Hunting

Hunting is the practice of seeking, pursuing, and capturing or killing wild animals. Hunting wildlife or feral animals is most commonly done by humans for food, recreation, to remove predators that can be dangerous to humans or domestic animals, to remove pests that destroy crops or kill livestock, or for trade.

Lawful hunting is distinguished from poaching, which is the illegal killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species. The species that are hunted are referred to as game or prey and are usually mammals and birds. In economic terms, hunting is considered to be part of the primary production alongside forestry, agriculture and fishing.

Hunting arose in *Homo erectus* or earlier, on the order of millions of years ago. Hunting is deeply embedded in human culture. Hunting an animal for its meat can also be seen as a more natural way to obtain animal protein since regulated hunting does not cause the same environmental issues as raising domestic animals for meat, especially on factory farms.

***Mammoth hunting***

11,000 years ago when humans first entered North America across a land bridge called Berengia, they hunted mammoths, bison, musk ox, and deer. mammoths were their main targets. killing a mammoth was not easy, fossil finds indicate that most hunters were gored, stomped on and thrashed by mammoths they hunted. during a hunt, the hunters would start fires or make loud noises in order for the mammoths to stampede in panic, in that case, one of the mammoths would be separated from the herd which gives the hunters the advantage, sometimes they would dig a pit and lure the mammoth to be felled and trapped, sometimes they would tire out the mammoth and sometimes they would throw their spears into the mammoth's vulnerable areas like the lungs or heart and then the beast would go down quickly. fossil finds indicate that prehistoric hunters would butcher their kills and use the tusks to build huts.

***Wolf Hunting***

Wo**lf hunting** is the practice of hunting gray wolves *(Canis lupus)* or other species of wolves. Wolves are mainly hunted for sport, for their skins, to protect livestock and in some rare cases, to protect humans.

   Wolves have been actively hunted since 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, when they first began to pose a threat to livestock vital for the survival of Neolithic human communities. Historically, the hunting of wolves was a huge capital- and manpower-intensive operation. The threat wolves posed to both livestock and people was considered significant enough to warrant the conscription of whole villages under threat of punishment, despite the disruption of economic activities and reduced taxes.The hunting of gray wolves, while originally actively endorsed in many countries, has become a controversial issue in some nations. Opponents see it as cruel, unnecessary and based on misconceptions, while proponents argue that it is vital for the conservation of game herds and as pest control. In Alaska, it is illegal to shoot a wolf with a rimfire rifle because wolves are classified as big game. The state predator control program includes aerial shooting. In 2007 state biologists' goal was to have volunteer hunters kill 407 to 680 wolves by the time the predator-control season ended April 30, but high fuel prices and poor flying conditions kept hunters from meeting that goal. A subsidy of $150 per wolf offered by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was overturned by a judge on the grounds that only the Board of Game had the power to offer bounties. Despite relatively heavy hunting and trapping over the last century in Alaska, wolves occur on nearly all of their traditional habitat throughout mainland Alaska. Alaska currently has five wolf control programs that comprise about 9.4% of the state's land area. A closely controlled permit system is used in allowing aerial or airborne methods to remove wolves in designated areas. Wolf numbers are temporarily reduced in these areas, but are not permanently eliminated from any area. Wolf populations in North America commonly sustain annual harvests or natural mortality rates of 20–40% without experiencing a year-to-year decline in numbers. Sarah Palin of Alaska in 2007 approved the use of this provision in the law to shoot wolves and bears while flying for the purpose of protection of property.

Many scientists believe that this artificial inflation of game populations is actually detrimental to both caribou and moose populations as well as the ecosystem as a whole; artificially boosted populations "could result in habitat destruction by moose and caribou, and ultimately, a crash in these populations". This is why large numbers of people support the Protect America's Wildlife (PAW) Act which was proposed to Congress by George Miller, the state representative of California in July 2009. This legislation has already received official support from nine former members of Alaska's Board of Game and Wildlife and conservation groups, including Defenders of Wildlife. According to Miller, "The state of Alaska has been operating an airborne hunting program that has blatantly ignored federal law, ignored Alaskans' opposition, ignored the science, and ignored even their own wildlife experts. It's time to ground this air assault on wolves. The PAW Act is urgently needed to close the loophole in federal law and protect our nation's wildlife from the unethical and unsportsmanlike practice of airborne hunting." The PAW Act has been created to close the loophole in the existing Airborne Hunting Act that has allowed Alaska legislators and officials to continue to aerial hunt. The bill would clarify under which conditions it is acceptable to use aircraft to aid in the management of wildlife. It would bar states from using aerial hunting to artificially boost game species when they are not at risk and to clarify the prohibition of harassing animals from planes which is part of the "land and shoot" hunting that is being utilized in Alaska. The PAW Act acknowledges the right of states to manage wildlife by clearly stating that wildlife agencies may use planes to respond to legitimate biological emergencies in wildlife populations. It also states that aircraft may be used for animal control where land, livestock, water, pets, crops, or human health are at risk.

An estimated 15% of Canada and Alaska's wolf population of 6,000-7,000 is harvested annually. (Canada's total wolf population is about 30,000. Sentence needs rewording.) Ontario ceased its wolf bounty system in 1972, though retaining a year-round open season for wolves. In Alberta, wolves bounties are still offered by some local governments. Starting in 2010, Big Lakes County offered a bounty of C$300 per adult wolf, leading to 290 wolves worth $87,000 by mid-2012.

After the gray wolf was removed from the endangered species list for the western great lakes region in January 2012, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources instituted a hunting season to manage the population. This new season ran from November 3, 2012 through the 18th, 2012 in some regions and continued November 24, 2012 and ran through January 31, 2013 or until the tag limit was reached. That limit was set at a target of 400 wolves across the state. The total number of wolves harvested in this inaugural season was 412 wolves. 12 more wolves were harvested past the target number. On December 19, 2014 a US Federal Court ordered a stop to the hunting of wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and in Michigan.

***Bear Hunting***

Bear hunting is the act of hunting bears. Bears have been hunted since prehistoric times for their meat and fur. In modern times they have been favoured by big game hunters due to their size and ferocity.

Bears are large mammals in the order Carnivora. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere. The IUCN lists six bear species as vulnerable or endangered, and even "least concern" species such as the brown bear are at risk of extirpation in certain countries. Poaching and illegal international trade of threatened populations continues.

Because of their imposing size, elusiveness, sharp senses, and ferocity, bears are popular big game animals. Methods of bear hunting include poisoning, shooting and stabbing.

The grizzly bear (*Ursus arctos horribilis*) is a North American subspecies. Grizzly bears are brown in color although not all brown bears inhabiting the interior of Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon, and Northwest Territories are grizzlies. Inland grizzlies tend to be much smaller than their coastal relatives. Grizzly bear seasons open in the spring or autumn depending on local regulations and jurisdictions. In the very small area they encompass in the lower 48 states, grizzlies are considered a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Grizzly bears can still be sport hunted in British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska.

The Syrian brown bear (*Ursus arctos syriacus*) is a small and pale-furred bear subspecies found in Turkey, Syria, Iran, and the Caucasus mountains of Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. These bears are hunted mostly in the Caucasus, by stalking, where the harsh terrain offers a greater challenge to the hunter.[3]

The Eurasian brown bear (*Ursus arctos arctos*) is most widespread subspecies of brown bear in the old world. It is mainly found today in Russia, Romania, Turkey and the former Yugoslavia, with smaller numbers being found in Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria and Greece, and remnant populations are found in Spain, France and Italy. The non-endangered European population of Eurasian bear is hunted mostly in the north-western part of Russia, while the Asian population is hunted in the Ural mountains and in eastern Siberia. Eurasian browns are usually hunted by baiting during the spring or autumn or by chance encounter while hunting other species. It is sometimes hunted by breaking into their dens during hibernation.

The Amur brown bear (*Ursus arctos lasiotus*) is smaller and darker than the Kamchatka brown bear, with a differently shaped skull and much larger teeth. Its range encompasses far eastern Russia, Northeastern Heilongjiang and Hokkaidō. It is usually hunted in the Khabarovsk and Primorsk regions by stalking.

The Kamchatka brown bear (*Ursus arctos beringianus*) is a large subspecies found in far eastern Siberia. It is similar to the Kodiak bear, though darker in colour. These bears are usually hunted in the Shantar Islands (Okhotsk) and Magadan. In the spring, bears are hunted in coastal areas where they gather for food. During the autumn, bears are hunted while feeding on salmon or wild berries in the surrounding tundra. The average size of the bears taken is around 7.5-8.0 ft in Magadan and Okhotsk and 8.0-8.5 ft. in Kamchatka.

The Siberian brown bear (*Ursus arctos collaris*) is larger than the Eurasian brown bear, with denser bones and a slightly larger and heavier skull. Its fur is considered to be among the most luxuriant. It is smaller than the Kamchatka brown bear, though it is also said to be equal in aggression to an American grizzly. It lives east of the Yenisey River in most of Siberia (though absent in the habitats of the Kamchatka and Amur brown bears.) It is also found in northern Mongolia, far northern Xinjiang, and extreme eastern Kazakhstan. They are usually hunted in the Krasnoyarsk Region, Irkutsk Region and Yakutia in late August and early June. These hunts usually take place in rugged and heavily forested terrain, in the foothills of the mountains, or along the shorelines, where the forest is less dense.

The American black bear (*Ursus americanus*) is the most common bear species native to North America. The largest black bears are usually taken beginning in late May and continuing on through most of June during the breeding season. Springtime is the preferred choice of black bear hunters, when their coats are at their thickest. Heavily timbered forests near agricultural lands often sustain large densities of black bears. They can also be found in proximity to cereal crops such as oats.