David Booth plays left wing for the Vancouver Canucks, and, among other things, the NHLer enjoys hunting. He went on a spring bear hunt in Alberta, and took to Twitter to celebrate his success, and that’s where things got messy.
Using a bow, Booth downed the bear while hunting over bait, which is the most common practice in Alberta. The hunt was being filmed for The Edge television show, and Booth tweeted a link to a YouTube video and a photo of his success. The bear was evidently 7-plus feet long and had a 21-inch skull.
But, he’s coming under a lot of fire for hunting over bait with some people even saying he should be kicked off the team. Booth has since pulled the video down from YouTube, but the photo is still up on his Twitter account.
As someone who has hunted bears over bait in Alberta before, I will say that the only people who think that it’s inhumane or too easy are those who have never done it. I had a lot of trepidation before going on that hunt, but after a week in the woods, I can tell you it’s the best way to successfully hunt bears in the spring. First, it allows you to target the large males in the area, that need to be removed because they often kill and eat moose calves and even bear cubs in order to mate with female black bears again. It also reduces the amount of female bears killed, which is important for the survival of their cubs.
We have your back David, and we can’t wait to see the episode of your hunt. –Brian McClintock
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