Ethics and Bear Hunters

Once upon a time, just under twenty-one years ago, I moved to the Southeastern corner of Tennessee.
Fresh out of a divorce and with two small children, I - as many others do - found respite from the devastation of my life in this little section of wild lands that we like to call The Cherokee Forest. At the time, I was unaware that the Cherokee was vast, encompassing a large chunk of Eastern Tennessee and joining with the Nantahala (NC) and Cohutta (GA) forests in my immediate 'neck of the woods'. I don't even know, had you told me that I'd be charged by a bear 18 years later just a mile or so from where I would sit and ponder life, if I would have believed you.

Like many people who find solace in nature, I found myself in the company of like minds... those of us who could find some sort of 'reset button' on life when we sat in awe of natural things. I remember, way back during that time, hearing my First Ever Tale of what bear hunting (with dogs) was like. To paraphrase a tale lost to history, I was told how a bunch of "old dudes" sat on the bed of the truck - drinking and smokin - watching their dogs' GPS signals. When the signals indicated they had a bear treed (told like the dogs themselves pushed a button on their collar that instantly informed the 'hunters') the hunters, clad in shorts and tennis shoes, would take a leisurely stroll down a trail and shoot a bear. There was no challenge... the bears had no chance... and to call it a sport was like calling quantum physics recreation. To really add the icing to our proverbial cake, I was told that bear is darn near inedible... so if you hunt bear, it's just a bloodlust. For the next two decades, that was my image of bear hunters.

Now, let's fast forward to present day. If you've read my blog, you read about my epic and unbeatably ludacris first bear hunt... but now I want to tell you about my second hunt (from December). It's not necessarily that I want to go into details about the hunt, at least not like the last time. What I want to tell you is the truth in the work, the unlikelihood of success, and the amazingness of some of the people I've met. I should preface my opinion by clearly stating that I KNOW there are unethical hunters (not like this is unique to bear hunting, either). But many of the perceptions that have been relayed to me over the preceding decades were that all bear hunters were - essentially - villains. Bad guys. Poachers and 'hog hunters in disguise' and so on. To top that opinion, I was pretty much under the impression (from said perceptions) that raccoon hunters were merely bear poachers in disguise. As I've said before, the main reason I ever went bear hunting the first time was because I felt a bit hypocritical for condemning something I had never even experienced. I went the second time... well, half of my reason was to make sure my experience wasn't a fluke, the other half was because bear is officially my favorite game meat.

When I took my recent bear hunting trek, it was in the Northern Cherokee. I was invited to go with one of our former Tennessee Wildlife Commissioners, Mr. Eric Wright. In my personal party was an amazing older gentleman (Ross), Daryl, and Chris (with his son). The other guys out hunting near us that day were about half the age (collectively) as my group... especially considering that, at 40, I was the youngest in my group (excluding Chris' young son). During the course of our day we slogged about 6 miles in the rain, the vast majority of the slogging done "off trail" in real rugged wilderness. At one point I remember we were about 900 linear yards from the dogs' signals (and, presumably, the bear). Around forty-five minutes of steep downhill we had progressed about 60 linear yards. My jaw dropped.

Never had I been so soggy, so muddy, and so exhausted. But the company was amazing and I was always smiling. 

At the end of the day the younger half of the group on our dogs ended up getting to the bear and a clean shot was made. The boy who took the shot was around 16... I could feel him glowing with pride over his first bear and I honestly share in that pride. The people that were slogging all through the mountains with me that day were some of the best people I think I've ever met. Ross and I talked a bit about raccoon hunting, which he had done since he was a boy during half-a-century prior. It was a shame to hear him say that some of the restrictions placed on where he can hunt raccoons is simply the ethical raccoon hunters paying the price for the unethical ones that are actually poaching bears. Remembering that story I was told about "bear hunters" from the early 1990's... well, I was enraged with a story that painted this moral, kind and patient man (who was exceedingly nice to me, pretty much a stranger tagging along) as a bad guy.

I realize this isn't my usual blog full of picturesque places or thrilling tales... but I do hope that it helps someone, as it has me, understand that sometimes we have to experience the world to find the truth in it. That the people we are told are unsavory can actually be some of the best people you'll ever meet... and that the opposite of that is just as easily true. The constructs of the world around us, if they are built by others, shouldn't be the structures that dictate your world... experience it on your own and find your own truth.

In the end, I can't wait to visit with this group again next year and it's my hope that I'll get to trek (notice, TREK and not SLOG) all through those mountains again, simply following the baying call of the hound.

((In case you're wondering, the bear was around 350 lbs and Ross provided me with a shoulder of bear meat... which also reiterated the fallacy in how 'ucky' bear tastes.  It's quite easily my favorite meat.))

Stephanne Dennis is an outdoor enthusiast extraordinaire. A highly skilled backpacker and apex predator specialist, she shares her love of the outdoors with her unrivaled writing skills and her faithful companion, Bandit McKaye, her Anatolian Shepherd. She is currently studying Wildlife Biology at Oregon State University and dedicates her time and skills to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation.