Bear hunting

(1894) The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a large species of bear distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Brown bear tracks have much deeper claw indentations than those made by black bear. Regional variations The grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) is a North American subspecies. Grizzly bear are brown in color although not all brown bear inhabiting the interior of Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon, and Northwest Territories are grizzlies. Inland grizzlies tend to be much smaller than their coastal relatives. Grizzly bear seasons open in the spring or autumn depending on local regulations and jurisdictions. In most of the lower 48 US states, grizzlies are considered a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Grizzly bear are legally hunted in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska. The government of British Columbia banned the hunting of Grizzly Bears in 2017, as it did not align with their values. The Syrian brown bear (Ursus arctos syriacus) is a small and pale-furred bear subspecies found in Turkey, Syria, Iran, and the Caucasus mountains of Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. These bear are hunted mostly in the Caucasus, by stalking, where the harsh terrain offers a greater challenge to the hunter. The Kamchatka brown bear (Ursus arctos beringianus) is a large subspecies found in far eastern Siberia. It is similar to the Kodiak bear, though darker in colour. These bear are usually hunted in the Shantar Islands (Okhotsk) and Magadan. In the spring, bear are hunted in coastal areas where they gather for food. During the autumn, bear are hunted while feeding on salmon or wild berries in the surrounding tundra. The average size of the bear taken is around in Magadan and Okhotsk and in Kamchatka. == Uses ==

Pelts skin, Alaska, 2012 A bear's fur consists of two types of hair: the underfur and the outer guard hairs. The underfur, which is soft and dense, serves primarily as an insulator. The outer guard hairs are much thicker, longer and coarser, and while they also insulate, they primarily serve to protect the body from dirt, debris and insects, as well as to repel water. Black bear fur was considered more valuable in the American West than that of grizzly. Bear furs are used to fabricate bearskins, which are tall fur caps worn as part of the full dress uniform for several military units. The Inuit of Greenland use polar bear fur for clothing in areas where reindeer (caribou) and seals are scarce. Polar bear hide is wiry and bulky, making it difficult to turn into comfortable winter garments. Meat bear meat from Russia bear meat from Finland In Medieval Europe, the eating of bear meat was considered more a symbolic than culinary act. The paws and thigh of the bear were considered the best parts. It was consumed in traditional Russian, Native Siberian, and Ainu cultures. The taste of bear is extremely variable The best meat apparently comes from two-year-old bear which eat more berries than fish. Bear features notably in Indigenous North American cuisine. Cree writer Joshua Whitehead wrote of the spiritual dimensions of eating bear meat in an autobiographical essay. Fat Bear fat has been used historically in Europe to treat baldness, being mentioned in the writings of numerous physicians such as Nicholas Culpepper. The logo of perfume brand Atkinsons of London is a bear, in reference to their popular 'bears grease' product. It has historically been used as cooking oil and medicine by both American settlers and Native Americans. Bear fat can also be used as lamp fuel, with 40–50 grams being sufficient to last up to an hour. Traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine makes use of bear bile and bear paws. Many bear are hunted or poached just to harvest their paws and gall bladders. == History ==

In Europe of the late Middle Ages, the eating of bear meat was an aristocratic activity. In Tyrol and Piedmont, the village communities had to hand in a set number of bear paws to the local lord every year. North America Traditionally, Kodiak Natives (Alutiiqs) hunted bear for food, clothing and tools. Arrows and spears were required hunting implements. Bear heads were usually left in the field as a sign of respect to the spirit of the bear. Kodiak bear were commercially hunted throughout the 1800s with the price paid for a bear hide being comparable to that paid for a beaver or river otter pelt (about US$10). In 1702, bear pelts were considered equal in worth to those of American beavers. 16,512 furs were sent to the French port of Rochelle in 1743, while 8,340 were exported from the east coast of the United States in 1763. Bear pelts were usually sold for 220 dollars in the 1860s. Prior to Anglo-American colonization in 1820, black bear were widely distributed throughout all major eco-regions in Texas. The supply of both meat and fat lasted about a century after the first Anglo-American settlers arrived. However, after their value for grease and food had decreased, black bear continued to be pursued and killed for their trophy value. Black bear in East Texas were seriously reduced to scattered remnant populations or eliminated altogether in many areas largely as a result of indiscriminate and unregulated hunting by the time the first organized survey of mammals took place from 1890 to 1904. == Methods ==

Bears are hard to hunt, as they generally live in dense forests or thick brush. They are, however, easy to trap. Where they are hunted frequently, bears become purely nocturnal. Snaring In the Russian Far East, a lasso-like rope loop is hung across a path which bear are known to frequent; its end is tied to a tree. The bear passes through the rope as it walks by and the lasso tightens around its body as it continues to move. Eventually the bear becomes so entangled within the rope that it can no longer move. After a few days, the hunter arrives to finish off the immobilised animal. Calling It is possible to attract bears by calling, imitating the sound of injured prey. Bears seem to have very short attention spans and if they are responding to a call and the sound stops, generally the bear will cease following the sound. Two callers are often better than one when calling bear as they can keep up continuous calling for longer periods of time. Bears can hear a call for distances up to a mile and often will take their time in responding. Hunting dogs In his book Hunting the Grisly and Other Sketches, Theodore Roosevelt wrote that though small terriers could be used against bears, they usually only worked against bears which had never had the experience of being hunted before. The terriers would irritate and distract the bear with their yapping as the hunter crept up unnoticed. However, once the bear would notice the hunter, it would immediately ignore the dogs and retreat. Modern bear hunters use hounds of mixed breeding to tree bear. Bear dogs used to track and tree American black bears in Michigan are typically cross-bred hounds, often with GPS tracking collars on one or more dogs to help locate the pack in the dense forest. Poison In the expansion era of the American west, poison was usually only practiced by the owners of cattle or sheep who had suffered losses from bear, though this was rarely put into practice seeing as bear were harder to poison than most other carnivores such as wolves. == See also ==