The debate over bear hunting often hinges on definitions that remain open to personal interpretations.

This fall, Mainers will vote on a referendum to see whether they believe that hunters should be allowed to use bait or dogs when they are hunting bear. Some people wonder if these hunting methods are ethical or if they fall under the category of fair chase.

Before you can say whether it is ethical or fair, one needs to have a definition of fair and ethical hunting. And, certainly, when it comes to hunting, there are many firm opinions of what is fair and ethical. And people believe very strongly in their opinions of fair chase or ethics, just like someone believes very strongly in their candidate of choice or even their own choice of religion.

What is fair chase? Or who is an ethical hunter?

Definitions vary, even among hunters. Choosing to hunt and then how one hunts is a personal choice. Some hunters only hunt with a bow and arrow, refusing to hunt with a firearm, for that is their definition of fair chase. Others may use only a firearm that contains but a single shot. Others feel that the only way to hunt is to use a primitive weapon that is triggered by metal striking flint.

However they choose to hunt, nearly all are ethical in that they respect the animal that they are tracking, they are following the rule of law, and they are behaving in a way that does not negatively impact society or the wildlife population.

Maine’s state of the art bear study proves that hunting bears with bait, dogs or trapping has no negative effect on the abundant bear population in Maine.

By radio collaring and tracking Maine bears over a 25-year period, we have learned that putting additional food in a bear’s habitat does not increase the number of bears, it does not increase the number of nuisance bears, and it does not negatively impact the environment. These are traditional methods that have been used hundreds of years, and they are methods used in other states.

They also are methods that allow the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to regulate the bear population in Maine. And the public, through meetings with landowners, the forest industry, sportsmen groups and environmentalists, has told us that they want the bear population to remain at this level, while promoting these traditional methods of hunting.

Before voting on this referendum, you need to decide whether or not you feel comfortable in legislating how someone conducts their hunt, whether your definition of ethical should be enforced on someone’s passion to hunt. And then, where do you stop? Hunters use dogs for other game. Hunters use bait for other game, for trapping and for fishing. People trap a variety of fur bearing animals. If it is unethical for one type of hunting, is it not unethical for all types of hunting? Where would it end?

There is a long time between now and the day the state goes to the polls and decides about this proposed referendum. During that time, I urge you to review the facts provided by Maine’s black bear study, facts provided by researching Maine’s bear population for nearly 30 years.

Maine has a long, storied tradition of ethical hunting, one that is passed from generation to generation. It would be a shame to see this end by enforcing one group’s definition of ethics upon another.

Kenneth D. Elowe is the director of the Bureau of Resource Management for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and is the top fish and wildlife biologist for the state. Elowe has been studying bears for 25 years, including his graduate work, which centered on factors affecting bear reproductive rates and and cub survival of black bears.