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 >