Spring Bear Hunting - Sample Letter to Your Legislator #3

(Remember to edit this letter and make it your own. Letters make a bigger impact on legislators if they are not identical to others.)

[Date]

Dear [Legislator’s Name],

There is a practice that occurs in [Your State] each year that you may be unaware of, and may particularly be unaware of the consequences of – spring bear hunting. Each spring the state allows hunters to traipse into the woods to go hunting for bears so they can stock their trophy rooms with heads and hides. But when a hunter takes aim at a sow, he may not know that she has a few cubs tucked away in a tree a mile away.

Mother bears leave their cubs alone for up to several hours while they forage for food. The cubs are still dependant on their mother’s protection and on her milk for survival. If a cub is orphaned in the spring she is certain to die from starvation, dehydration, exposure or predation. 

It is difficult for hunters to know if they are shooting at a male or female bear (before Colorado closed its spring bear hunting season, it was revealed that an equal number of female bears were killed as male bears), and impossible to know whether the sow has cubs unless they accompany her everywhere, which is always not the case. 

Only eight states continue to allow the hunting of bears in the spring. There is simply no reason for the practice to be permitted. It is time for [Your State] to put a stop to this unsporting practice. 

Thank you for your time and consideration of this important issue.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Address]