Our area is a section where some mixed ag and forest meets large forest sections, so you are correct that the food in our general area draws them in. The DNR has trapped bears off properties on all sides of my land and that is a temporary solution at best. The farmers in our area are the ones losing lots and lots of money to the bears, so they are often the ones putting a bullet through their guts. If the bear damage solution creates more work or hassle for farmers, they will just shoot them rather than jump through hoops (prove damage, allow trapping access and open your land to the public, etc).
In my opinion verifiable crop damage should get you a kill tag to use on that specific property. If you handed out a couple hundred tags like that in an area the bear problem would decrease and eventually you would be removing bears faster than new ones replace them. The bears cause the crop damage before the regular bear seasons start though, so that's part of the problem. The hunters that drew tags after waiting for 8+ years are justifiably mad if a neighbor has the DNR trap a bunch of bears the week before their season starts. Perhaps a spring bear season in specific areas would be helpful, but that hasn't been brought up as an option.
well I can tell you for a FACT< its NOT hard to prove crop damage from bears
so that shouldn;'t be a problem for farmers to do at all
and its NOT hard for them to do crop damage on bears while its happening,(when it should be done, as there is NO reason to allow a bear to keep eating crops for weeks or months till hunting season happens!, the solution for FARMERS is, if they have crop damage report it, get permission from warden to SHOOT bear, once bear is DEAD< do what ever is legally needed to do with it, be it give it to warden, or dispose of PROPERLY
this is the normal process
and it also helps the farmer with crop insurance claims, as they have proof of the damage then!
Just shooting a bear to run off and die, is again ILLEGAL and NOT solving the real problem at all, what its doing is making matters worse if were honest,a s dead animals feed other animals in the real world!
so there just providing roe food for animals they want to get rid of, and the SMELL from a dead rotting animal will DRAW In more bears!
so, again, this is the deal, if you PLANT food bears eat and ,live and plant them where bears are, your going to have bear /human conflicts, all one can do is LEARN how to get along with bears and bear proof your things so they don't get damaged
remember the bears are part of the area, and killing them all is NOT an viable option
ad in the countless land owners that DON"T hunt, nor want hunting and you will never get rid of them even with all teh tags you could get if you COULD get them
yes you can lower the numbers to a VERY low amount, but then your dealing with what the local biologist wants and feels the area can support, and odds are they again will NEVER change there minds, unless they get enough complaints to adjust them!
a few food plotters or farmers complaining , most liklely won't change anything!\
as the game depts KNOWS< that farmers have crop insurance, and well, food plotters planting and making there lands more attractive to bears, are creating there own problems
and when the game dept OFFERS help(yes sucks requiring you to open your lands to hunters)
and you refuse to take there help
they tend to STOP caring, best they will do again, is MAYBE help trap and move some for you!
until they get a LOT of complaints from a large portion of local residents, your stuck where your at!
so your right back again to learning how top co exist with bears and how to bear proof your items
trail cam's
BEAR BOXES
tree stands, again NOT sure what damages your getting so cannot offer suggestions
grill
learn to clean after use,(yes extra work) you can also make some bear deterrent devices to cover grills, (nail boards and such , cheap easy to make and well work
OR even better add some easy to use solar E fence to keep them OFF your deck or away from grill(trash can's as well
trash can's can also have scents added that SOME bears will leave alone based on smell they give off!
or making lids so they cannot come off easy(I use bungee cords on mine, but they never bother them any ways here(they walk past them all the time too)
another thing like posted above
and this ONLY works around the house
but training bears can happen
if you an catch them in the act enough times and chase them off, they DO learn the hassle isn;t worth the energy spent to get nothing!
and they will find easier things to search for food!
Like I said, I have bears in my yard almost daily
Not a bit of damage here from them in 30+ yrs! and average 20+ different bears here every yr!
from BIG to small young to old
I can count on 1 hand how many times my trash can was tipped over or gone thru
so I know being bear smart can work and save you a LOT of stress!
I am not numb to your issue's or problems, just saying, I feel for you, but there is ways to co exists if your willing to make the efforts!