Wheatley

I think the reason you are getting hits and not replies is they leave to go find the article. Thats what I did anyhow. Nice article and I have deffinetly seen this on many forums as well.

I have not seen the Ted thread but will look for it so I can see what you are talking about.

Oneshot7

great post and needed to be put up

MASTERD

You are exactly right on this topic. I'm sure that we all have had some sort of life experiences that we learned from hunting. Many people on the other side of the fence do not understand, nor do they care. Our hobbies pump millions of dollars into the economy. We must make this translate into power with our legislators.

Jon

NEW61375

First, I think you missed my point Bowbuilder. In no way am I saying support anything and everything. I am saying support hunting, mentor new hunters, and contribute to/do something to help hunting as a whole.I am notscared of anti's nor is fear ruling my world. I do believe inbeing prepared in advance and not waiting until you are fully attacked to think about organization. I know there are lots of groups,lobbyists, and organizations protectinghunting industries and hunters rights. I'm talking about more of a personal approach, doing something myself to help.License sales and hunter numbers are down and have been on a slow decline for some time,THIS DOES SCARE ME.If 1 out of 10 hunters could introduce andmentor a new hunter you could feasiblyturn thattrend of decline around in a matter of a few years. But how many do it?? I'm not talking aboutyour kids and stuff I consider taking mine a given. I'm talking about there areHunters over here....and Anti's over there..... and in the middle somewhere are some new hunters. Someone that didn't grow up around hunting orknow many hunters. You would be surprised how manysuch people there are that might just be a little intimidated to asksomeone to take them becausethey have never hunted. I can find somebody every year and two of my best hunting buds have only been hunting 3 and 5 years and these guys are in their 30's. I'm not trying to preach I just think there are important topics that often get overlooked. Second, I believe most will agree the WHA isn't hunting, bad comparison.

GMMAT

Easy, bowbuilder.......That ain't "hunting".

Jeff

BowBuilder

No NEW, I think I have gotten your point and clearly. Now, I fully support introducing young hunters, or older new hunters to the sport, as you described in you last post.

But the article DOES say that we should support any type of hunting. I see you are from VA, as am I, so you are familiar with dog hunting. The article clearly uses hound hunting as an example we should support without question. I disagree greatly on this issue.

The dog hunting (let me specify that I am talking about hunting deer with dogs only) I have witnessed in VA has been very negative. This includes blatent trespassing, killing deer out of season, killing deer with an illegal weapon, killing deer at night, killing does during buck only season, intentionally using dogs to run does out of a buck only state controlled land (state forest land) onto private land where does are in season, killing more than the legal deer limit, not turning in deer, and the such. I tried hunting with dog hunting clubs a few times. I was personally criticized for not shooting two illegal does because it would have "stopped the dogs, and we don't want to waste time chasing them over a few stupid does."

Now my point: Dog hunting is very visible to the public, and presents an image of hunters that gets applied to all hunters. Blatent disregard for hunting regulations and property rights that is visible to the public presents a negative image that in my opinion is much more destructive to hunting as a whole than eliminating one form of hunting would. We must remember that like it or not, we are not the voting majority and the the public opinion of the general population DOES matter. Now, if hound hunting was performed ina responsible, respectful manner, fine. Have at it. But, currently in my area or central VA it is not, and most of the complaints I hear from non-hunting citizens about hunting involves dog hunting clubs.

jmbuckhunter

I hear what you are saying. But we cannot be afraid of change.Everything goes through a type of evolution. Who knows some change may be a benefit. Some of us just may have to suck it up for the betterment of the whole cause. I just do not see a world without hunting no matter how much gloom is cast on the subject.

Wheatley

Bow builder. All of the examples you gave are clearly illegal and not a part of hunting with dogs. I am sure people do the same thing without dogs. I am not calling them hunters because they are not hunters they are slobs that do not follow the rules. If hunting with a dog and doing it legally what is the problem with it. All people that breack the rules should be criticized but not the hunters that use dogs and do it legally.

I hear about people chasing deer with their trucks through corn fields in Nebraska. They are rifle hunting butthat doesn't make rifle hunting unethical.

Just MO

BowBuilder

Wheatley, you are right. The majority of what I said is illegal hunting. But, that is what I see coming from the dog hunting clubs. So, should I turn a blind eye to it, and support dog hunting because it is a form of hunting. I say NO because it negatively impacts other forms of hunting due to negative public opinion. I believe jmbuckhunter understands what I am trying to say. Change in some forms of hunting is necessary, and in some cases desirable.

Now, for a non-illegal example. In many counties in central VA the land is getting divided up into ever so small portions as development moves to the "country". Dog hunting now may not be a practical means of hunting in these areas due to the increased development, deer/vehicle collision risk, etc. It may be better for the community as a whole to stop that form of hunting because of this. Just an example...

BowBuilder

Is it really such a bad comparison? I don't consider the WHA to be hunting either. But, some people did, or the orginization would not be in existance. I don't consider sitting buy my pickup truck at the edge of the road waiting on a dog to run a deer up to me to be hunting either...IMO...but I know a lot of people "hunt" this way.