Loaded for Bear

Still, such ethical concerns are unfamiliar territory for many hunters, who are reluctant to give up any ground for fear they will lose it all. "It's a mentality that says, 'Anyone who is critical of any aspect of hunting is an anti-hunter,'" says Petersen. "It's as simple as that, no matter if you're an anti-hunting activist who lives in New York City, or a man like Tom Beck, who lives to hunt."

Beck says hunting practices still have plenty of room to improve, and in order to do so, hunters must listen to anti-hunters. "There will be other issues," he predicts in "A Failure of the Spirit." "Trapping, target practice using live animals, and contest hunts come to mind, all deservedly. Our critics will never disappear. Nor should we want them to, for they keep us from getting stuck in amoral bureaucratic ruts. They force us to look forward."

Which, Gill says, explains Beck's lack of popularity among some sportsmen: Unlike many hunters, he is willing to draw a line between what he strongly believes is right and wrong and then stay on the right side. "He advocates--and many people oppose--that we address ethical issues up front," Gill says. "Let's don't pretend they don't exist."

"Hunters feel that he's a traitor," adds Petersen. "Here's an insider--one of the most respected bear biologists in the world--and for him to come out against the fraternity and say that we need to just stop it is a hard message for many hunters to swallow."

"I don't want to bring discredit to the Division of Wildlife," says Beck. "But I do want to change my profession. And I do want to change my agency, because some of the things they're doing are wrong. We're still an agency that listens only to the hunting and fishing public. That should be part of our mission, but not all of it."

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