By The Canadian Press

Alberta bans spear-hunting after controversial bear-hunting video

Feb 7, 2018 | 10:11 AM

EDMONTON –  Spear-hunting is being banned in Alberta following an outcry when an American hunter killed a black bear with a spear. 

The province says it is updating hunting rules to make sure big game animals don’t suffer unnecessarily and to discourage reckless hunting.

The government pledged to change the rules after the graphic online video of the bear’s death surfaced in 2016.

Rifles, shotguns and conventional archery gear will still be legal.

The new rules will also require larger shotgun pellets to ensure the animal is killed quickly. 

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The updated rules come into effect in time for the 2018 hunting season.

In late August, 2017, CTV Edmonton reported an Alberta government spokesperson stated a U.S. hunter who posted a video of himself baiting and then killing a bear with a spear will not face charges.

The spokesperson with Alberta Justice said the investigation into the video, posted on YouTube in June by hunter Josh Bowmar, is done and there was no evidence to suggest any law was broken.

The 13-minute video shows the man launching a spear, with a camera attached, at a bear from 11 to 14 metres away and captures his jubilant reaction when the animal is hit.

The video by Bowmar, who runs an Ohio-based fitness company with his wife, set off a deluge of outrage before it was made private.

In a statement, the provincial spokesperson called spear hunting “archaic” and said it was “unacceptable.”

The spokesperson also says the province is looking at changing hunting regulations, with a ban on spear hunting expected in the fall.

Bowmar was surprised by the reaction to the video, saying spears have been used for hunting since the “dawn of man” and the notion that the method is inhumane “couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“The bear I speared only ran (55 metres) and died immediately, that’s as humane and ethical as one could get in a hunting situation on big game animals. Trust me, no one cares more about these animals than us hunters, especially me,” he said in an emailed statement last week.

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