Maine bear referendum

[Bill Carlsen]

It appears that the hunters in Maine will retain their right to hunt bears over bait, with dogs and by trapping. Don't know the poll numbers but that is the latest I have heard. Good news for us all.

[ranger 3]

Very good news Bill, thanks

[Bowwild]

Yep, by 53 to 47%

[Buckeeboy]

Good news for sure

Originally posted by Bowwild:
Yep, by 53 to 47%

Good to hear!

That is an awful close vote though, and if the right people stay on their soap box, it may not be long till the vote goes the other way!

The minority tends to have a loud voice! The true anti's are a minority. The majority are folks who don't really care, but can be swayed by that loud voice to their side!

Bisch

[Izzy]

I was sick when I first heard of the proposal to ban it in Maine. Its a huge chunk of the rural economy as there aren't many deer left in the far northern reaches and the available moose are limited.

          Scary how close it was but it would of put a lot of good people out of work for no other reason than to make an ignorant group of "Modern" Americans happy.

[RIng]

Good !!!

[joe ashton]

good for you.. As you probably know Colo lost our spring bear hunting to a vote years ago..   :(

[hickstick]

the folks in ME are smarter than us in MA....we had the same referendum many years ago now, and they attached leghold traps to it too.   the coyote population has skyrocketed here since the referendum to the point where they've now lengthened the season to 5 months long, hunting with rifles permitted (unheard of here in MA), and hunting over bait permitted....all to try to control the population

[Yellow Dog]

I'm glad the Maine vote preserved the right to continue to legally hunt bears with legal methods. Michigan went through the same thing in 1996 and was able to defeat the anti referendum highly organized by nonresidents to Michigan. The same is true for Maine, antis not living in the State trying to influence the voters and push their way of thinking on others.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Great news on the vote results. It seems as if the margin is awefully close, I hope the sports people continue to educate and better voters in their favor for the next time this vote comes around. we all know it is inevitable at some point. Congrats!

[huntmaster70]

good to hear  the sportsmen & people with common sense won this one!

[ron w]

Originally posted by huntmaster70:
good to hear  the sportsmen & people with common sense won this one!

For now..........the fight will go on, all over the country.

[Terry Lightle]

GREAT NEWS

[bowless]

Originally posted by hickstick:
the folks in ME are smarter than us in MA....we had the same referendum many years ago now, and they attached leghold traps to it too.   the coyote population has skyrocketed here since the referendum to the point where they've now lengthened the season to 5 months long, hunting with rifles permitted (unheard of here in MA), and hunting over bait permitted....all to try to control the population

Yeah, in Maine the biologist were able to explain things before the vote.  In MA they couldn't say anything during the campaign.

[DDyer]

Thank-You to all who helped us defeat this. They have already vowed to come back until they get their way.If they had tried to ban only hounds and trapping they probably would have won but their ultimate goal is to ban all hunting and I think they know that they won't be able to ban the baiting part unless they bundle them.We were flooded with their tv ads that showed bear in traps and being attacked by a pack of hounds and that's what swayed a lot of people to the antis side.Of course they showed the worst possible videos that they could find.I love hound hunting and am a life long trapper but we need to be careful of the videos we put out there and think about how they could be used against us.Again thanks to all who helped.

[warbird]

I am glad to see it passed. Those seasons boost the economy in upper state towns with the closing of most papper mills.

[DarkTimber]

That's great news for us all...not just Maine hunters!

[2020]

Received word from Phil from Mountain View Guide service in Portage Lake 53 to 47,great news.My group will be back next season,hunted with Phil this past season and it was great,highly recommended,good luck next season!

[Steve 37183]

I am so glad to here the news! I was/am planning to hunt Maine this coming fall and was concerned of the vote outcome.