Almanac: Reasons vary for poor bear harvest

Minnesota's bear hunters are struggling.

Hunters had killed 1,445 bruins as of last week, down nearly 50 percent from the 2,796 taken during the same time last year.

"They're doing terribly," said Dave Dickey, Department of Natural Resources area wildlife manager in Aitkin. In his area, hunters had bagged 54 bears as of last week, compared to 179 last year -- a 70 percent decline.

What's going on?

"The prime reason is the super-abundant foods in the woods," said DNR bear researcher Dave Garshelis. Blueberries, cherries and acorns have been plentiful, making bears less likely to be attracted to bait put out by hunters.

But Garshelis also suspects the bear population is down, possibly the result of too much hunting pressure. Hunters have bagged an average of 3,300 bears the past five years.

"Maybe that was too much," he said.

The DNR has been reducing the number of hunting permits, from more than 20,000 five years ago to fewer than 12,000 this year. (There were 17,000 applicants for those permits this year.) There has been a corresponding decline in hunters, from nearly 17,000 in 2000 to 11,200 last year. (The DNR had sold about 10,100 bear licenses as of last week.)

"We've reduced permits for two reasons: hunter overcrowding in some areas, and overharvest in some areas," Garshelis said.

The DNR increased the harvest pressure radically from the mid- to late-90s out of concern that the population was growing too fast.

Garshelis said the agency isn't concerned about the number of bear hunters. "It seems about right," he said.

The DNR last did a bear population assessment six years ago, and it concluded there were about 22,000 bears, plus or minus 6,000. That's nearly triple the estimated 1980 population. The DNR is doing another population survey this fall, with the help of hunters.

Garshelis and his researchers put out baits laced with tetracycline, an antibiotic. The chemical is deposited in the teeth and bones of animals that consume it and can be detected later. Successful bear hunters are required to submit two teeth and part of a rib bone to the DNR. The percentage of those bears with tetracycline will give the agency a good estimate of the population.

Venison program changes Minnesota's deer hunters again will be able to donate venison to state food shelves, but the program this fall will include major changes designed to prevent lead fragments in meat.

Officials feared the program, which encourages hunters to thin a burgeoning state deer herd, might have to end after lead bullet fragments were found in ground venison donated to food shelves.

Among the changes:

• All donated venison must be processed into whole cuts -- no ground venison will be accepted.

• Participating processors and food shelves must attend a training seminar on preventing contamination.

• Deer with extensive shot damage will not be accepted.

• All product donated through the venison donation program must be labeled, and the labeling must include the identification number or name of the processing plant where the meat was processed.

• A lead advisory statement will be distributed along with the donated venison. In it, the state Health Department will recommend that food shelf users not feed the venison to children under 6 or to pregnant women.

Officials said the switch from ground venison to whole-meat pieces likely will mean fewer processors will participate in the program, and the whole pieces might not be as popular with food shelf users.

"We worked hard to save the program," said Lou Cornicelli, DNR big game program leader. "I don't see any way around it. The other alternative was no program." (For more, see www.startribune.com/outdoors.)

Did you know? • Carrol Henderson, well-known bird expert, author and head of the DNR's nongame wildlife program, has produced a new book, "Birds in Flight: The Art and Science of How Birds Fly" (Voyageur Press, 160 pages, $25). Henderson, of Blaine, uses 150 photos and diagrams to illustrate the principles of flight.

Doug Smith • dsmith@startribune.com