http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060423/ap_on_re_us/bear_attack;_ylt=AhrN8gEr83aKLFg7YG.lnf6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-

Last time I checked there wasn't any legal bear hunting going on rite now in that part of the state (Kapowsin, Capitol forest, and SE WA are the only areas open, and only to permit) so have you heard if these guys were poaching or what?

doesn't say anything about bear hunting.

Considering the news around here comes from Seattle they could have been up there shooting but if they were in the woods with guns they must have been hunting. right???

I also wonder what they were hunting, if they were actually hunting. Could be some odd twists in this story.

It's amazing how quick people are on here to condemn people.

Injured Hunter Had Been Chasing Bear On Private Timberland

April 23, 2006

By KOMO Staff & News Services


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FORKS, WASH. - A man injured by a black bear had been chasing the animal on private timberland when the bear turned the tables on its pursuers, the investigating officer said Sunday.

Bear season doesn't open until later in the year, but the man was hunting the animal under a special permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Rainier Timber, which owns the land where the hunt was proceeding Saturday, about 6 miles east of the Olympic National Park boundary.

It appeared the hunters had been pursuing the bear for some time, said Fish and Wildlife Officer Brian Fairbanks.

"It's like, you have the fight-or-flight response. It ran for so long, and then decided, 'We're not going to run any more,"' Fairbanks said.

At that point, the hunter and the bear were in heavy brush, the officer said. "He didn't realize the bear was there, and when he got close enough the bear jumped out and grabbed him."

It was not a surprise attack, he said. "They knew it was there - they'd been chasing it. ... The guy got bit but he was the one who put himself in position to get bit."

A second hunter shot and killed the bear before summoning help.

The injured man underwent surgery Sunday on a broken arm, Fairbanks said.

"The bear had grabbed his arm and dragged him down an embankment," he said. "It required some surgery to put him together."

The man, whose name was not released, also suffered a broken wrist and two bite wounds on the upper thigh.

It was a legal hunt, Fairbanks said, with no violation of conditions of the permit.

Fairbanks is based in Forks, an Olympic Peninsula community on the southwest edge of Olympic National Park.

just so you all know,
there is a privat land managment hunts in washington for the tree farms. they get to use dogs and can Bait. the hunter or hunters DO NOT get to keep the bears they kill. They come to a ficility or taxidermist who wins a bid for the disposal, taning and cleaning of hides and skulls. to be auctioned off at state sales, thies animals can never be resold for proffit and the hunting is buy special dog owners and controled by F&G. not just any one can do it.its sad really they kill an averag of 100 - 200 bears a year. Jim W

http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/newreal/release.php?id=apr0705a


more on the tags for the Hunts

Timber companies have always paid guys with hounds to kill bears. It happens all over western Washington. The state (DNR) isn't allowed to hire hunters to kill bears, so that's why they have the special spring season in Capitol Forest.

F' him.

Anyone dumb enough to chase a bear gets what he deserves.

Its just too bad the bear got the worst of it.

Huh? Please tell me it's not true...an anti-hunter on this board???

Im not an anti hunter. I hunt grouse, pheasant & quail.

But the fact remains: Anyone dumb enough to try and chase a bear into a thicket gets what he earns.

Its as dumb as poking a yellowjacket nest with a stick.

Ichtyoid;

C'mon man, you can do better than that....

I don't think any of us would want a journalist to publish their version of anything we do, let alone one of our accidents !

I'm not totally clear on that. Are you saying these bears are SOLD?
If so, then whoever is getting the money for these, whether it's the state, timber company, or hired hunter, seems to be above the law.

YEP your the only one that has seen it. so were dose one startto stop it?

I'm not so sure about that. I talked to a guy hunting bears with hounds in Capitol Forest last year, and he told me when they kill a bear, they are not allowed to remove it from the woods. I suppose for anybody who is really worried about what actually happens to the bear, you could call the WDFW and ask. Personally, I really don't care what they do with it. I would prefer that they at least be required to make use of the meat.

I have the paper work to prove it. Your buddy should tell you the truth next time

He wasn't my "buddy." Like I said, just a guy I ran into in the Capitol Forest, last year when I was hunting bears with the special permit I drew. I wasn't very happy to see hound hunters up there chasing the same bears I was hunting. But that's what he told me, that they kill the bear and have to leave it, not sure why he would lie. It seemed odd to me at the time that the law required them to leave the bear in the woods. BTW, the only reason they were up in Capitol Forest is they (supposedly) had started chasing the bear on private land, where the landowner had a serious problem with tree damage.

Ichy is also a sealion hugger.

Who cares if parts of bears killed on damage complaints are sold, it only makes sense to try to defer the cost of getting rid of them........I think they should be considered vermin instead of big game when they are a problem and have to be removed/neutralized. I wish there was a market for the mice I kill in my carage !

I ran into this thread a little late, but here is what I know about the bears killed on damage control hunts, this being told to me by Enforcement.

The depredation hunters are allowed to run bears on private timber property and onto/into public property. They can kill two bears per permit. If damage continues property owner can ask for another permit, allowing the killing of two more, and so on. Once a bear is killed they are required to remove the bear and take it (hide/skull/claws intact) to a butcher and taxidermist in the Centralia area. The butcher cuts / wraps the meat for local food banks and the taxidermist sells the hides.

Now this was all told to me by a rep for the F&G Enforcement over the phone so I don't know how much is fact and how much is PR.
That being said, I have never heard of an auction or sale of bear parts, never heard of bear meat being given away at food banks and I have heard from depredation hunters who state that they can not touch bears after they are killed.

I'm not sure I believe the food banks part of it.

They're not selling it but I know to sell meat they have to be FDA inspected which also entails having an inspector on site while the killing is taking place. Don't think the FDA has people running around the hills.

I'm pretty sure that isnt necessary sinker... I've had friends donate deer and elk from personal hunts before.