It's not really a good alibi; someone putting bear traps on a human path is going to have a very hard time arguing they were trying to catch bears. Someone putting out bear traps without signage is clearly doing something funky; would you put bear traps out in the woods and then try to collect them without signage?
More generally, many states ban the use of steel leg traps by civilians already. They're dangerous to humans (often including the owner), they're cruel to the animal, it lacks any of the "sport" attributed to normal hunting, and they can't differentiate between a bear and an endangered kind of deer or whatever.
They're gonna get weird looks, though. I've spent some time in bear country and I don't think I've heard of anyone trapping them; I don't even think the wildlife service around there does it. They generally prefer to shoot or tranquilize them if need be, because trapped bears are pissed off and you do not want to be in eyesight of a pissed off bear. I wouldn't take any bets about what a pissed off bear is capable of, especially in the ability of a trap to immobilize it.
More generally, many states ban the use of steel leg traps by civilians already. They're dangerous to humans (often including the owner), they're cruel to the animal, it lacks any of the "sport" attributed to normal hunting, and they can't differentiate between a bear and an endangered kind of deer or whatever.
They're gonna get weird looks, though. I've spent some time in bear country and I don't think I've heard of anyone trapping them; I don't even think the wildlife service around there does it. They generally prefer to shoot or tranquilize them if need be, because trapped bears are pissed off and you do not want to be in eyesight of a pissed off bear. I wouldn't take any bets about what a pissed off bear is capable of, especially in the ability of a trap to immobilize it.