Ex-senator says New Jersey bear hunt is 'unforgiveable'
Source: Associated Press
Updated 1:31 pm, Saturday, December 10, 2016
FREDON, N.J. (AP) Former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli on Saturday joined opponents of New Jersey's bear hunt who say it is inhumane and blame it for the apparent death of a beloved wild bear that walked upright.
Torricelli said outside a state weigh station that the hunt was immoral.
"They're slaughtering entire families of bears. It's unforgivable," he told NJ.com (http://bit.ly/2hiRF8X ).
His involvement comes after a City College of New York professor was sentenced to 10 days in jail after his seventh arrest in protesting the hunt. Seventy-two-year-old psychology professor Bill Crain, of Dutchess County, New York, was ordered to the Sussex County Jail beginning Jan. 6.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Ex-senator-says-New-Jersey-bear-hunt-is-10787942.php
BeardofJGarfield
(26 posts)And say that, in general, I favor hunting, including of predators. Maybe it's because I'm from Michigan where hunting is seriously a thing, but I digress...
We are highly evolved, true. But we are still animals in the food chain whether we accept it or not. It is far more natural to kill an animal to consume, than it is to raise them in massive numbers in squalid conditions and then buy the meat that has conveniently neatly packaged by someone else. Furthermore, our highly evolved intellect allows and causes us to precisely and quickly kill the animal, which is a far more peaceful end than many animals get at the hands (paws?) of non-human predators.
Polluting the world with massive amounts of toxic runoff, shredding forests, warming the globe, stacking up fucking nuclear waste, killing oceans, are not natural things, unless you consider anything that results from our highly evolved intellects to be natural by default...But when we are participating in the food chain we are in nature, part of it. Yes, using tools such as firearms gives us a serious edge, and you could make the argument that doing so means we've stepped out of the circle of nature. I would say that we are using our intellect in the way nature intended, seeking to mitigate our disadvantages in the face of the advantages other critters have over us. Perhaps I'm not being consistent with the thesis of this paragraph, perhaps I'm drawing an artificial line...These points are, of course, up for debate.
The hunting of bears seems to outrage far more people than the hunting of, say, whitetail deer. There are fewer black bear than whitetail deer, but their numbers are high enough to support controlled hunting. What I think is the real reason that so many more people are outraged about the killing of bears is because something about bears appeals to us. We like the way they look. We admire their strength. They amuse us when the walk on two legs. We place more value on bear than deer, and more value on bears that walk on two legs than on regular old bears. Animals kill to survive. Not wantonly, but they kill nonetheless. We are animals. We're on the food chain.
And of course there are the practical aspects, such as you simply can't have powerful predators running around densely populated areas. This is also natural -- prides of lions, packs of wolves, bears, all do what they can to protect their territory from other predators.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)a problem with bear hunting because most of the time the hunters use DOGS. There is no reason to go hunt something unless it is for meat and fur but people do not tend to hunt bear for the meat. they hunt for the thrill. Humans are the ONLY animal that hunts for fun. I have nothing against hunting for food and using the ENTIRE animal but for a trophy NO. I have hunted myself and yes I do understand the thrill of the hunt but I am also smart enough to know I need to only hunt for what I NEED. Hunting with dogs is extremely unfair and should be against the law.
NickB79
(19,258 posts)It says so right in the state regulations posted online.
It is also illegal to hunt solely for trophies; you'll get a wanton waste citation if you leave the carcass in the woods.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)Both raccoon and fox will kill every chicken in a coop just because.
Prey drive is prey drive and not unique to humans.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)With humans it is a trophy attitude and we are supposed to be more advanced than raccoons. No excuse for humans.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)you can find video of lions breaking the backs of hyenas, and just prancing away.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)What is unique to humans is the enjoyment, the satisfaction and the entertainment we receive from killing. "Plenty of animals" defecate wherever and whenever the urge strikes... so, let's be lie animals?
We become less than who we are when we attempt to rationalize the irrational.
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)Black bears are and have been hunted mostly for their flesh, which is similar to pork
Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts)Greasy, fatty. . .disgusting. IMHO
People do it because they want the pelt, nothing more
NickB79
(19,258 posts)The bear meat sticks they've brought to work tasted delicious to me.
Maybe you prepared it badly?
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)And black bear meat. Brownies are much more carnivorous and eat a lot of fish
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)I hunted up the 2015 management plan adoption doc in NJ:
http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/adoptions/adopt_20151116a.pdf
NJ has too many bears roaming too close to urban/suburban areas. There isn't any other way to cut the population down.
Judi Lynn
(160,621 posts)BeardofJGarfield
(26 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,621 posts)You can choose to be a monster throughout your life, bring hardship, suffering to those around you, develop a truculent attitude, show incredible contempt and disrespect for life, or you can be someone who is looking for the greater truth, the larger picture, something beyond his infantile self.
Not too sure what you are attempting to say.
BeardofJGarfield
(26 posts)That species evolve, not individuals. Ergo, all members of the human species are equally evolved.
And some of us prefer to eat meat that we harvested humanely, that we know hasn't been pumped full of chemicals and didn't come from an animal that was squashed into a tiny stall and tortured to death.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"And some of us prefer to eat meat that we harvested humanely..."
A most creative way to rationalize the entertainment one receives from killing. As though there are only two possibilities available. Short-sighted at best, I would hazard.
BeardofJGarfield
(26 posts)Yes, there are only two options. No omnivorous species eschews meat. There's a reason for that.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)They're used to humans and very dangerous when they have cubs in spring.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)ileus
(15,396 posts)Wonder if you can make bear jerky?
My 12yo son killed one deer this year so far and we've almost run through all of that deer as jerky. I'm gonna have to get him back out in the field to put another couple in the freezer before season ends.