As Wisconsin’s bear hound training season approaches, Wolf Patrol would like to remind the public of what these legal training practices look like. Today, we feature videos and photos of bear hound training and coyote hunting with hounds in Wisconsin, shared openly on Facebook by hound hunter Matthew Groshek of Hewitt.
Groschek’s hounds mauling coyote in January 2011.
In these videos from 2010 & 2011, Groshek allows his hounds to bite and attack a large bear being chased by his hounds for hours. The videos have been edited for length. You can hear a hound hunter stating that his dogs are, “…biting him and everything!”
Groshek stands by and watches his dogs maim coyote.
Remember, bear hound training season occurs every Summer, in the hottest months when naturally, bears are eating to put on fat for their long winter hibernation. In Wisconsin, black bears must contend with legal chasing (not killing) from July 1st until the kill season begins in October. Seven days a week, during bear hound training season, it is legal for anyone without any kind of license to bait and chase bears in Wisconsin.
Groshek (far right) and Jason Graf after a February 2018 coyote hunt.
Hound hunters like Groshek do not restrict their cruelty to black bears. The second video featured is from a January 2011 coyote hunt in which Groshek was using not only his own hounds, but those of hound hunter, Jason Graf of Merrill who also shares photos on Facebook of his dogs illegally mauling coyotes in Wisconsin’s national forests.
Groshek’s hunting partner, Jason Graf’s Facebook post of hounds mauling coyote in 2013.
If you agree that this type of animal abuse disguised as hunting should not be allowed on our national forests, please join Wolf Patrol in the only citizen-led effort to reign in these horrible practices!
Since 2015, Wolf Patrol has been the only organization confronting these hound hunting abuses where they are occurring on our public lands. Every Summer, Wolf Patrol monitors are in the field investigating and documenting Wisconsin’s bear baiting and hound training practices in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (CNNF).
Jason Graf’s hound truck during Wisconsin’s bear hound training season.
Whether in the field or online, when Wolf Patrol monitors uncover non-compliant bear baits or illegal hunting practices, we report them to state and federal authorities.
On July 1st, Wolf Patrol will return to Wisconsin’s national forest lands to continue our campaign to restrict bear baiting and hound training in the CNNF. Please consider contributing to our Summer campaign, or better yet, join us!
Photo shared on Jason Graf’s Facebook page from a coyote hunt in 2013.
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