SB 252 Bear Hunting Ban Bill
January 29, 2021
To: Natural Resources and Water Committee
My name is Preston Taylor. I am a biologist, and I have a B.S. in Wildlife Management and Conservation from Humboldt State University. I have resided in California for 14 years and have been a hunter for 12 of those years.
Hunting (and associated activities like fishing, foraging edible plants and mushrooms, and gardening) is a vital aspect of my life. Literally, we feed ourselves with the animals and fish my wife and I hunt and catch. Our diet is augmented with a bountiful garden, and throughout the summer months we rarely buy vegetables or meat/fish. About the only time we purchase meat from the industrial agriculture production are the occasional meals we eat at a restaurant. As you can tell, the ability for us to interact with nature and participate in it (as humans have done for hundreds of millenia, if not thousands) is extremely important to maintain the lifestyle we have. A life that is lived close to the earth, with an understanding of the sacrifices made by other living organisms necessary for us to survive.
Most folks go about their lives unaware of the sacrifices non-human animals and plants make for us. Too few people see the slaughterhouses and farms to know what is required for them to eat every meal or wear cotton clothes. Too few people pay attention to the masses of wildlife run over on our highways as their online-ordered goods are delivered across our country and the world. Not me. I am fully aware of the deaths required to keep me alive. I have the animals’ blood on my hands that feeds me.
Bears play a role in this lifestyle for me. I hunt and eat them. Their meat is excellent (I could feed it to you, and you would be hard pressed to tell that it is not beef). We render down their fat into cooking lard, which we use in place of oil or butter. I tan their hides and use them for blankets. I track them outside of the hunting season to learn about their behavior and interact with these awesome creatures. Bears, and bear hunting, are extremely important in my life. A life where I can interact with the natural world the same way our ancestors interacted and relied upon wild animals for all of time.
We are not “trophy” hunters as Senator Wiener has declared bear hunters. I cut down trees, carve bows from them, mount hand-sharpened broadheads onto wooden arrow shafts, and strive to stalk inside ten yards from a bear before shooting it. I have witnessed multiple bears die in less than four seconds with a well-placed arrow. That is as quick of a death as anyone could ask for themselves. Our “trophy” is the meat, the memories, the hunt.
Aside from the fact that my flesh is made literally from bear meat and fat, I encourage you to consider the low impact of legitimate, legal, ethical bear hunting. The bear population in California is estimated between 30,000 and 40,000 animals, and it continues to grow; clearly, regulated hunting of black bears is not affecting population growth. Black bears are thriving in California, which is evident by their presence in Counties and towns previously absent of bears (look at the expanding range and population of bears south through Sonoma County and north from the Transverse Range into the Central Coast).
As a lover of wildlife and wild places, I strongly urge you to oppose SB 252. As a resident and voter in California, I strongly urge you to oppose SB 252. I would be happy to discuss this matter in more depth with you. Please email or call me: (removed for forum)
Thank you for your time,
Preston Taylor
Topic: SB-252 proposed end to bear hunting in CA (Read 3309 times)
