In what can only be described as perfectly legal and sanctioned behavior in Wisconsin, hound hunters like Rats Nicks or anyone with a pack of bear hounds can chase bears of any size, sex or age during the summer bear hound training season that began July 1st and runs until September.

In these videos shared on Facebook by Nicks, (who’s graphic videos of his hounds fighting coyotes Wolf Patrol has already uncovered) the hound hunter can be heard saying that the bear his hounds have treed is only 60 pounds. He then says, “A bear’s a bear!” which implies that hounders have no remorse for separating cubs from mothers during the two-month training season.

Wolf Patrol isn’t surprised. In Wisconsin’s bear hound training season, not only can cubs as young as seven-months be chased day AND night, seven days a week, but its also legal to dump hundreds of gallons of food waste as bait in our national forests to attract bears for hunters to chase.

It’s time to end the “business as usual” attitude towards bear hunters in Wisconsin’s national forests. No one should be allowed to feed the bears or chase young wildlife in the heat of summer. Yet, these practices continue unabated throughout the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.

If you’re as fed up as we are, please send an email to national forest officials asking that bear baiting and hound training be restricted or ended in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest:

cnnfadmin@fs.fed.us