Bear Baiting - Sample Letter to the Editor #5

(Remember to edit this letter and make it your own. Letters are more likely to be printed if they are not identical to others.)

[Date]

To the Editor, 

There is a particularly unsporting practice that occurs each year that some hunters call “hunting.” This is the practice of bear baiting, where a hunter lugs piles of garbage – usually donuts, stale pizza, or rotting meat – and sets it out in the woods, waiting for the scent to attract bears.

When a bear approaches, the hunter will be waiting in his tree stand to shoot the animal while she eats her last meal. 

Hunters who engage in this practice completely turn their backs on the ethic of a fair chase. There is no chase or skill involved, and it certainly isn’t fair.

Bears who develop a taste for human food – perhaps those who are too small to be legally killed or to provide a suitable trophy – often become “problem” bears who attempt to obtain more goodies by breaking into trashcans, vehicles and even homes. Wildlife officials recognize that feeding bears creates problem animals who they be forced to relocate or destroy. 

Shooting bears in the back while they feed on an artificial pile of food is cowardly and unsporting. We ought to put an end to this practice immediately.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Title]
[Local group]