‘I drilled him perfect’: Alberta to ban spear hunting after bear-killer’s triumphant video sparks outrage
Hunter Josh Bowmar claims he loves animals, and uses a huge spear to kill them because it gives them ‘the greatest chance to escape’
The Alberta provincial government plans to ban the practice of spearing wildlife after a video posted online showing an American killing a black bear with a spear sparked outrage.
The video was posted in June on the YouTube account of Josh Bowmar, who runs an Ohio-based fitness company, and shows him killing the bear on a hunt in northern Alberta. By the time it was removed from public view on Monday it had garnered more than 208,000 views.
The 13-minute video shows Bowmar launching a massive spear — with a camera attached — at a bear from about 12 metres away and captures his jubilant reaction when the animal is hit. The bear was feeding on bait laid by Bowmar at the time.
“I just speared a bear!” Bowmar says on the video. “He’s going down. I drilled him perfect ... I smoked him.”
Commenters on YouTube were livid. At least one comment threatened to do to the hunter what he did to the bear. Twitter users called the bear’s killing sick, inhumane, shameful and disgusting.
