Bear killing bunnies !! Can we shoot it ?

[panner123]

I will say that less than 1% the population has seen at live bear in the wild or on their property. It would be nice for a bear to call me up and say, "John I will be over in an hour or so to raid your chicken yard". The turth of the matter is if I have a bear on my property and call the local trapper, it would take him at least 2 hours to get here. That is if he is home and leaves at the end of the call. His area of the state is from El Doroda county to the Oregon border on the north and south side and from the Pacific ocean to Neveda on the east and west. If I were to call the police, it takes them an hour to get here if they have an officer available at the time. If my neighbor is home and they call him to come over for the call, it is only about 15 minutes. But first he will call me to see what the problem is. When I tell him I have a bear in the yard, he will laugh at me and ask if I am out of ammo. The state has given me an open end permit to shoot any problem bear. This DOES NOT mean any bear, but one that is causing damage to my livestock or threating a human. Now let us look at the times I have had to shoot the bears on my property, in bed and one tries to come though the window, sitting in my living room working at my desk, 1 comes though the front screen door, 2 coming accross the yard at the grand kids in the pool, more than I want to try to count killing chickens and chasing young calfs and pigs. I don't use a BB gun, paint ball gun, sling shot or a 22 to shoot them. I will use a 30/06, 12 ga. mag with 000 buckshot if close or slugs or a bow. I have NEVER had to shoot one more than twice. Now for all you that want to do try some other method of dealing with a problem bear, you are welcome to sit out on the edge of the cayon and wait for one, I just hope you have your will and other matter in order. But I won't come to your wake.

 

[twentynine]

I don't reccommend you shoot the thing. In the first place you can shoot the bear you see, what about the bear, coon possum, hawk (whatever) you don't see. You remove this bear, I bet it won't be long before another bear comes along- and another- and another- and another, so on and so on, into infinity.

Get an electric fence---- a good electric fence.

If you are worried about you 18 month old child, I can garauntee he will only touch the fence once!
I grew up visiting my grandparent's farm, they never turned off the electric fence. Simply told us it was there, if we chose to ignore them and got zapped, well we were warned. Being the hard headed, slow learner type that I am, I got zapped more than once. But I guess it runs in the family, got an electric fence around my chickens, granddaughter has been zapped--- a couple times.

We --- meaning owners of chickens, rabbits, all manner of livestock are responsible for protecting them from harm. Be it bear, coon, possum, hawk, heat, cold, water or dry. We--- once again all of us, can not depend on wfs or any other goverment agency to do the job that we should do ourselves. Wildlife is there, it's everywhere, you can count on some sort of predator messing with your livestock at any time.

Be pro-active, install an electric fence to prevent the predation, turn the animal aside, discourage it from being where you don't want it to be.

Don't be reactive, wait until your livestock is actually threatened or taken by a predator, then be forced into taking an action you may ultimately have to pay for.

Cost of fencing? Spool of good wire, couple bags of insulators, a few post, fence charger, ground rod------ you can do it all for about $100, if you want to go over the top ( maybe you need to because it is a bear) with the super duper charger $200.
If you think about it, you have already made the down payment. Rabbits that you bought and paid for are gone, cages that were built with material you bought are broken.

You can fuss and cuss about the bear, but it don't change a thing, it's going to take some doing and some investment to protect your livestock.

 

[haTHOR]

but, but, but...this makes so much sense. surely it can't be right.

in my opinion--this should be stickied at the top of this forum. thanks twenty-nine!

no matter what the situation, no matter what the predator, no matter what the prey--this post will always be good common sense.

Quote:

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

From the sticky at the top of this forum (bold is my own)

*Although some ways are not considered ideal to some, it serves the purpose of removing the offending predator. If you have an idea or a helpful comment, please do reply. If it is a sarcastic comment about the disposal or capture of a predator, please keep your thoughts to yourself. We are not here to judge one another on methods or ways and means.

*That being said, please do not gloat or suggest torturous ways of killing for pleasure or indeed, post in such a way that your predator control can be construed as pleasure killing instead of simply taking care of a problem.

*Compassion will go a long way toward helping to educate and help solve someone's predator problem. No matter the reason, most members' birds are their pets and being a chicken doesn't make it less of a pet than a house cat or companion dog. Please don't lecture or hassle anyone about their losses. Glass houses......

*If you wish to suggest an alternate non lethal means of control, please share it in a non judgemental way that is a viable solution and not merely complaining about who was here first etc, IF it is directly related to the OP's request for assistance. If a non lethal alternative is offered, please be appreciative and remember that there are many ways and means and flaming a member for suggesting such an alternative will not be tolerated.

*It is the responsibility of the person with the predator to determine the legalities of what they do and that person will take ultimate responsibility. BYC does not condone illegal acts.

The problem with trapping is that unless you have the traps at hand, already set, getting a trapper to the location in time to do something about a bear coming onto your property and threatening you livestock or people is a moot point. Sure; let's call and get a security system while a burgler is activing breaking in

It might be useful if you have experienced a problem and anticipate that it will return, but it doesx not take care of NOW.

Of course we all try to build our coops and runs and houses in a manner that will keep our animals safe. Sometimes we find out that it wasn't as safe as we thought, or htere is a predator that we did not expect, or ...

Shooting for protection is great if you have the correct weapon and ammunition and know what you are doing. If you haven't got a clue, you probably don't have the correct weapon and ammo. (Ignoring that you could live with someone who does know, but is not home.)

There is no single method that fits every situation for every person.​

 

[twentynine]

Got to agree with SS.

Livestock security whether it's rabbits, chickens, goats, horse, cows or llamas, is a never ending, always evolving thing.

Even with my super-duper electric fence, I believe my chicken run to be only predator resistant.

What need be realised is that a coon (for example) has all night, every night, to try to get into your chicken house. While a coon does not have the brute strength of a bear, they have inteligence, determination, and dexterous paws on their side. Given long enough a coon will break into a steel safe.

The only difference I am claiming between myself and the OP, is--- in the beginning, I built my coop/run area knowing that it was as important to keep the bad guys out as it was to keep the good guys in. The electric fence was installed during initial construction. It is checked regularly. Not the end all be all, one slip, only one time I forget to plug it in, or weeds ground it out, or whatever, I'll be defenseless.

What I am reccommending is to be PROACTIVE- not REACTIVE with livestoock protection. In the case of the OP we don't know that the bear would have been deterred by an electric fence, what we do know is that the predation by the bear was not prevented. The OP is in a predicament of reacting to the bears actions. She or her husband may be forced to kill the bear, a reaction that is sure to lead to some sad times, one way or the other. And even if that bear is killed---- what about the next bear?

 

[wvcruffler]

SSS
Shoot
Shovel
Shut up (aka don't brag about it to anyone)
Works for most farm incidents.
Unlikely the DNR will prosecute you anyway. I knew a 90 year old guy with bees. A bear kept mauling his hives. He told the DNR who threatened him with a fine if he disposed of the bear out of season. Well, the bear came back and he shot it dead. He called the DNR and told them to "come get your darn bear and bring me my ticket". They came and took the bear but didn't fine him.

 

[twentynine]

Quote:
In this particular case, I think this is bad advice.

1. This responder is in WV, if WV DNR choice is to not prosecute so be it. The OP is in NH, what will NH WFS or DNR response be?

2. As stated previously, most/some bears have tracking devices, not smart to shoot first, hide evidence, and then hope that keeping mouth shut will work.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I sincerely doubt that most, or even many bears have tracking devices. Is it possible--yes; probable...only if that particular bear already has demonstrated inappropriate behavior around humans.

It is obvious that state laws differ, and the OP needs to be conversant with the ones for his/her state.

 

[Catstar68]

Quote:
SSS. Take the tracking device and tie it under the bumper of a tractor trailer.
"Holy cow! According to the GPS, that bear's doing 75 right outta the state!"

 

[Debbi]

If that's true about the F&G tagging previous offending bears, then wouldn't they then be responsible for the damage, knowing this bear would likely do it again?? If that's the case, looks like a tangible admission of guilt to me! I think most animals they tag are done so to track migration, territory distances and breeding more than anything...but, I've been wrong before