A new Trump administration rule allows hunters to bait bears on federal lands in Alaska with bacon, doughnuts, meat scraps or other human foods typically used to help kill the trophy animals at close range.
Opponents say the practice will cause bears to be more aggressive around humans, and allege that the rule change is a political gift to largely rightwing trophy hunters. The rule replaces a 2024 Biden administration rule that banned the practice, and environmental groups criticized the move as “indefensible and inexcusable”.
“We are discouraged to see this rule come back, specifically the bear baiting piece which is cruel and dangerous, not only to wildlife but the public as well,” said Drew Robertson, senior regulatory specialist for Humane World for Animals.
The US interior department on Friday published the rule on the federal register, and it will take effect in mid-November. It marks the latest in a series of rule changes at the state and federal levels since 2023 that allow trophy hunters to use what critics say are barbaric and unethical practices to kill animals.
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Honestly, I don’t really get it as a whole. It seems very weird to go out of your way to kill things. I don’t like fishing either. Idk, to each their own but it seems hardcore a bit and not really in a good way. It feels very mean spirited for a sport.
Obviously that doesn’t include subsistence hunting and the fill your freezer once a year for cheap crowd.
The majority of hunters and fishermen I know, which may not be representative of them as a whole, are in it primarily to supplement their food budget
Not that they don’t enjoy it, but the enjoyment comes mostly in the same kinds of ways they enjoy camping and hiking and such- being out in nature, sometimes with friends, seeing wildlife, etc.
A lot of them also come at it at least partially from a conservation standpoint. In my area deer are pretty overpopulated and they do need to be kept in check, and I don’t think wolves and mountain lions are going to be reintroduced to my east coast, largely-suburban area anytime soon.
And from an ethics standpoint, if you’re going to eat meat, I feel like there’s something to be said for eating wild game that got to live a free natural life as opposed to factory farmed meat. As well as knowing where your food is coming from and being willing to do the dirty work yourself, a lot of people are really disconnected from where their food comes from and don’t fully appreciate that meat comes from a living animal, and at least the hunters I know really try to respect that, regarding it as something almost sacred, and do their best to make sure that it’s not going to waste.