We are the last state to allow trapping, baiting and hounding of bears (all three). It’s the profitability of bear trophy killing that opponents to fair chase wish to conserve.

“Guides” profit by leading “hunters” to spots that have been strewn with junk food and set up with video cameras so that it is known exactly when the bear is in the predetermined killing site. This is not hunting, it’s trophy killing. This also increases their taste for human food.

As a sport, hunting is meant to have the element of challenge. Many hunters, especially, are interested in maintaining the integrity of their sport. Basketball players wouldn’t sit by if people were allowed to pay to have unobstructed shots, and runners wouldn’t support rules enabling people to pay to be driven to the finish line before the other, real runners.

Erica Heinrich

South Portland