I am an 80-year-old native Mainer and have hunted, fished, and trapped my whole life. I also have been a working Master Maine Guide for 54 years. Guiding has been a reliable source of income and has kept us out of the welfare system.

Bear has been a large part of this life for many of us, and has helped make this state a vacationland. In the old days, bear was considered a varmint and the only good bear was a dead bear; nobody would eat the meat. The ears were turned into the Fisheries & Wildlife department, which would bring in a $15 bounty. They were hunted primarily in berries, apples, oats, corn, and a few guides with dogs for sport and trappers for bounty. No closed season on them.

In the mid-1970s, the wildlife department, with Maynard Marsh, raised bear status to big-game animal, with a spring and fall hunt. This put many sporting camps, guides, hunters and trappers into the harvesting bear mode. The plus side is that the bear population can stand the harvest. It brings much money into tourism, our No. 1 industry.

Bear meat is second only to partridge meat in my mind. For the hunters and trappers involved, it’s a great sport. In the fall the only chance for success is using bait, dogs or traps. Contrary to belief, it’s a law that the bait sites must be cleaned up after the season.

From the time I was 15 years old until today, the attitude toward bear has improved to the thrill of making a clean kill, harvesting the meat into roast and sausages, not to mention the pictures, the stories and all the other pluses that us hunters enjoy.

For the sake of our precious hunting heritage, please vote no on Question 1.

Dick Mosher

Fairfield