I'm new to these forums, but I'm not new to the woods/hunting culture by any means.

In my 25 years I have spent thousands of hours in the rockies....and thousands more wishing I was on the mountain.

What I don't understand is why members of my culture are turning on each other. When we criticize our family’s methods, all we are doing is giving our ultimate enemies who include the anti-hunters/extremist activists/pro-wolf/anti-gun ammunition to throw back at us and hurt us.

Instead of pointing the finger at each other, we need to understand that even though we personally would not want to perform certain practices, like baiting or hound hunting, we will stand behind our brothers and sisters that do because our passions are the same.

I do believe we should discuss things and opinions in our development and maintenance as a community....but I do not believe that we should attack one another with non-constructive verbal bashings. If we continue battles among ourselves with this non-constructive fighting, we can expect to get flanked and taken down in our weekend state by the extremists that want us shut down!

We are hunters because it is a way of our life. We live for the crisp autumn air slipping through our nostrils as we watch the first light creep over the mountain top which reveals a peaceful doe nibbling her way down to a turning and bubbling stream.

We are fighting the hardest battle sportsmen have ever encountered right now. The reason that the wolf got slipped in under our noses is because of the lack of education behind hunting and the lack of solid support from the entire hunting community.

I am ashamed and truly sorry that I attacked a family member when he expressed his ideas....I'm sorry for this Andrew (see the post about baiting bears) and I can assure you that I will stand behind you because you are a fellow hunter. However, I feel that you too should adjust your comments to form constructive conflict instead of accusing your brothers and sisters of being lazy or unethical in their practices.

We need to stand together and look our adversaries in the eyes....knowing full well that we will support each other as a community and family through everything we are fighting right now. I havea deep and richlove for and respect for the animals and the vast terrain I call my back yard. Because my passion and love for hunting is so strong; I also love my huge family of hunters that are scattered around this amazing country! We share the same culture and I am honored to be a part of so much experience and so many life changing stories from the hunting community. From forums, small town cafes, local sporting good stores to the shooting range; we all have something to respect and learn from each other. If you don't realize this, then you should be ashamed of yourself. If you attack another hunter, you should realize you are hurting our entire family.

We may be dysfunctional, but we need to stand arm in arm in the up and coming battles....or we will all have to turn to a life without something most of us can't see us living without!