Alberta weighs ban on spear hunting after man films 'humane' bear killing

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian

Alberta weighs ban on spear hunting after man films 'humane' bear killing

Environment ministry describes video of Josh Bowmar fatally spearing a bear ‘archaic’ and ‘unacceptable’ as Bowmar defends killing as ethical

Ashifa Kassam in Toronto and Oliver Milman in New York

Tuesday 16 August 2016 17.08 EDT

Authorities in the Canadian province of Alberta have vowed to ban spear hunting and are weighing whether to lay charges against an American hunter after a video surfaced showing him killing a black bear with a spear.

The video – one of several hunting videos posted to the YouTube account of Josh Bowmar – shows Bowmar holding a long spear with a GoPro camera attached to it as a mature bear repeatedly approaches a bait bin set up to lure it to the site.

After the bear nears for the third time, Bowmar, a college javelin champion and Ohio-based fitness trainer, launches the spear. He falls to his knees in excitement as he realises he struck the bear. “He’s going down. I drilled him perfect. That was the longest throw I thought I could ever make,” he tells the camera. “I just did something I don’t think anybody in the entire world has ever done and that was spear a bear on the ground on film. And I smoked him.”

His delight continues as he finds the spear, cast off by the bear as it ran into the woods, and examines the blood marks on it. “Oh yeah, I got mad penetration,” he says. “These things are absolute lethal killing machines.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/16/alberta-spear-hunting-ban-bear-youtube-video

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[center]



US American John Bowmar [/center]

[sharp_stick]

1. I thought bear baiting was illegal in Alberta n/t

[cstanleytech]

7. Assuming I am reading it correctly its legal under some circumstances

http://albertaregulations.ca/huntingregs/wmu/bear-cougar-seasons.html

[geek tragedy]

2. sickening nt

[NWCorona]

25. Absolutely! I still refuse to read the story. The pictures are enough for me

[Judi Lynn]

3. Man kills bear with homemade spear attached to GoPro

Man kills bear with homemade spear attached to GoPro

Fernando Ramirez

Updated 11:46 am, Tuesday, August 16, 2016



Using a weapon he described as an "absolutely lethal killing machine," Ohio hunter Josh Bowmar captured footage of himself throwing a 7-foot spear at a black bear.

According to Bowmar, the spear penetrated nearly 2 feet inside the bear. Bowmar can be seen celebrating immediately after landing the throw.

. . .

The original 13-minute YouTube video, which was not well received, had become a battleground for commenters before it was taken down Monday night.

One commenter told Bowmar not to underestimate the power of social media. "With this act you have effectively ruined your life. You won't get a good job, you will be miserable and poor, like an outcast, for the rest of your life, and much deserved too. People won't forget what you have done. It is unforgivable."

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Man-kills-bear-with-homemade-spear-attached-with-9143391.php

[denvine]

4. I really really hope he gets charged with something!

He's a perverted embarrassment of humankind.

[mdbl]

5. He claims he's eating the meat

Does bear taste good? I don't agree with killing the bear unless you really need it for food or are defending yourself from one.

[Judi Lynn]

6. A pathetic brat like that didn't need to kill a bear to find food.

The only reason he could be persuaded to eat bear flesh is to further celebrate his triumph over a living creature he managed to attract with the vision of food in the woods.

How many people have you ever heard ruminating over fine bear meals they had enjoyed?

[mdbl]

8. I already made that assumption

[cstanleytech]

9. Thats a matter of personal taste (no pun intended).

I know that I do not care for deer meat at all though so I would probably take a pass on eating bear meat myself.

[Drahthaardogs]

18. IT is similar to pork

unless the bear has been eating fish, then it is nearly inedible.

[NickB79]

30. Bear meat is very good when cured and seasoned right

A coworker kills a black bear every year and brings in cold cuts for us to enjoy.

[Mendocino]

10. This "little" turd deserves every bit of scorn that comes.

Pathetic POS! Ranks up there with Troy Gentry who shot an aged tame bear in a fenced enclosure.

[LanternWaste]

11. I'd giggle at anyone who rationalizes the entertainment of killing as "ethical" or "humane."

I'd giggle at anyone who rationalizes the entertainment of killing as "ethical" or "humane." I'd bless their pitiful little hearts, point and giggle. Then I'd get away from him... quickly, while urging all rational people to do the same.

[Odin2005]

20. Implying none of us hunters are rational?

[Nihil]

29. Conditional, dependent upon one key phrase:

>> the entertainment of killing

i.e., if you are hunting for food, the above does not apply (and yes, you are "rational" to ensure you are humane)
but if you are hunting for entertainment, you are already demonstrating your irrationality.

[LeftyMom]

12. If somebody's going to pretend that hunting is "ethical and humane"

they should avoid posting videos where they look like a wild-eyed crazy person who picks up drifters and digs holes in their back yard late at night.

[Judi Lynn]

16. Good description! Sounds perfect. n/t

[Sand Rat Expat]

13. Wow, where to start with this... person...

His only "achievement" is getting his idiocy on film. He puffs himself up like some sort of badass hunter, as if the Native Americans weren't dealing with bears for centuries using spears and/or bows. They just didn't have GoPros, but this self-involved man-child sure did, more's the pity.

So it boils down to the fact that he opted to kill a living, breathing animal for no reason other than to claim "FIRST!" This bear did him no harm, nor was he under threat from it, since he lured it there with this intention. His claims of "But I'mma eat it!" are only a half-assed response to the condemnation that is rightfully pouring in on him. He killed it because he could, nothing more.

And I suspect that comment from Youtube will be prophetic. Many people no longer condone hunting wild animals for food, and this was done purely for sport and braggin' rights. I hope Mr. Bowmar lives to regret his actions and, perhaps, learns a little wisdom in so doing.

[Nitram]

22. Don't underestimate the depravity of the TV audience.

This guy will get his own reality show.

[PersonNumber503602]

14. His attitude is beyond disturbing

I'll never understand people who kill animals for sport/entertainment. I have nothing against hunting for food and certain other situations where it might be warranted, but hunting just to kill something for fun seems sick.

[Nihil]

15. Well, John Bowmar from Ohio, I know exactly where you can keep your spear from now on.

I doubt there will be a shortage of volunteers to assist you with the technicalities of storing it there.

Scumbag.

[Judi Lynn]

17. No shortage at all. n/t

[Odin2005]

19. Cue all the DUers calling all us hunters evil scum...

[Xolodno]

34. I have no problems with hunters with a caveat...

....you're hunting for the meat and you/family eat it. Have some elk from a relative right now in the freezer (as a gift). They actually report suspected illegal hunting and poaching to the game warden. Also kill the animal with a rifle fast as possible so the animal doesn't suffer.

If they didn't hunt and given the sporadic hours of their job(s) over the course of a year, their protein diet would suffer. Hell, I bet at certain times of the year, what they catch on the land and preserve/grow and can for later is probably their only food a day or two before paychecks.

But as for "sport" hunting (no such thing in my opinion), people who don't need the meat and are more interested in the trophy, assholes who use a method of hunting to prolong the agony of the animal...yeah, they are evil hunters. Because they aren't really hunters. To bad there isn't a universal name to describe them and their specific activity.

[Paladin]

21. Spear hunting is no more humane than hunting with a bow and arrow.

And bow hunting is a hell of a lot more popular than spear hunting. I know people with ranches in Texas that closed their properties to bow hunting---they got sick of coming across deer carcasses that were never recovered. Ted Nugent loves bow hunting---enough said.

[NWCorona]

27. I was taught how to spear hunt as a kid but that was for fish

The thought of this happening to a bear is beyond sickening.

Ted loves to machine gun down pigs... He's the worst

[TexasBushwhacker]

33. How does mortally wounding an animal

so that it runs off to bleed to death "humane"?

[NickB79]

38. Few animals shot with a gun or bow drop dead at the shot

Most run, at least a ways, and hunters must track the blood trail as they bleed out.

If the arrow is sharp enough though, the animal may not even feel significant pain from the shot and simply stand there a minute and drop from blood loss.

[leftyladyfrommo]

23. What a sicko.

This sort of idiocy makes all hunters look bad. Like trophy hunters make all hunters look bad.

Here in Missouri we have a lot of deer hunters but we really need them. Our deer population is out of control and the deer really have no natural predators here except automobiles. The deer hunters help keep the population down so that fewer people get killed when they hit a deer with a car.

And we have some bird hunting.

There are a few bears in the southern part of the state but I don't think you can hunt them. Maybe they allow a few bear tags just to keep the population under control.

This idiot is just sickening.

[freebrew]

24. And squirrels...

we have LOTS of squirrels here.
Ate all of my pears. All of them.

They eat out of the bird feeders.
They are the acrobats of the forest.
Cute little rats with bushy tails.

I don't shoot them, They're too much fun to watch.

Back to the subject:

A spearhead made of steel, sharpened to a razor edge on a lightweight pole.

Sure, just like the natives had.

[leftyladyfrommo]

26. Lots of squirrels at my house, too. But they don't have bushy tails.

We also have lots and lots of raccoons and possums. And some red foxes but you don't see them very often. And coyotes more north of the city then where I live.

But it's the deer that are the huge problem. If there was someway to teach them to stay away from the roads. I got hit by one a few years ago. It ran right into the side of my car. They are everywhere here north of the river.

[NickB79]

42. Obsidian spearheads used by natives were SHARPER than a razor blade

http://awesci.com/stone-age-technology-best-blades/

Blade edges made out of obsidian are so sharp that they don’t seem jagged even when seen under an electron microscope. Their edges, if made carefully using processes like pressure flaking process, can get up to 3 nm thick. Good quality blades can make cuts down to single molecules! That is about 500 times sharper than the sharpest steel blade.

And when made out of the right wood, almost as sturdy as a carbon fiber or steel pole. Osage orange, for example, is insanely durable.

[apcalc]

28. Takes delight in Killing? One sick bastard.

[NickB79]

32. People delight in killing every time they savor a delicious steak or juicy burger

The only difference is, they typically paid someone else to do the sometimes ugly work of raising the animal on a factory farm and killing it in a slaughterhouse for them, while they do nothing but enjoy the meat that came to them in nice, sanitized plastic and foam containers.

[apcalc]

39. Why I have become a lacto-ovo vegetarian.

[NickB79]

41. I tried going that route in college, but kept falling off the wagon

I'd make it 1, 2 weeks tops before the allure of a good cheeseburger drew me back in. I even tried adding fish to the mix under the assumption the added protein would quell the urge for beef and chicken, but no such luck.

[NickB79]

31. Wait, when hunters use high-power rifles from 200 yards, they're called wimps

With the standard refrain of "if you want to prove you're so tough, hunt them like cavemen did 20,000 years ago, with a spear".

This guy hunted a bear like cavemen did 20,000 years ago, and is now vilified as being cruel to the bear.

Would someone please make up their mind?

[Throd]

35. I noticed that too.

I'm not supporting what he did, but partying like it's 19,999 BC takes some big brass ones.

[EX500rider]

36. Yeah that could have gone poorly for him if he just nicked it and pissed it off.

[MicaelS]

40. No fucking shit.

It's just the same old hatred of hunters, by people who keep moving the goalposts. If some hunter went up against an animal with his bare hands or just a knife, they would be complaining about that.

And wild game is organic and healthy. No antibiotics or growth hormones.

[Eugene]

37. Under Armour drops sponsorship of wife of hunter who speared bear

Source: Reuters

U.S. | Fri Aug 19, 2016 12:47pm EDT

Under Armour drops sponsorship of wife of hunter who speared bear

By Robert MacMillan | TORONTO

Under Armour Inc, the athletic clothing company, has ended its sponsorship of the wife and hunting companion of a U.S. hunter who sparked outrage over a video showing him killing a bear with a spear in the woods of Alberta in western Canada.

The video, which shows Josh Bowmar impaling the animal with a spear with a camera attached to it, prompted the Alberta government to say it will outlaw spear hunting as of this fall. Officials are also considering filing charges against Bowmar.

A spokeswoman for Under Armour, the No. 2 U.S. sportswear maker, said while the company is "dedicated to the hunting community," spearing the bear may have been a step too far.

"The method used to harvest this animal was reckless and we do not condone it," said Danielle Daly in an email on Thursday evening.

Social media users have called for a boycott of Under Armour products because of its association with the Bowmars, who run a fitness business in Ohio.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-bear-underarmour-idUSKCN10U1MV