Bear Hunters Auction Their Tags to Anti-Hunters; Pay $500, Save a Bear
OutdoorHub Reporters 12.13.17
A man who owns a sporting goods shop offered to cut up his bear tags and sit out this week’s extended bear hunt if anti-hunters agreed to pay him $500.
Mountain Mike’s Sports Shop, which is located in Hardyston, New Jersey, made a Facebook post recently announcing a special auction to call out anti-hunters who had been harassing him for going bear hunting.
The offer was $500, Michael Bush said, and whoever paid it would get to keep the tags, cut them up, or take video of Mike while he cut them up, but he received exactly zero offers.
“You people say you care about the bears so much. Let’s see,” Bush said before withdrawing his offer.
According to True Jersey, the 2017 bear season was scheduled to end Sunday, but is being extended for 4 days starting Wednesday because the results fell short of the minimum threshold spelled out in the regulations.
When Mike was asked about the $500 price tag he set for his permits, he simply said that number represents the value of the meat from a single bear.
“I’m not a trophy hunter. I never will be a trophy hunter. I hunt for the meat,” Bush explained.
