?”
Now they can blame citizens and not data centers for the bears leaving the (now deforested) forest.
Does anyone else remember that libertarian run town in I think Maine or something where it became a total disaster because bears were everywhere?
During this time, the town’s population grew by about 200 people (about 20%); nearly all of the newcomers were men
My favorite quote from that article lol
Trophy hunters must be dicks. Hunting has always been about the skill and the bush craft while these rich mates of Demented are hooked on murder and blood. Should go to a farm and shoot a cow or something.
I hunt for pest control but also food to reduce my footprint. It’s enjoyable in some ways—out in nature, clean kills, etc.—but mostly it’s stressful come actual kill time and I feel bad every time. I often apologise for some reason because it just feels like the right thing to do. And it is so easy to kill with a gun, so fucking up a clean kill is really distressing. I’ll quickly finish the job, but end the day because I feel like the biggest piece of shit for fucking up something easy and causing suffering.
“Trophy” hunters aren’t dicks, they’re genuine psychos. They don’t feel things like the rest of us do. Even in my situation where it’s a numbers game on population control, so lots of killing, hunters don’t go numb to it. Trophy hunters were already numb before they even got into the “sport”.
Ya but will any be left after Trump eats it all?
Trump can’t stand the sight of blood. He can’t even eat a steak cooked less than well done. I can’t imagine him ever handling raw meat, let alone butchering an animal.
I think every hunt should be conducted with a musket. If you miss and it runs, be a better shot. If you hit/miss and it attacks you, don’t be an asshole that shoots animals for sport.
Haha noooo. There’ll be a lot of fucked up animals limping around. When hunting, you want everything to be as precise as possible. Could be the best marksmen in the world, you still want as high precision a firearm as you can afford.
There’s already a muzzle loader season in a lot of places. Some places designate a season for things like muzzle loaders and crossbows, some will group them all together with auctioned bow permits. Typically you put bow season first because once guns start firing, animals get wary of human sign very quick. The ones that don’t are already harvested and in someones freezer.
Crossbows? Are you sure? I know there’s bow season, but I’ve never heard of hunting with a crossbow.
I mean I’m sure it’s been done, just not nearly as much as regular compound bows.
