I tell you what the real shame. In my opinion its ignoring problems that arise in the Hunting world in the name of us all being banded together. Its the fear of discussing issues that directly affect hunting because we don't want to hurt other peoples feelings. Its the fear of bringing to light issues that are killing Hunting as we know it because we don't want to rock the boat.

Rocking the boat is good. Asking questions are good. Discussions are good.

Being unable to stabilize the boat, answer the questions or respond to the discussions is what kills us as a Hunting community. We have lost much in the past 20 years as a Hunting community. Bear hunting, cougar hunting, trapping, dove hunting ........... why ? Becuase in large part we as a Hunting society didn't address the glaring issues at hand - and because we did nothing, the other side did. Being inactive in whats going on in the world of hunting is one of the worst things we can do. Its so easy to sit back and say "well, it doesn't affect me " but I'm telling you it DOES affect you, and your children. Rarely does anything happen in this world that doesn't come back to affect you and yours in some way.

Canned Hunting is a huge issue right now. You might not think it is - but it is. PETA and animal rights groups love them because they can sway public opinions by using them as poster child's to represent Hunting. Of course, canned hunting places do NOT represent Hunting ......... but 90% of the population doesn't know that. Sitting back and doing nothing will lead to exaclty the same places that doing nothing to help preserve cougar hunting led, or spring bear hunting, or dove hunting or trapping.

So while I believe in being a close knit Hunting society, I also think there should be some things that are not acceptable. The POD shouldn't be allowed. Night Hunting shouldn't be allowed. Canned Hutning should not be allowed. Deer farms and the transportations of cervids that can spread CWD and other diseases should not be allowed to go unchecked and unregulated.

These things and many more the Hunting Community needs to address, even if it means monitoring our own and policing our own and calling things that are NOT in Hunting's best intrest out for what they are.

I don't know Justin. I thought you made your purpose for this thread clear in post #20. Obviously some people don't get it. It appears that even this thread is not imune to the very reason of starting it. It saddens me to read some of the posts so I will be clicking the "Remove Subscription" button above. Good luck.

Allow me to break this down for you, Atlasman-style.

The Goldtip vs CE arguement is extremely off base and a terrible example to use. I'm not talking about, and have never talked about, simply discussing or debating different selections in hunting gear. People have carried on with the Ford vs. Chevy debate for years and we haven't seen the destruction of the automobile industry, so saying that people talking about different arrow shafts or broadheads or brands of bows is going to cause the demise of our sport is ludicrous. I provided specific examples of what I was talking about in all of my posts. Apparently you missed those.

Okay let's assume you're right and the number of anti-hunters don't outnumber us. Take a poll of all the non hunters of the world and see how familiar they are with Peta or the Humane Society versus how familiar they are with organizations like the NSSF. I think you'd be pretty suprised how familiar they are with the anit-hunting agenda while they are either mis-informed or completely uninformed about the benefits of hunting. That's if your claim is actually valid. I'd like to see some numbers put forward before I believe it.

This point was never argued anywhere in this thread. In fact, I explicitely said that slob hunters should be called just that and the public should be aware that people who practice these types of methods should not be included with the rest of the ethical hunters.

I think the train has derailed.

In many of these situations it is our responsibility as informed hunters to help people out when they are put into situations like this. Instead of harping down on someone for making a bad decision, why don't we find out WHY they're making those decisions and see what we can do to help them make the right ones in the future? We were all beginners at some point and we all made mistakes. Without people to help us realize and correct those mistakes, how are we supposed to become better hunters? Turning your back on someone or degrading them for making poor choices is certainly not the proper way to go about helping the hunting community as a whole.

You're right, that is the purpose of any discussion forum. However, when a topic goes from "I don't believe this product works because...." to "You're a complete idiot!" I think we've gotten a little bit off track.

Which brings me back to my original point - discuss and debate all you want, that's great. But when we start this ridiculous namecalling and personal attacks on each other because of our individual beliefs, where is that getting us? The biggest advatage the anti-hunters have over us is that they are united in one single goal - to stop hunting. Hunters are split into all of these different state and local groups, which most of the time are at odds with one another over proper practices to preserve hunting. With funding being diverted into many different specialized interest groups instead of a single centralized organization that works to fight for hunting in all of it's forms we're really doing nothing but shooting ourselves in the foot. While we struggle to raise enough money to lobby local politicians, Peta is out raising BILLIONS of dollars to spend on advertising and recruiting more and more people to fight their cause.

While you may not believe they pose a real threat to hunting, take a look at the numbers. The number of hunters is decreasing year after year while the average age of hunters is increasing. With increased pressure put on people to only shoot big bucks and have absurd amounts of land to hunt on the numbers of deer are increasing every year. When is the point going to come when the public stops viewing hunting as a viable means of animal population control? Right now, we are the the very edge of watching our sport go into a downward spiral from which it may not recover. Preventing that from happening starts right here with hunters realizing how our own individual actions either benefit or harm our cause. Every action we take effects our sport, whether how small or large it is.

Okay - I'm done now. Agree or disagree, at this point if your opinions are already formed there isn't much anyone is going to say or do to concvince you to think otherwise. That's my 2 cents.

This is a great post and i agree with it 100%. The reason that i hunt is cause i love being in the outdoors, trying to outwit a wild beautiful animal. I dont hunt to just put a set of antlers on the wall or meat in the fridge, if i wanted to do that i could buy a set of antlers or go the thebutcher and buy some meat. Granted they are two great reasons to hunt, but not my driving reason.Its my love for hunting that brings me to this website. I want to be the best hunter that i can be. That being said, i want to learn about every technique there is. Even if it doesnt work where i hunt, it can let me think about a different way to dosomethingthat i havent thought about before. One thing that i do know forcertain is that once you thinkyou know all there is to know about something, you will never get any better. There are multiple ways to skin a cat, and this forum lets us hear about it.I also love to hear about others experiencesout in the wilderness and get excited when i read about it. These personal attacks against each other need to stop. We are all using this forum for our personal enjoyment and i know that these rediculous arguements takes away from that. Yes we can disagree on topics, but lets not forget thatthere are other ways to do things that we may think are the norm and what works in one area might not work somewhere else. In the end we are all hunters who love the outdoors andall that comes with that. Live and let live.

Let me ask this - do ya'll think that the Hunting Community should all band together and stand up for very important issues that have a direct impact on Hunting itsself ?

If the answer is yes ......... how do you expect to do that without discussions, ideas, thinking outside the box, questioning the way things are done etc etc ?

BTW - just noticed my poll was gone. FYI for eveyone, 80% of those responding said they didn't approve of Canned Hunting.

Should the Hunting community stand against canned hunting then ? Is Hunting.net a part of that big tent idea and is Hunting.net a part of the huting community ?

The debate can get a little "spirited" around here, but in the end, I think USUALLY the participants are able to take a step back, after the initial heated back and forth and agree to disagree. On the other hand, as "the cat" above said, places like this are great for hunters to meet and to debate (argue perhaps). Where else can this many hunters get together and express themselves and although I know that some (me included) have to be "reined in" now and then, I think if possible, we should let MOST of the debates resolve themselves or run out of momentum (which they will). I think though that we can keep it on a less personally insulting level at times. There are things within the "hunting community" that we should stand against, mainly concerning what is fair for the animals that, although we hunt and kill on occasion, we dearly love and to protect this way of life from those who would try to corrupt it for greed or for their own notion of "the natural world". just an opinion.

Justin said
Okay - I'm done now. Agree or disagree, at this point if your opinions are already formed there isn't much anyone is going to say or do to concvince you to think otherwise. That's my 2 cents.

The thing with your 2cents is you use your moderator power to delete anyone that does not agree with you.It is always the most active threads that are deleted,Datas thread was a test to see howwe feel about canned hunts,once again your side was a decieve looser so your responce was to delete the thread.If this is done completly for the buisness aspectsofH.I.N. then say so ,Don't give us some line about how we all need to get along.My self and some Texans were having some fun busting each others family trees(and its not my fault that their trees have no limbs)Both sides defended their own beliefs accordingly.Then in you come and delete the thread.If people on this forum do not want to or are not capable of expressing their true feelings let them read a book.To those of us that do enjoy a great debate give us a thread and don't look back.

I will get a blast or banned for questioning your powers but private messaging does not work I sent you three yesterday & one email today.Whats UP!!!!!!!!

Power is a wonderfultool if used wisely. I see a reoccurring pattern of abuse when things don't goas planned or there are ideas that differ from the norm. Lighten up HNIJ and let some threads run their course. The purpose of this site shouldn't be a power trip whether you are an admin or a contributor.

I told Justin that I was not going to respond to this thread but here it goes...

What really suprises me is one fact, 95 percent of the people that responded to this thread have not been involved in many of the heated and ugly topics when the finger was pointed South....

BawanaJim and TuffTexan poked fun at each other , yeap even alot of emails between the two of them, but it was all just giving each other a hard time...(Even though they share the same family tree, LOL)


Lets just touch a few probelm topics

High fences
Baiting deer (corn)


It seems that every time one of these topics is brought up Texas hunters are drug into it wether we like it or not, we can even debate about it in all fairness right up until someone from the east pops off there mouth and drags ETHICS or MORALS into the picture, matter of fact this last ugly topic was ALL ABOUT INDIANA and WHAT HAPPEND IN INDIANA till Texas got drug into it, (WHAT THE HELL DID WE HAVE TO DO WITH IT) then it got way off topic in a hurry, Im not innocent in this either I made plenty of replies...

Fact is yeap, we are all hunters...Fact...
We will never all agree ...Fact...
What is SAD is some of you think you are above other hunters because of your personal beliefs, and then you bring up the two worst words to say, ETHICS AND MORALS...

I hunt legally in my state and many other states that I have hunted in, I do whats legal in each state I hunt in and play by each states set rules of conduct, do I bash you for what you do in your state that is legal NOPE, I simply come and harvest your big deer and then make the long trip home after a successful hunt....
But in all fairness I will without a doubt anytime Texas, or Texas hunters are brought up in a bad light ,I will come to there defense as long as what they were doing was LEGAL>>>>>>

Sorry Justin..

80% of that poll said Canned Hunting is bad for Hunting and shouldn't be allowed

Hunting.net relies soley on those coming here for its backbone and support

Hunting.net uses Canned Hunt sponsors

Now, is it a wonder that Justin kills these threads ? He and others don't want that 80% to find out that Canned Hunting sponsors pay for this site, however small the part might be. Why ? Because we as hunters, we as the 80% in that poll, hate the concept of Canned hunting and don't want any part of it, and that included participating in a site that uses them.

And thing is ......... I do not understand why Hunting.net would even take the chance using Canned hunts to begin with. Its a big black eye that cannot be healed with a cutesy, big hug all pinned thread IMO