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Maine's Bear Hunt Opens Up To Users Of Hunting Dogs

Robert F. Bukaty
/
Associated Press
n this July 25, 2014 file photo, a black bear in captivity waits for visitors to throw food into his pen at the the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray, Maine.

AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine's bear hunt has reached the point of the year in which it expands to allow hunting with the use of dogs.Most of the state's bear hunt takes place over bait, and that season started Aug. 27 and runs until Sept. 22. But pursuing bears with hunting dogs is also a legal hunting method in Maine, and there are outfitters in rural parts of the state who focus their business on the hounding season.
 
Hunting with dogs is allowed from Monday until Oct. 26. The hunting season continues until Nov. 24, but the vast majority of bears are caught using either bait or dogs.
 
A referendum question that could have outlawed the use of bait or dogs failed at the polls in 2014.