The spring grizzly bear hunt ended Saturday but the debate rages on as to whether continued hunting of ursus arctos horribilis is sustainable or should be bagged altogether.

In the Kootenay region alone 298 limited entry draws were awarded for the 2010 spring grizzly hunt. While stats aren't yet available for this year, in 2009, hunters killed 61 grizzlies during the same period.

B.C. is one of the only places left in North America that still allows a grizzly hunt and recent protests, reports, hunting lobbyists, anti-hunting lobbyists, government and non-government organizations, have all contributed to what is growing confusion to the basic question of how to sustain grizzly populations.

Local hunter Mike Bartsoff just ended a successful grizzly hunt and is sensitive to the volatile nature of the issue.

"A lot of people don't like it. Most people don't mind hunting for meat but a bear hunt is different - it's a trophy hunt. I understand it but what do you do?" asked the Fruitvale resident.

Bartsoff has spent every weekend for the past two months hunting an area in the Central Purcells on the east side of Kootenay Lake. He finally won his bear tag after 10 years of applying for the limited entry draw and was determined to make the most of it.

"Getting to where they are this time of year is hard - and the success rate is very low. There aren't any roads so you have to hike through three feet of snow early in the season. Later, the creeks are running so high they are either impossible to cross or you risk your life trying, my brother almost bit it last year," said Bartsoff.

Recently, the Suzuki Foundation weighed in with an April report that skewered the B.C. government and Ministry of Environment for continuing to allow the hunt.

The report provided seemingly overwhelming statistics on over-hunting, misguided methodology, and inflated populations and advised a complete and immediate ban on the hunt.

In one instance, the report claims that from 2003-2008 hunting kill rates in the central Purcells was exceeded by 170 per cent and that in three out of five years the rate exceeded the limit proscribed by the government.

Dr. Michael Proctor of Birchdale Ecological is an independent bear researcher and has been pounding bush in the Kootenay region since 1995.

Proctor studies grizzly populations using a method called DNA mark and recapture to estimate population sizes, reveal fragmentation due to settlement and highways, and to explain why bears thrive in some areas and not in others.

Proctor describes himself as "the most independent biologist anywhere."

He has received over $ 3 million in funding to study bears from an eclectic variety of organizations ranging from hunting lobbyists like B.C. Wildlife Federation to the anti-grizzly-hunting, Pacific Wild, not to mention the timber industry, universities, government, NGO's and a myriad of other organizations and special interest groups.

"I don't care what anybody says, I tell the truth and everyone gets equal access. What powers my independence is that my funding comes from such a wide spectrum," said Proctor.

And when it comes to bears, Proctor does not equivocate.

"The (Suzuki) report forgot to mention that hunting quotas are set at five year allocations. They measured them annually, which isn't fair. It made it look far worse than it actually was. Whether this was intentional, I can't say," said Proctor.

The Kaslo biologist further explained that the government employs compensatory mechanisms so when a grizzly is "killed in a garbage can, hit by a car, or over-harvested by hunters," the government will compensate by adjusting hunting quotas accordingly in the next five year allocation period.

But Proctor's 2007 study on grizzly populations in the Central Purcell Mountains found a substantial discrepancy in government extrapolations.

"The area has shown fewer bears than originally thought and now we're trying to find out why they are low, " said Proctor.

Originally the government estimated the population to be at 93 per cent of their habitat potential. Proctor's research indicated the number at 54 per cent, significantly lower.

"That is the weak point - knowing populations," said Proctor.

Determining grizzly bear populations accurately is what has Julius Strauss most concerned. He owns and operates a wildlife viewing operation called Grizzly Bear Ranch that is situated between the Central Purcell and Selkirk Mountains, near the area of Proctor's study.

In the two hunter-management units that border his operation, close to 30 limited-entry tags for the spring grizzly hunt are drawn each year.

A staunch supporter of the Wildlife Grizzly Bear Fund, Stauss' operation attracts nature enthusiasts, photographers and wildlife naturalists from all over the world and has been in business for almost seven years.

"Since we began operations, the bears have declined every year," said Strauss, "and bears are what everyone comes to see - no bears are bad for business."

Although Strauss can't say for certain that the decline is due to hunting, he does want the government to put a moratorium on the grizzly hunt until accurate bear population data can be gathered.

"The bigger question is, 'Is it ethical to shoot an animal for sport or fun?' I have no problem shooting for food but for fun, for sport, for trophy? Given we don't know how many bears there are or how many are going to survive, can we justify it?"

Proctor suggests that his studies and population extrapolations are generally fairly accurate and that refinements are done all the time.

"There is a good link between government and independent bear surveys. They adjust hunting quotas all the time in response to findings. The hunting quotas set are pretty conservative," said Proctor.

Garth Mowat, Ministry of Environment fish and wildlife biologist, suggests that the studies done on Kootenay grizzly populations have been very thorough.

"A big part of our work is how we find the population. By far the most cost effective method is DNA sampling," said Mowat.

Wildlife biologists take DNA samples by collecting fur samplings from barbed wire strung around a bear mound soaked in a noxious mixture of cow's blood and rotting fish. The results provide biologists with information regarding bear habits, age, paternity, numbers and migratory tendencies.

"We have a pretty good idea of local populations. There have been something like 18 different inventories done for the Kootenay but we have to extrapolate numbers from some areas," said Mowat. "It's unavoidable."

Jay Mykietyn, past president of the Big Game Society, is an avid hunter and has harvested four grizzly bears on past spring hunts.

Mykietyn believes most experienced hunters are selective when it comes to hunting grizzly or any other big game.

"Many of us see five or six bears in a hunt and pass them up. I am looking for that big 7-foot-plus grizzly, a 10-15 year old boar," said Mykietyn.

For Mykietyn, the question is simple - he hunts, that's what he does, and he makes no apologies for it.

"If I get the tags I'll definitely go again. If I harvest something, that's great, but at this point in my life I want to be way more selective. If I don't get anything that's okay too, it's all about spending quality time out in the woods."

Whether you are for or against the grizzly hunt, one thing all parties agree on is that the bears are worth a lot more alive than dead and that maintaining sustainable populations should be the goal of everyone.