PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — This year's bear hunt could be the last one in Maine with legal use of bait, dogs and traps.
Saturday is the first day it is legal to set bait for bears. A November ballot question could prohibit hunting Maine bears with bait, dogs or traps. Maine is the only state to allow all three of those hunting methods.
Bear bait is typically sugary human food such as doughnuts. The state's bear hunting season begins Aug. 25 and ends Nov. 29.
The vote comes 10 years after Maine voters narrowly shot down a similar measure. Supporters of the ban say bear baiting is cruel, but opponents say a ban would hurt state tourism.
More than 1,700 of the 2,845 bears harvested in Maine in 2013 were caught by out-of-state residents.