Spring Bear Hunting - Sample Letter to the Editor #1

(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,

Spring bear hunting is an inhumane practice that is only allowed in a handful of states, and unfortunately [Your State] is one of them. Hunting bears in the spring is known to orphan cubs who are still nursing and dependant on their mothers, and succumb to predators or starvation without her care.

According to Lynn Rogers, PhD, a hunter and former wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service, cubs are orphaned as a direct result of hunting in the spring and, and cubs orphaned in the spring only live from a few hours to, at most, 30 days, without their mothers’ care, depending on the date, their stage of their development, and weather and food availability, but they all ultimately die.    

Though some hunters may claim they can tell which sows are lactating, therefore avoiding killing mothers with cubs, data from Colorado before spring bear hunting was prohibited revealed that the same number of lactating females was killed as non-lactating females. 

There is simply no compelling reason to hunt bears in the spring. Obtaining a trophy just doesn’t warrant orphaning cubs and leaving them to starve to death. 

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Title]
[Local group]