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MBHA 2007 Calender
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January 13, 2007 MBHA Board Meeting, Holiday Inn Express, Gaylord, 6:00pm
March 16-17, 2007 MBHA Convention, Park Place Hotel, Traverse City
March 18, 2007 MBHA Board Meeting, Park Place Hotel, Tr....
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MBHA 2007 Convention Update
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Information for the 2007 Convention has been updated on the website. The 2007 Convention will be March 16-18 at the Park Place Hotel in Traverse City. For more information and forms to register, click....
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MBHA wins Bobcat Lawsuit
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Media Release May 16, 2006
STATE LOSES BOBCAT SUIT
The Ingham County Circuit Co....
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2006 MBHA Convention Information Added
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The 2006 MBHA Convention information has been added to the website. Click on the Convention at the top of the page. There you will find the forms to order dinner and raffle tickets as well as make you....
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Our Mission
Today, our work is more important than ever. The bear, though its numbers are
healthy, is facing several threats, including loss of habitat, particularly in
the Lower Peninsula. Bear hunters have also been put on notice by organized
animal rightists that they have targeted Michigan to outlaw our sport. But
fighting for the bear and for bear hunting is something we've done hard and
successfully for years.
MBHA's roots were men and women who loved the sound of hounds on trail. Typically,
houndmen and houndwomen are equally at home chasing fox, raccoon, coyote,
bobcat or bear. MBHA became a conservation organization that was an advocate
for all these sports, with the primary emphasis on the black bear.
Since the '50s, through its association with MUCC, members of the state
Legislature, the state Department of Conservation and its offspring, the
Department of Natural Resources, MBHA has been in the forefront of Michigan
conservation.
Early on, MBHA leaders fought to protect the bear by making the state change
its status from vermin to game animal. Thus protected by seasons and bag limits
and methods of take, the black bear has thrived.
Successful MBHA initiatives have included the protection of the bear and bobcat
by limiting their take to regular hunting seasons, the removal of the coyote
bounty, the registration of all harvested bobcats and bears for scientific
purposes, the removal of the bear from the small-game license and then the
deer license, the law limiting dogs on a bear chase to six and baits per hunter
to three, the ban on shooting cubs, the special archery bear season and many
bear research and habitat improvement programs.
MBHA has always encouraged its members to learn wildlife conservation practices
and to embrace the sportsman's ethic. Most regulations MBHA has backed were
designed to meet that end and to demonstrate to the general public that bear
hunters are indeed concerned about the quality of the hunt as they practice it.
Through the years, however, MBHA and the bear hunters it now supports-baiters,
houndmen and still hunters-have had to endure attacks on their sports.
Yet despite stable and increasing bear populations, these attacks have been
mounting, not only elsewhere, but here in Michigan too.
MBHA is committed to repel these assaults by educating the public and our
legislators. MBHA is also pledged to conserve the black bear by pushing
for increased research and enlightened management and is resolved to ensure
MBHA is committed to repel these assaults by educating the public and our
legislators. MBHA is also pledged to conserve the black bear by pushing
for increased research and enlightened management and is resolved to
ensure hunters have equitable regulations by pressing for them with the DNR.
We, the members of MBHA, invite all bear hunters, and others who agree
with our cause, to join our association so we can better protect the
bear and the sport of bear hunting.
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Our History
In 1946, the year Ben East, the famous writer for Outdoor Life, realized his
dream, the Cadillac (Mich.) Bear Club had been in existence for some 10 years.
East's dream was to hold a great bear hunt in the vast Dead Stream Swamp,
near Cadillac. East garnered support for the hunt from wildlife biologists,
the state's Conservation Commission and the Michigan United Conservation Clubs.
More than 100 people showed up for that first organized hunt. Hack Smith deal,
a renowned bear hunter, came up from Tennessee with his hounds and hunting crew.
According to some enthusiasts, an exciting and successful hunt took place.
Others, however, said dogs were running all over, confusion reigned supreme and
few bears were taken. But everyone agreed it was great sport.
At that time, local sheepherders considered the black bear akin to a
pestilence, to be killed anytime the opportunity afforded. Fortunately,
farsighted hunters saw the bear for what it is: a great game animal deserving
of protection. Soon after the Dead Stream hunt, the Cadillac Bear Club
transformed itself into the organization known since as the Michigan Bear
Hunters Association.
Hunting Regulations
See our Regulations Page
Click Here!
Important Changes for 2005
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1. Bear hunters on private lands, excluding commercial forest lands, may use bait containers for hunting black bear.
2. Bear hunters may use ground blinds on state lands in the bear management un....
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General Rules
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1. A person shall not kill or attempt to kill a bear unless the person has an unused bear harvest license issued in their name for the bear management unit in which they are hunting.
2. You may....
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Baiting Rules
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From the start of the legal bear baiting period through the end of bear hunting season, bear hunters may use the following products without quantity restrictions:
meat and meat products including d....
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Dog Rules
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1. For the purpose of hunting bear, no more than six dogs shall be run as a pack. Relaying of packs is prohibited. It is not unlawful to replace individual dogs provided six or fewer dogs are used at ....
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