IN Maine, a hunter can shoot a bear while it’s nose-deep in a barrel of doughnuts, after it’s been chased up a tree with dogs, or when it’s snared in a cable trap. But that could change in days, and hunters and animal rights advocates around the United States are watching.

    Bears are hunted in 32 U.S. states but Maine has the most permissive rules. It is the only one that allows hunters to use three methods — bait, dogs and traps — decried by animal rights groups and targeted by a Nov. 4 ballot proposal that would ban them all.

    U.S. national hunting groups oppose the ban because they believe it could set a precedent that prompts other states to try to roll back hunting rights.

    But opponents say the methods are necessary to control Maine’s growing bear population, which has risen to about 30,000, up about 30 percent from 10 years ago.

    Using bait — typically sugary human food such as doughnuts — is by far the most common method of bear hunting, accounts for about four-fifths of the hunt, and is the most debated of the three methods.

    Maine is the only U.S. state that allows all three hunting methods. Hunting without the three methods, which proponents of the ban call “fair chase,” would remain legal. (SD-Agencies)