Rafflesbear,
It's sad that a local icon could so easily be hunted down and shot. If he was so important to the area, should he not have been protected by laws?

I'm assuming that a certain number of deer must be eliminated every year or there won't be enough food and diseases will become a problem. If many natural predators have been eradicated in England, isn't controlled hunting is the only way to prevent deer starvation and spread of illnesses?

We have "Sportsmen" who kill black bears. I's a macho thing; they are not fit to eat.

Kendall,
I wouldn't argue with you that some (many?) people kill black bears for fun, but I can't help wonder what you folks do to your bears to make them inedible?

Folks up here eat black bears. My parents and grandparents did, (I've never hunted.) My dad told me they taste like pork. A friend of mine who wasn't able to work fed his family on bear he shot (along with deer and fish he caught).

rags