The Brown Bear Hunters of Hokkaido Closely Observe the Tense Exchange of Lives

Some hunters have been struck back and killed.

One of the reasons for the increase in bears is the aging of hunters. The hunting club to which Mr. Kurokawa belongs has lost about one-third of its members. The shortage of ammunition due to the war in Ukraine, the rising price of ammunition due to the weak yen and other factors, and the rising price of gasoline for vehicles used to enter the mountains have also contributed to the shortage of hunters.

Under these circumstances, Mr. Kurokawa is also training young hunters. Instead of using cars, Mr. Kurokawa’s team does “ninja hunting,” in which they enter the mountains on foot to catch prey such as Ezo sika deer.

Since there is an increased risk of encountering brown bears when ninja hunting, Kurokawa explains the dangers of bears and teaches them the basics of hunting, such as how to shoot a rifle and how to walk in the mountains.

“In the town of Shiranuka in eastern Hokkaido, one hunter was killed and another seriously wounded after being gouged in the face by a bear that had attacked him. We tell our people that if they shoot a bear, they should wait about an hour before approaching it, or if it runs into thick bushes of bamboo grass or other vegetation, they should call their friends instead of going after it too hard.”

During the interview, we received a call from a young hunter who said he had shot a bear for the first time. The bullet hit the bear, but he had lost sight of it and did not know what to do.

He said, “If it’s been shot, it’s probably lying nearby, so take your time and look for it by following the bloodstains and footprints. Even if you are lying on the ground, they may attack you, so be careful and look for them with your gun at your hip, ready to fire at any time.”

With this advice, Kurokawa drove to the spot where the young hunter had shot the bear. At the entrance to a forest road in Kamiashoro, he met up with a pair of young hunters who had called him, and after walking together for about five minutes, they arrived at the site.