You know, perhaps we can learn something here from our feline friends.
If
we kill the bear slowly with spears, then all the adrenaline has run
its
course and the meat will be "cleaner". Although, how much adrenaline
can
start circulating with a quick bullet to the brain? (Bear may never
see,
hear, or feel it coming) So, I guess to the hunting dilemma, either
really
fast (best for bear and meat) or really slow (not great for bear, but
good
for meat) is the answer.
Of course, we do realize guns would not be strictly paleo...
Not to kill the bear (by whatever means) would be cruel to the hungry
human
and dog families back at the cave (hut, hovel, etc.)

Oh, it just gets so complicated, doesn't it?

Also, to *not* kill the bear would also be unspeakably cruel for
another
reason, being that the bear would surely protest being eaten while
still
alive...which of course is done quite regularly in the natural animal
world
- eating prey before it has completely succumbed to the great beyond.
But,
wait a minute... even bears themselves do that!! How very ironic!

I have a somewhat perverse desire to see the people who try to
recreate
nature into a happy fluffy place that never knows hurt, to find out
what it
is like to have a starving family to feed. How concerned would they be
for
the dinners "feelings" then?

Nature is rugged and not for the squeamish. Some folks just need to
get
over themselves.

At 06:30 PM 09/12/2000 EDT, you wrote:
><< What about the suffering of the bears?  Don't you think throwing spears at
>a
> bear and having die slowly is cruel?  Come on!!!  >>
>
>That's why I use rifles when I hunt.  Quick, accurate, and relatively
>painless.
>
>Mary in Milwaukee
>