[Shaun @ Tru6]

Both excellent posts.

Growing up hunting rabbits, birds and deer in MN, I appreciate the sentiment here.

Originally Posted by RPKESQ

Most "sport" hunting is not very sporting. Tree stands for species that do not look up for natural predetors, long range firearm use, hunting from vehicles, "shinning", canned hunts, runing down game with dogs to tree them, on and on.

I am a hunter, I take great pride in making sure the animal has at least a 50% chance of escape and survival. I am ashamed at the shortcuts and needless cheating by those who are incapable of really hunting.

Bears like this are too valuable to waste. I'm not saying this one was wasted, I don't have enough information to make any such statement. But Jeff has a hunters heart and I wouldn't think he posted an example of poor hunting.

BTW, a .30"30 is plenty for any bear that is not attacking. Hundreds of thousands of bears have been killed with this cartridge. Shot placement is the key, as always.

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I'm in complete agreement on every point. To me, hunting is "fair chase", or it is not hunting at all. Down on the ground with the intended prey, on my own pair of hind legs, getting close enough to count whiskers.

I have hunted bears and cats behind dogs. I have hunted from a tree stand. I derived no satisfaction from either. Either is the province of someone who "must" fill a tag, not to feed themselves and their family, but to feed their egos. Bragging rights at the bar. The long range game snipers fill this bill as well.

There is a great deal that has gone wrong with modern hunting; virtually all of it driven by man's ego and competitiveness. Guys have to out-do their buddies. How they accomplish that, in the realm of sport hunting, has devolved into a shameful technology race in one respect, and a compromising of the ethics of fair chase in another.

There is something very right, however, about being in the quite woods, or out on the prairie, or on a ridge top, actually hunting. Life, and our place in the world, will never be more clear than it is when we are really hunting, and doing it right. Playing the game fairly.

And yes, a .30-30 is all one would need to go after an animal like this, provided one is a hunter. The largest bear ever taken was killed by a native Alaskan with a .30-30 that was far older than he was. The most popular caliber in Alaska today? The lowly .223. Inuits kill polar bears and seals with them with monotonous ease. They are hunters. That pipsqueak little .223, or the old .30-30, are a damn sight better than what their forefathers used in the same pursuit.