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Bear baiting is not illegal in Alberta, but it is restricted to certain areas.

The bear Bowmar targets isn’t immediately killed by the projectile and flees into the dusk.

“I can’t believe that just happened … He’s going down, I drilled him perfect. That was the longest throw I ever thought I could ever make,” Bowmar tells the camera.

“That was a 12- to 15-yard spear throw, on the ground, no blind, no backup. We have no shotguns within miles of here.”

Bowmar walks out to the spot, finds the spear and turns to the camera: “Oh yeah, I got mad penetration.”

Photo by supplied

The video cuts to the next day and shows part of the black bear’s intestines wrapped around low-hanging branches and Bowmar discovering the animal “60 to 70 yards” away from where it was first struck.

A man identified as John on the video reasons that because of evidence of rigor mortis, “this bear died within seconds.”

Bowmar, who runs an Ohio-based fitness company, credits Swan Hills outfitter husband and wife team of John and Jenn Rivet with helping in the hunt. Calls to the Rivets went unanswered Monday.

Bowmar told The Canadian Press in an email he was surprised by the reaction to the video. He said spears have been used for hunting since the “dawn of man” and the notion that the method is inhumane “couldn’t be further from the truth.”

He said the spear blade he used was 13 centimetres wide and about 40 centimetres long and penetrated the bear more than 60 centimetres deep.

“The bear I speared only ran (55 metres) and died immediately, that’s as humane and ethical as one could get in a hunting situation on big game animals. Trust me, no one cares more about these animals than us hunters, especially me,” he wrote.