Trembow

huh? Against? Nobody has said their against anything in this thread! Stop stirring turds!

Anyhow, I agree with Hazcon, but disagree somewhat with the sentiment that "hunting" needs to "recruit" more members. Perhaps it does from a geo-political standpoint, but not from a heritage standpoint. IF you fellas would just spend a couple extra nights a month either wooing females or attending to those you've successfully "woo'ed", we'd have plenty of new hunters on the way. [8D]

Personally I would rather NOT have someone out there hunting in the woods with me who was only there because they saw it done on some flashy show on T.V. and thought it would be just a cool thing to try.

HAZCON7

25000 posts -

I am against slob hunters, lazy trackers, poor shooters, poachers, trespassers, liars & braggers, theives, and anything or anybody that threatens myself, my family, my God, my Freedom, my Flag,and my Way of Life - if you must know.

I don't like high fences nor outfitters but I am not "against" them. They serve a purpose.
I don't use mechanical broadheads or ATVs but I am not against them at all.

My actions are not always 100% pure although I do try my hardest to overcome my weaknesses.
And like I wrote earlier - I am open to suggestions.

Nix

Check out this article and it may answer some of your questions:

http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?ID=171

"As the number of hunters drops and their average age advances, fewer and fewer of them appear to be passing along that heritage to their children.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service`s National Survey of Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, on average, just one out of every four children from a hunting household actively participates in hunting.

One way to assess the health of hunting in America is to use the same models biologists use to gauge the health of wildlife populations.

For a wildlife population to be stable, every individual of a species lost to disease, predation or old age must be replaced by another of that species, in a 1-to-1 ratio, through a process known as "recruitment."

If you look at the recruitment rates of American hunters, you see we already may be endangered.

Since most hunters are introduced to the sport as youngsters, and since few adults take up hunting if they weren`t exposed to it in their youth, common sense suggests that having a stable population of hunters requires that the percentage of youth hunters should match the percentage of adult hunters. But it doesn`t. Not even close.

Indeed, nationally, if you compare the percentage of the population between the ages of six and 16 that hunts, with the percentage of the population over age 16 that hunts, instead of getting the 1-to-1 ratio needed to maintain current levels, you get just 0.69-to-1.

Stated simply, we may be about 31 percent below keeping our heads above water.
Putting Logic into the Laws "Fifty years ago, most kids started hunting at an early age as a form of family recreation and to help put food on the table," said Dawson Hobbs, NRA-ILA manager of hunting policy. "Today, with 160 satellite tv channels, video games and everything else, young people have never had so many activities competing for their attention. If we don`t involve them early on, we`ll lose them to those other activities."


continued....

"What would happen if hunting died off in America?

Each year, American hunters spend more than $700 million on hunting licenses, permits, tags and stamps. Without these monies, who would fund the state and federal conservation programs that keep wildlife populations healthy and in balance?

On top of that $700 million, American hunters spend another $20 billion on hunting equipment, transportation, lodging and the like--more than Americans spend on coffee.

How many American jobs would be lost without that $20 billion boost to our economy?

Yet, compared to the long-term consequences for freedom, those costs could be trivial.

Since most hunters are introduced to the sport by their parents, one generation is all it would take to cut off hunting at its knees."

Rob/PA Bowyer

But the WHA isn't a boost for hunting, it's a move for the antihunting crowd to ban hunting. If and when the WHA goes on air, there will be nothing but back publicitiy. It's not going to recruit hunters, it'll recruit money grubbing wannabes who think that is hunting and it will lose all the heritage that comes with hunting. Hunting is not fast paced competition, it's not beautiful women handing out prize money, products. It's not television appearances, it's not celebrities, it's not fences, it's not darting animals and making sure they are okay with a vet, it's nothing that the WHA represents.

Windwalker7

For a while, I couldn't understand what all the hoopla was about the WHA.

But slowly, very slowly, I began to understand.

At first I didn't think there was abig deal about darting a deer and measuring the rack. But then, I started looking at the big picture. ( I know, you guys had to beat it into my thick skull)

I started to think how the public might view all the glam and glitter of seeing this on TV. Then I realized, it does show hunters with a lack of respect toward the deer. It shows that hunting is all about defeating the deer. It shows hunting as a competition. Hunters just competing against each other for money and prizes. This is not what hunting is about. Its about much more than that.

Just imagine the WHA TV show and what they will show hunting to be like. Now compare it to what really goes on when you and your family or friends get together to hunt. Compare it to when you hunt just by yourself. Its not the same. There's no fence, no big prize, no TV cameras, no hot girls handing you a big check, no spectators, etc...

Hunting is not like that. Its a personal thing shared with family and good friends.

chucker34

I personally don't see the WHA as a "shot in the arm" recruitment tool. I read a very good article in the Wall Street Journal at work earlier this year talking about how while the number of hunters has been on a steady decline, the amount of money spent on hunting continues to skyrocket. And those that are still hunting, are doing their best to reinvent the sport of hunting by getting the whole family involved – including wives and daughters, etc. So don’t think hunting itself is about to go extinct overnight without the WHA.

The WHA and the short term entertainment value it will present is along the lines of today’s video games for the younger generation – not real. How many of those suburban kids playing Grand Theft Auto actually go out and start stealing cars. Not many. Its cool in their living room, but not in their everyday life. How many kids, sitting at home watching these WHA programs, are going to get in their car and speed over to the local archery pro shop and get into bowhunting. Not many. Instead they’ll watch the some guy shoot a deer with a tranquilizer dart, utter “Cool. Huh, huh, huh.” ala Beavis and Butthead and change the channel over to MTV to view the latest Real World.

The NBA is a perfect example of how altering a sport’s ethics, mantra, whatever you call it, can send that sport down the toilet bowl. The gangsta rapization of the NBA not only turned the sport into something along the lines of pro wrestling, where showmanship accounts for 90 percent of the game, but it severely cut ties with the sport’s former growing and thriving fan base. I used to love to watch Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, etc. They played the game with style and class and plain beat the pants off their opponents. Now, I get to turn on the television and watch guys sucker punching one another and leaping into the stands to beat the crap out of fans (who by the way were acting just as idiotically as the players that went after them). Why, because the NBA needed a “shot in the arm.”

If you want to help hunting, there are better ways to go about it than the WHA. Introduce your family to hunting if they haven’t already been. I plan to take my wife along on some bowhunts this fall and she is actually interested in it now. Take a disabled person hunting or volunteer to help conduct a disabled hunt. Volunteer with a wildlife organization and help improve habitat. Give money to a wildlife organization. Give your aging but still very usable bow to a youngster or sell it to them for cheap, as many people have done here. There are better ways to ensure the sport continues to thrive. Shooting a pen deer with a tranquilizer dart and reviving it isn’t hunting.

This is America and if its legal, you’re entitled to do it. So by all means, go ahead with your WHA, but change the name to the WPRDSA (World Pen-Raised Deer Shooting Association) or something that accurately describes what it is.

Holy $%&#@!! Where’s the Tylenol?

Nix

I was only answering the question on the thread, which was:

"So my question is, Why? Seriously, I can't figure out why we need to give hunting a boost. I can't come up with a single good reason other than the almighty dollar. We already have an overpopulation of hunters on public land and dwindling areas to hunt otherwise due tooutfitters buying up as much land as they can get to."

I think the answer is that recruitment is very important to the future of the sport, past time, heritage, whatever because today kids dont learn to hunt the way maybe you or I did....Divorce rates and youth participation go hand in hand.

Decrease in # of hunters results in increased license fees. That may not matter to most people but it does to newcomers. That can be problematic down the road...It may not seem like a problem now and may not affect you or I today but certainly is very important for the future.

Nix

fechmupbud

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation Reference - Nice. Can't we all just get along, then go out and have some fun?

HAZCON7

Good points Nix, although I'm on the fence about those numbers.

To me, the passion speaks louder than the numbers.And if all we get is 0.69-to-1 recruited of passionate hunters,like we have here on this forum, then I think our future looks great! That is, as long as we preserve the heritage, pass along our knowledge to qualified candidates,and continue to emphasize the morals, values, and ethics widely displayed in this forum.

<Upon further review of the play... Edited to remove unnecessary ramblings>