A recent ISJ article titled ‘Baiting for bears’ caught my eye as it reminded me of the background lectures I gave on Shakespeare and the theater prior to studying one of his plays in my high school classes.

The students were shocked as we discussed bear-baiting as a form of entertainment back in sixteenth-century England. They found it hard to believe that people could be so cruel and enjoy viewing such blood sport. Ah, to be young and naïve.

Generally, in bear-baiting a pit was formed in which the bear was chained to a post in the ground. Several trained dogs were set loose to attack the bear until they were tired, wounded, or killed. Fresh dogs would then replace them, and the fight continued.

Stands were set up for the spectators and wagering frequently took place as to the outcome of the battle. Bear-baiting was very popular, with even Henry VIII and Elizabeth I as avid supporters.

According to Wikipedia, in the late 17th century “the conscience of cultivated people seems to have been touched” leading to public disenchantment with bear-baiting. It was eventually declared illegal throughout the British Empire in 1835.

Surprisingly, bear-baiting was still legal in the United States as recently as 2010. Not surprising is that the state where it was legal was South Carolina, where it existed under the pretense of training hunting dogs. Numerous videos are available online. Technically the practice is now illegal. But so is making moonshine yet. ...

Okay, hold on a minute. I just read the newspaper article ‘Baiting for bears’ and, lo and behold, it’s not about bear-baiting like in Shakespeare’s time at all. It’s about the practice of baiting bears to kill them, like baiting a hook with a worm hoping to catch a fish.

Today, there are people who haul gobs of food into the forest as bear bait, such as meat, popcorn, sweets, etc. The writer of the above-mentioned article states, “No doubt, I’ve hauled literally tens of thousands of pounds of meat up for bears to dine on…” Tens of thousands of pounds!? Is he out to kill bears or T-Rex?

Over time, a person detects that bears are obviously feasting regularly in the chosen location due to his finding scattered paper plates, used toilet paper, empty beer cans, cigarette butts — just kidding, that’s what he would find if humans were camping there.

Bears are much more considerate, only leaving apple cores and a few empty Krispy Kreme donut boxes. Oh, and bear tracks, lots of bear tracks.

Next, the person gets all camouflaged-up, disguises himself as a bush (Warning: DO NOT disguise yourself as a berry bush!) and waits to shoot an unsuspecting bear who has been sufficiently trained to crave glazed donuts as a welcome addition his 100 percent organic, all-natural diet.

Some people call baiting bears ‘hunting.’ But that is inaccurate based on the definition of the verb ‘hunt’ which is ‘to pursue and kill.’ Synonyms for hunt include chase, stalk, track, trail, follow. No dictionary that I consulted included ‘sit and swat mosquitoes’ as a synonym for hunt.

I read several hunter forums and many of the comments attempt to justify bear-baiting by pointing out it is the only reasonable tactic to use since bears move around a lot and are dangerous. One person explained the bear-baiting advantage this way: “Let the bears do the work for you.”

I’m not quite sure how to respond to such justification other than I thought that to “move around a lot” was an integral part of the whole hunting experience — for the hunter as well as the huntee.

Out of the 28 states that allow bear hunting, only 10 legally allow bear-baiting and, of course, Idaho is one of the 10. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s General Hunt Harvest Statistics website shows that 2,505 bears were killed in the state in 2016. Out of that total number, nearly 50 percent (1,217) of the kills involved bear-baiting.

Clearly, bear-baiting is quite popular in Idaho. That’s why you want to be extra careful when choosing a campsite if you prefer dispersed camping like my wife and I do.

On a recent trip we pulled off the road and scanned a site only to discover a huge pile of garbage consisting of hundreds of apples, bagels, and several rotting fish. So setting up camp there would have been just a wee bit risky.

Besides the danger it presented, the bait pile was approximately 50 feet from the main road and a stream, clearly in violation of the state location rule of a 200-foot minimum. Needless to say, the experience gave me a bad impression of the bear-baiting tactic.

Another bear-baiting rule that I would guess is easily violated is “No female black bear accompanied by young may be taken.” The rule is a bit illogical and most likely ineffective when one considers that sows often forage a distance from their young.

As the Humane Society points out, “Spring hunts of black bears can kill mother bears, leaving orphaned cubs to fend for themselves. Most orphaned cubs suffer from starvation, predation or exposure.”

I certainly am in no position to suggest people should do this or don’t do that when it comes to various activities. Yet, when it comes to certain traits of humanity, the evolution from 16th-century bear-baiting to today’s baiting bears simply does not indicate a lot of progress in 500 years. Perhaps it’s time for “the conscience of cultivated people” to be touched once again.

Mike Murphy of Pocatello is an award-winning columnist whose articles are syndicated by Senior Wire. He recently published a book titled “Tortoise Crossing – Expect Long Delays,” which is a collection of 100 of his favorite columns. It is available on Amazon.com.