No one expects to be hunted while they're sleeping. But now it is becoming legal to walk into a bear den and kill the entire family while they're hibernating.

The U.S. Senate overturned a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule by a vote of 52-47 that prevented unsporting hunting methods of animals on 76 million acres of national wildlife refuges in Alaska.

With the new regulations in play, it means that hunters are permitted to lure grizzly bears with food and shoot them at point-blank range. It also means they can legally enter bear and wolf dens to kill mothers and their young cubs and pups. Hunters will also be permitted to shoot bears from airplanes and use steel-jawed leg-hold traps, as well as wire snares on these reserves.

"What the Senate did today should outrage the conscience of every animal lover in America," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. "The passage of this bill means that we'll see wolf families killed at their dens, bears chased down by planes or suffering for hours in barbaric steel-jawed traps or snares."

Hibernation for bears begins in early October and goes until April or May. During this time, they give birth to one or two cubs and nurse them. Mating occurs in the summer, but the embryo stops developing until fall. Interestingly enough, the number of cubs produced depends on the fat reserves of the bear.

What do you think of these new hunting regulations?