Lorie - safe and soundAt 6:01 AM, the bear hunting season opened a half hour before sunrise. It was so dark and misty that I worried about wounding loss in addition to the usual worries for the special bears we all know.
I was glad I didn’t hear a shot until 7:18 AM—a shot that killed a yearling 0.8 mile away. We saw the hunter, but he wouldn’t let us see the little bear. Three of us who saw the small feet and form somewhat hidden under a blanket were sure it was a cub. A conservation officer later said it weighed 150 pounds—a round number that sounds like a rough estimate. No mention of the dentition which would have determined the age for sure. All the cubs we know of in that area were quickly accounted for—Donna’s 4, Wendy’s 2, and the motherless cub. That cub has been a single now for weeks but is growing fast with all that the neighborhood is doing for it.
At 3:43 PM, we heard a distant shot that probably didn’t take a bear we know well.
At 5:53 PM, a shot a quarter mile away took another yearling (Lorie is safe). Again, the conservation officer said it weighed about 150 pounds.
Hearing the shots, I thought about tourists hiking the woods over the Labor Day weekend, enjoying bugless trails in pleasant temperatures. Most have no idea that it is bear hunting season. It wouldn’t be a great loss of hunting days to start the season after Labor Day in the name of safety and tourism.
I just looked at the clock. Hunting hours officially ended with no more shots 5 minutes ago at 8:17 PM. As in the morning, I don’t see how it can be called safe to shoot in this darkness a half hour after sunset.
We believe Lily is off in a fairly safe area coming occasionally to a feeding station there.
The suspense of this time wears on us as we look for sightings of bears we have known for years. It is likely they all survived this opening day.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.