North America Traditionally, Kodiak Natives (Alutiiqs) hunted bears for food, clothing and tools. Arrows and spears were required hunting implements. Bear heads were usually left in the field as a sign of respect to the spirit of the bears. Kodiak bears were commercially hunted throughout the 1800s with the price paid for a bear hide being comparable to that paid for a beaver or river otter pelt (about US$10). In 1702, bear pelts were considered equal in worth to those of American beavers. 16,512 furs were sent to the French port of Rochelle in 1743, while 8,340 were exported from the east coast of the United States in 1763. In the 19th century, as the settlers began increasingly moving west in pursuit of more land for ranching, bears were becoming increasingly more hunted as threats to livestock. In 1818, a “War of Extermination” against wolves and bears was declared in Ohio. Bear pelts were usually sold for 220 dollars in the 1860s. Between 1850 and 1920 grizzly bears were eliminated from 95% of their original range, with extirpation occurring earliest on the Great Plains and later in remote mountainous areas. Unregulated killing of bears continued in most places through the 1950s and resulted in a further 52% decline in their range between 1920 and 1970. Grizzly bears managed to survive this last period of hunting only in remote wilderness areas larger than 26,000 km2 (10,000 mi2). Overall, grizzly bears were eliminated from 98% of their original range in the contiguous United States during a 100-year period. Prior to Anglo-American colonization in 1820, black bears were widely distributed throughout all major eco-regions in Texas. The supply of both meat and fat lasted about a century after the first Anglo-American settlers arrived. However, after their value for grease and food had decreased, black bears continued to be pursued and killed for their trophy value. Black bears in East Texas were seriously reduced to scattered remnant populations or eliminated altogether in many areas largely as a result of indiscriminate and unregulated hunting by the time the first organized survey of mammals took place from 1890 to 1904. The last native East Texas black bear is believed to have been killed in the 1950s. Methods Bears are hard to hunt, as they generally live in dense forests or thick brush. They are, however, easy to trap. Where they are hunted frequently, bears become purely