CHALK ONE UP FOR THE BEARS

SEEN BEFORE BEAR SEASON

ECHO VALLEY BEAR HUNTERS' DEN

BEAR DOG HOUSES

Monday, 9:00 AM.  52 degrees F at the ferry dock, 50 on the back porch.  Wind WSW, light with occasional strong gusts.  The sky is cloudy and overcast and it is raining lightly, the humidity 82%.  The barometer is more-or-less steady, now at 29.64".  Today and tomorrow will be rainy, then it should clear.  We still have some finish work to do on the tree planting job, but the rainy weather is good for the new plantings.

   The bear season is on, and under normal circumstances we would be more or less in the midst of the fray while grouse hunting; but not this year. Two years ago Buddy and I had a bear, dogs and hunters on ATVs milling all around us on the trail; kind of stimulating, actually, as long as we could keep out of the way.  That time the bear doubled back on its trail and left dogs and hunters charging off in the wrong direction.  Chalk one up for the bears.

   Oh well, we wish them all luck:  the hunters that they have fun chasing down the back roads; the dogs that they get plenty of exercise and don't get hurt; and the bears, who usually are only guilty of being bears, that they outsmart the hounds.  The bears are already probably smarter than the humans.

  The Wisconsin bear season with dogs is complicated and I won't get into that, except that it is on now and lasts through Oct. 11.  Bayfield county has more bears than any other county in the state, and hunting doesn't affect the population negatively under current regulations.
   Bears are too much like humans for me to shoot one unless it threatened me , my dog or  my property.  I have no objection to others hunting them, but I sure wouldn't want to pay the vet bills when the dogs get torn up.

DON'T FORGET TO WATCH TONIGHT'S DEBATE