With millions of vacationers trying to enjoy the bug-free beauty of Minnesota’s Northwoods over the Labor Day Weekend, why does the DNR inject thousands of camouflaged hunters carrying high-powered rifles into the mix? Most of the vacationers have no idea bear season is open. 
Big Harry on Sept. 3, 2017They are not warned to wear bright colors. It is illegal to post signs warning that a bait and hunter are ahead. And leaves have not begun to fall. Full summer foliage blocks what bear-hunters can see but does not block bullets.
When the state is trying to increase the black bear population that has been reduced by over-hunting from 25,000 to only 12,000 to 15,000 (http://m.startribune.com/minnesota-s-overall-bear-shortage-a-paradox-amid-soaring-hunter-success/442555133/), there is every reason to delay the opening of bear season to after Labor Day and let a few more pregnant females enter dens and produce cubs rather than being killed over hunters’ baits.
When I wrote the initial bear-hunting regulations back in 1971, one of my goals was to let the bear population recover from decades of year-round bounty hunting that had decimated Minnesota’s bear population. Pregnant females in my study generally denned up in September while others usually denned up in October. I set the opening at September 15 to let a good number of expectant mothers to den up and be able to reproduce. I prohibited shooting bears in dens. After a few years, DNR officials wanted to kill more bears and set the opening day at September 1. The computer model they used to estimate the bear population in the 10 or so years between actual censuses overestimated cub survival and yielded grow rates that were biologically impossible according to a peer-reviewed paper. In the late 1990’s, their estimates put the population at 30,000 with margins of error ranging as high as 40,000. A stated goal was to kill 6,000 bears per year to “control” the population. They never achieved that goal and continued to issue high numbers of licenses that led to severe overkill. I was asked to examine the data. I looked at their data a different way and estimated the population at only 23,000. A population census (not a computer model estimate) the next year confirmed that figure; but over-hunting continued, leading to the 40% reduction over a 12-year period mentioned in the August 27 issue of the Duluth News Tribune. During that time, the DNR tried starting bear-hunting in mid-August but ran into a firestorm of protest.
The DNR now recognizes its error of over-hunting and is laudably trying to bring back the population by issuing fewer licenses (3,350) in the quota zone. They could further aid population recovery by easing up on the killing of pregnant females by starting the hunting season some time after the Labor Day weekend. Yes, the Labor Day weekend is a convenient time for hunters to take to the woods, but it is also a desirable time for millions of tourists and residents to take to the woods. I recognize that the DNR has stated that hunters and trappers are their primary clients. Those are the clients who buy hunting licenses and pay federal Pittman-Robinson taxes on hunting equipment—taxes that are distributed to the states according to the number of hunters. Those funds pay the salaries of many of the DNR’s wildlife officials. But taxpayers and tourists deserve consideration, too. It’s time to make the Labor Day Weekend a time for the vast majority of Minnesota’s citizens and benefit bears in the process.
On another note, we are looking for Big Harry to make another appearance and put on some weight.
Sadly, Lily Fans lost a dedicated friend and the bears a long-time supporter, Madelene Ostrowski, who delighted Lily Fans with her many musical videos of the research bears. Here is a 5:19-minute example https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=28&v=8Gi-LN9BAYs.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center