ORIGINAL: engie

Bobby Cole of Biologic in no way is the spokespeerson for the entire clan of Biologic or Mossy Oak nor does he write produce or direct the "Advantage" show. I don't believe Mossy Oak is a sponser of the Blunt Hunting (WHA) competition either. Contact one of the VPs to find out what MO's position is on the WHA.

The use of non lethal weapons in the pursuit of whitetails

By Henry Chidgey

I, for one, can see no reason why we as sportsmen, should not support and consider the use of non lethal weapons as another form of interacting in nature with the elements and wildlife. Some of the letters I have read recently concerning the new World Hunting Association seem very reminiscent of the arguments about traditional vs compound bows, inline scoped muzzle loaders vs flint locks, single shot vs semi auto rifles, etc. In my judgment, the weapon we use is much less important that the efforts and behaviors we put into being great wildlife stewards. For the life of me I cannot get upset about someone hunting with a bow or rifle to immobilize a whitetail, take the animals picture, and that person feeling good about the skill and patience it took to accomplish this with an animal like a whitetail deer. As a matter of fact, I can envision this being used as a tool to allow more whitetail bucks to reach maturity and even engage a larger segment of our population in pursuit of wildlife and the appreciation for the total ecosystem that we and the wildlife live in.

A hunter is best defined by his or her ethics, not by the weapon they use. I’ve heard some die hard traditional bowhunters talk about using blunts to shoot at wildlife (and some domestic animals). I’ve seen rifle hunters that have never fired their weapon before coming to hunt. I’ve seen all kinds of “hunters” take “I had to try, you know” shots and never even go follow up to see if they had wounded the animal. Hunting is about respect for the wildlife, the habitat, and our fellow human beings, hunters, non hunters, and anti hunters. Thank goodness the great majority of folks I see these days, especially in QDMA, are passionate about the habitat and wildlife. They probably are better described as wildlife and habitat stewards who hunt. That hunting includes lots of non lethal activities, like photography, habitat development, scouting, etc. It may also include trapping for predator control, depredation hunting to remove excess does, cutting down trees to improve browse, planting trees, burning native grasses, etc. I think this idea of non lethal hunting as another part of being a wildlife and habitat steward is exciting and well worth the effort of further investigation.

As far as this World Hunting Association Contest thing goes, I think the impact on hunters and non hunters will depend completely on how the producers and participants conduct the contest and use the show as not only an opportunity for selling hunting stuff, but selling the role, we as wildlife stewards have in enhancing and protecting the habitat (including fatally harvesting the appropriate number of whitetails for the carrying capacity of the wildlife). The impact on anti hunters we already know, they will attempt to spin the story to further their agenda of putting an end to legal hunting. At the end of the day they don’t really matter, the non hunters have the numbers. Our job is to engage more and more non hunters into the experience of the excitement of seeing a whitetail without the animal ever knowing you are there and then having the skill to hit the animal with a bullet, arrow, or dart. Once they experience that, they, like many of us will be hooked for life.

I support the effort David Farbman and his associates are making and agree this is another opportunity for all hunters to stand together. I would also challenge Mr Farbman to have his and his associates’ actions be absolutely consistent with his words. I hope he is a man of honor. Time will tell.