The House Committee on Natural Resources and Tourism adopted an H‑1 substitute to House Bill 4937, which would authorize a backup‑shooter bear hunting license in narrowly defined situations, and then reported the bill as H‑1.

Representative Jerry Fairbairn, sponsor of HB 4937, told the committee the H‑1 substitute “further clarifies that the license would be only valid when a bear being harvested from a tree has been wounded by a licensed hunter but has not expired by the time it reaches the ground, or a bear at a bait site has been wounded by a licensed hunter and has left the immediate bait site and therefore requires tracking.” He added the substitute specifies that “at no time shall a backup shooter attempt to dispatch a bear while it is crossing a state or county road.”

The substitute was adopted by roll-call vote the clerk announced as 15 yays, 0 nays and 0 passes. The committee then voted to report HB 4937 as H‑1; the clerk announced 15 yays, 0 nays and 0 passes and the motion prevailed.

No additional public testimony on HB 4937 was recorded during this meeting.