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NH Fish and Game Gives Bear Tags to 35 Guides

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire hunting guides began setting up at 10:30 Sunday morning and endured a chilly night to bag their prey early Monday — the coveted tags that allow them to lure bear hunters five months from now.

They camped not in the North County — the state's prime hunting grounds — but in the Concord parking lot of state Fish and Game headquarters. Increased competition has made the seasonal ritual a necessary cost of doing business. Tags can bring in several thousand dollars for a guide.

"Three years ago we didn't have to do this,'' said Jason Parent of New Hampshire Guide Services in Northfield.

Thirty-five sets of six tags apiece were distributed on a first-come-first-served basis. It's a system that once satisfied demand. But the number of guides licensed by Fish and Game on April 1 was up to 62.

Sunday morning, Parent and several colleagues were the first to arrive. They set up chairs, grills and the sign-in list that documents when each guide arrives. Guides honor the list so they don't have to endure hours waiting.

"We just kind of tailgate, tell some stories,'' Parent said. And tend the list.

Parent said guide number 35 arrived at 11:45 p.m. Sunday. Unlucky number 36 arrived at 2:30 a.m. Monday, less than six hours before the doors at Fish and Game opened.

Fish and Game had proposed a lottery this year to distribute the tags to the guides. But a legislative committee Friday objected, saying the mechanics of the lottery were unclear. Several guides objected as well because they said a lottery would further delay when they knew whether they could begin advertising the tags to their clients.

"It's just hard to run a business if you have to wait for a lottery system to take place,'' said Parent, who testified against the proposal. "You're not sure you're going to have tags from year to year. Many bear guides have people who've been using their services for years.''

Parent said having the tags enable guides to attract bear hunters who pay for the expertise in tracking bears. He said the tags are worth up to about $7,000 total in income for the services a guide provides. Each tag covers one bear kill so bear hunters who don't acquire their own tags are covered by hiring a guide with tags.

New Hampshire has about 4,800 bears, spread throughout the state. The animal's population has remained relatively stable, according to Fish and Game.

Parent said 9,700 bear tags were distributed in 2010, including those distributed to guides. Hunters bagged just over 700 bears, including 67 taken with the use of a guide.

The camp-out Sunday was a reunion, of sorts, for guides and "a pretty good time,'' Parent said. But he'd like to work with the state agency to find an alternative.

"We hope to fix it so we don't have to do it every year,'' Parent said.

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