Hunter made a bad decision to shoot black bear
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Beth Hopkins
Published: November 23, 2008
I am writing in response to a disturbing article in the sports section Nov. 14, “He’s got game ... Big Game.”
The hunter in the article should be ashamed of himself for killing one of our county’s remaining large, thriving black bears — 400 pounds, he claimed!
He stated, “it’s rare enough to see a big bear like that around here” and “there are so few bears of that size around here.”
Knowing that, he should have restrained himself and let this big, beautiful bear continue to live out its life for others to admire. There was no need to kill such an animal rare to our area.
I am not against hunting, but I am against hunters who use poor judgment and are irresponsible in their hunting decisions. In my opinion, he was an irresponsible hunter that day.
Beth Hopkins
Culpeper
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Posted by ( buddy ) on November 24, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I agree with you Beth. Did this Bear die because he was a trophy or did the Hunter eat the meat?
Humans are overpopulating this planet.
I believe in sharing Earth with all living things and I would have loved seeing that great Bear ALIVE…from a distance of cause.
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Posted by ( El Debibble ) on November 24, 2008 at 11:48 am
My point is that the black bear population in Virginia is growing in spite of the loss of habitat, as is deer, turkeys, quail, and pheasant. Thank VADGIF for that. The distribution of bears in the commonwealth is continually expanding and we are seeing more bears and more frequently in many areas within the Piedmont Region. An exact figure for the bear population in Virginia is not known, but current estimates place it between 3,500 and 4,500 statewide.
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Posted by ( semper fi mom ) on November 24, 2008 at 10:37 am
The pattern has been set for quite some time. The more we encroach into the ever shrinking habitat of bears, deer, fox, etc. - the more they get killed—by car, by hunger, by shooting. No, I don’t know the answer - it would be optimistic but stupid to believe we’ll stop building further and further into remaining woods, etc.
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Posted by ( El Debibble ) on November 23, 2008 at 1:31 pm
“One of our county’s remaining black bears”??? Lady, there isn’t a shortage of them. There are more of them each year. Twenty years ago I never saw a bear around here and now there are at least three that I see raiding the garbage cans in my subdivision. I will bet that one of them goes over 400 pounds. “Live out his life for others to admire”?? They aren’t zoo animals and that sounds silly. Are sure you know what you’re talking about, or is it just that you really are against hunting?
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