'Neighborhood bear' was not true hunting

I was sickened by the caption and photo in the Bonner County Daily Bee (Thursday, Sept. 13) of a dead black bear lying in the back of a Lexus. Perhaps instead of boasting about the "luxury ride" for his prey in a very expensive automobile, Cory Howard might have been more honest about how he killed this bear on opening day of archery season.

For the record: the bear was shot in a residential neighborhood of mostly five-acre lots called Wrenco Heights in his brother's backyard. This "neighborhood bear" had been seen by many residents and had delighted those of us who enjoy living in a rural area around wildlife. The bear spent a couple of weeks passing through forested yards eating mostly service berries and hawthorn berries — its natural diet. Its death disgusted most of us who live here and heard about the incident. This was not a "problem bear," just a hungry one for lack of food at higher elevations.

Legal or not, this isn't hunting. I grew up in a family of bow and rifle hunters and I'm also pretty handy with a gun.

I was taught proper hunting ethics. Howard's act lacks any such integrity or sportsmanship. It was opportunistic killing of the worst kind. According to Idaho Fish & Game officers, these kind of unethical killing practices are on the rise — taking big game from backyards, back doors, pickup trucks along roadways, and too close to people's homes. Drugs and alcohol often factor into the scene.

Perhaps the time has come for the state to restrict hunting privileges in residential areas, especially as fast as Bonner County is growing.

JANE FRITZ

Sandpoint