Not all hunters use stale doughnuts and pizza as described by Katie Hansberry in her rebuttal letter of Sept. 26.

Bear hunting became a sport after the state ended bounties on bear in the late 50s. We were baiting them then, as we do now. The difference was that we were using open garbage dumps, which every city and small Maine town owned.

It was the hunters who realized that the black bear was a renewable resource. If not for them, we would be shooting them for their bounty still.

Hansberry wrote about spot and stalk hunting in some western and Pacific states. These states have vast open areas in which to stalk, or rivers full of spawning fish in which to hunt. Maine is 94 percent forested, and spot and stalk does not work here. If we leave it to just hunting during November deer season, most bears are in hibernation.

Without baiting, hounding and trapping, the bear population will rise sharply, and we will be paying agents to shoot them to keep them in control. Just this week a sow was spotted in Topsham along with three cubs.

There will be many more bear and human contacts without these methods to keep them in check.

We do not need out-of-town interests to tell us how to manage our wildlife.

Kenneth Scribner, Durham