Cayugad -
You were doing great 'till you brought the Idaho thing in. After saying much about each to his own, you then say:
they feel the need to pressure the State representatives to change the laws to fit their needs, cheating others out of a time in the woods that might have been very special to them
Shouldn'tlobbying their representatives be to each his own as well?I confess to a bit of resentment toward my game department because I have felt cheated by others out of time in the woods that was very special to me. Not that compounds and crossbows have taken time away from me in the woods, but it is not as special as it once was. At what point does the sheer number of people in the woods reduce the quality of the experience beyond what "old timers" will tolerate.
In many areas we are already there. The numbers of licensed hunters has been in decline for over 30 years. You hear all kinds of explanations but I believe the reason is not easy to "see". It's in the tone in a father's voice as he encourages his children to take part in the hunt. Not what is being said, but how it is being said. It's in the conversation the son or daughter overhears between dad and a fellow hunter. It's subtle, but the message is clear to a child. " My dad would love me to do these things with him, but he's ok with it if I decide to go another way. Dad's afraid of something. I don't know what it is, but I sense it in his voice." What dad's fear, is that they will turn their children into little copies of themselves, so enamoured with the woods and it's creatures that most everything "normal" folks worry about is brushed aside to spend more time out there. But that in doing so, making little copies of themselves, they risk setting their children up for broken hearts, as the woods they hunt turn to pavement or people who lobby their representatives win the day, in the future,and deer populations are held in check by birth control. This father to son/daughter thing is nothing original. It'ssocial evolution. It will continue, and changes to Idaho's MZ regs. will either serve to speed it up or slow it down, nothing more.
And if a guy wants to lobby his representatives to change the regs. to preserve or enhance what he sees as a better hunting experience, I'm not inclined to say he's "cheating" others. I believe we do share a common ground. It's just that some believe "uniting all hunters" (my quotes) in a common bond will better preserve the hunting heritage while others question whether a woods full of hunters is a heritage worth preserving.
The common ground is we all love to hunt, and, what we fail to "see" is that, we're all afraid.