RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

Good points Scot in regards to different locals and their perceptions. Hunting in Idaho is a near billion dollar business a year. Because of the $ coming into the state.. I can't imagine it ever being threatened. The money coming in actually hurts our management imo. Our Fish and Game has one main agenda. Sell and attract as many out of state hunters as possible. I dont want to get into the details but its all about the $ here. Our liberal rifleseasons, tag availability and public lands attract thousands. Idaho has elk seasons that are SPIKE only. Yes kill all the young bulls but not the way out of wack ratios of cows! Anyway..I dont need to get started.....money money money...

As for in NY, I can see the perception being drastically different like you have spoken about. I agree being tasteful and educating the youth iseven more crucialin places that are much more sensative.

RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

Yes good points about location, Scot. Hunting whitetails and pheasants in IA is a billion dollar business heretoo. IA is the most indemandstate for non residents to comefor a chance at a big whitetail. We have the title of having more Boone and Crocket bucks in the record booksthan any state in the nation as well asbeing responsible for 5 of the top 10 Pope and Young bucks ever registered.25% of the largest bucks ever killed in the world came from IA. IA is also responsible for theworld record non-typical. We are 2nd to SD in pheasant harvests.We are also ag related with cows , pigs, and other animals being killed daily at small lockers dotted across the country side. Hunters in IA do not fear peta.

RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

Don:

You make a good point....and you should be proud to live in a state that feels so strongly.

What scares many of us is situations that happened in our US Supreme Court in the Texas sodomy case. The US Supreme Court ruled the Texas law unconstitutional.......superceding the will of the people of the state of Texas. Texans had a law on the books. The USSC overturned it.....or interpreted it in a manner as to make the law null and void....and there was NOTHING Texans could do about it. Preacher Tony preaches intelligently. It's not the fear of PETA coming in the front door that bothers us......it's a PETA advocate judge (or panel of judges) that'll legislate or turn over IA law from states away sneaking in through the BACK door that scares us.

I'm not tryingout for the chicken little role.......I'm just saying .........

RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

HCH, I am also an Iowan. However, I take PETA and all other like organizations very seriously and though I may not fear them I fear what they will be able to accomplish if we dont stand together. I would ask you this: If our state has such a strong hunting lobby and a large amount of hunting revenue then why can we not get a dove season???? An "in your face attitude" will do nothing more than add fuel to the fire.

RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

fletch, doves are portrayed in the bible as a bird of peace, people feed them at their feeders in town, and the state would not benefit financially from opening up a dove season. These are probably the reasons behind the decision. I do not have an in your face attitude. Just stating that peta and the antis are way over rated and that fearsfrom deer pics with blood andword use of killinstead of harvest is wayoverrated. Our biggest threat to hunting rights is within our own ranks. Example: A member that only hangs out in the off season,opened a threadin Bowhunting sectionhere last night, that was fortunately deleted by the mods quickly. His post basically stated that ,"How could bowhunters justify bowhunting? Shouldn't we use rifles as this is much more humane? You guys that hunt with bows seem to have to sit in a tree and wait for a half an hour to wait for the deer to die after you shoot it."
Now this is the type of ignorance amongst our ranksthat threatens ourhunting rights being taken away from us. Gun hunters bashing bowhunters. Snare trappers bashing leghold users. Bear baiters verse dog bear hunters verse spot and stalk bear hunters.

Fact is, and I believe this as I have never seen any proof to discount this, that this statement I made in another thread applies:

10 % of the people are anti hunters, the other 20 % are hunters and fisherman.The 70% of thepeople in the middle don't look at this site, watch hunting shows, or watch Teds realty show. You know why? Because they don't care and it doesn't interest them. Just likeI don't know what happened last week on Gardening with Becca. Maybe she killed a snake with her garden hoe and threw it in her D&R power chipper.I Don't know and Don't care.

Also the true anti hunter peta types are thought of as freaks that go up to people in public and vilolate their personal rights by spray painting their fur coats with and throwing pies in pork queens faces. They act out with violence to get their point across.

Our real threat to hunting rights ,lays in our own ranks.

RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

It looks like we have come full circle and you have answered your own question. The statement that you quoted was that hunters PERSEPTION of what bowhunting is. It is also the view shared by many hunters and nonhunters alike. This perception was most likely developed from videos where they shoot to far back and say "let's give him a few hours to die".

RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

HCH, You pointed out that Iowa is so rich in hunting and resources that we have nothing to worry about. My point is, if the hunting community is so strong here why cant we get something as simple as a dove season? Your response lacked any form of substance. In fact you stated: "the state would not benefit financially from opening up a dove season." Where do you get your information? Do you make it up as you go along? Ohio alone has over 50,000 dove hunters. Michigan did a study that estimated annual revenues of $5.4 MILLION if they had a dove season similar to their neighbors in Ohio. Iowa did a study in 2001 that blew Michingans out of the water. I would call that a tremendous financial benefit. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I respect that but you should never ignore the facts when debating an issue. The facts are, the majority of sportsmen agree that "discretion is the better part of valor." Again, I applaud your well founded passion but think it is a little misdirected.

RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

Fletch. $$ will be made from dove hunting, you are correct. How much extra is probably pumped up by the guys wanting dove hunting. I love dove hunting and did it in NE when I lived there and wish we had a season here. It is proven that hunting has little to know affect on the dove population. Law makers look at how many people are going to spend $$ just for the dove season. The only true way to figure it out would be to implement a required dove stamp. Making and printing this one dove stamp will be costly andthe man hours required to sell the stampgo into helping the with the decision.The state I assume says, "Hey, are we going to lose revenue if we don't allow the bird of the bible that hangs out at peoples' birdfeeders hunted? No, I don't think so; we have pheasant, deer, duck, geese, squirrel, rabbit, grouse, partridge, turkey, woodcock, quail, crow, andpigeon. If that isn't enough they can still go hunt furbearers. The guys are going to buy the licenses to hunt, let the bible bird alone."
See my point?

RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

Same thing with the short lived bear seasonin NJ. Small #'s of bears andvery few tags were allowed to besold to even matter to the lawmakers. $$ drives it all people. As the bear #'s increase in NJ, you can bet there will be a hunting season. Antis have very little say when it comes to revenue that can be generated from bear hunting, damage caused to property from bears, and peoples' fear of bears. NJ hunters be patient, your bear season will be back.

RE: Politically correct bowhunters
 

It is important to think about what the majority of people might find more tasteful, not what you or I or the anti's think is right or wrong.

This is a great country, and diversity of opinion and beliefaresome of the things that keep it that way. Unfortunately, it is all too easy for one person to change things for the many, and it should be the other way around. Removal of the Pledge of Allegiance from schools for example (as an anology of course).