PORTLAND, Maine — There are many ways to bag a bear in this rural state. Recreational hunters legally can trap the animals, chase them down with dogs or even lure them with tempting bait such as jelly doughnuts before shooting them.

Maine is the only state that allows all three methods. They account for 90% of the state’s bear killings, which last year totaled 2,845. But the practices would be banned under a November ballot referendum that has drawn intense national interest, with hunting advocacy groups pouring in money to counter a campaign largely bankrolled by the Humane Society of the U.S.