Magic....you're cool!

I'm am neither for government nor am I against government. I try to apply commonsense under all conditions.

but if you tell me I have to ...we do this all the time. That's a part of living within a society. Mez talks about driver's licenses, for example.I know I singing to the choir...

What am I going to do...I've applied with the Colorado Division of Wildlife to become a volunteer instructor( I love my sport that much). I was accepted and havea class of students already under my belt-all since January 1st. It would be nice to see more of the same...

Does a college education involve the killing of our wildlife? Does it presentperilous danger to someone else? Where's the genius in that question? Do you truly think this is the "land of the free"? Come to Colorado and kill an elk in my presents and out of season. Watch what happens to you. Freedom has its costs. How much are you willing to pay to keep yours? You can kill two birds with one stone by becoming a volunteer instructor...if you really care!

Do I have faith in my fellow Americans? Hmmm....From my office window, I just watched a man empty all the trash from his vehicle onto the roadway. I guess we should mandate against littering highways. excuse me while I go clean up his mess...yeah, I have tons of faith.

I never claimed to be a genuis...I was only responding to magicman'ssuggestion that since education is good, we should make itmandatory, because making it mandatory is the best way to propagate that goodness to the masses.

Yes, I do think this is the land of the free...or at least it shouldbe, otherwise our national anthem is a lie. Notice how I qualified my statements by saying that in civil society there ought to be a line drawn well short of anarchy. In civil society(which I support) we do not travel to Colorado to kill elk out of season.

And in civilized societies me make changes to the rules if the rules do not appear to be working... Sometimes a mandate is the best way to implement a changein the rules.

Educating bowhunters has nothing to do with educating college students.

And in civilized societies there are often several different opinions about whether the rules are working,if they need changing, if there is a problem,if proposed changes would fix the problem, what theREAL problem is, whether the problem is the state's business,etc. etc.

Whew! Good thing we live in a civilized society.

So then Badger, what would you have us do? Do you concede that a problem exists?If so, how do we fix it? Your concept of don't meddle in my affairs isn't working.

Generally, anytime something comes along that may protect one idiot from harming himself and costing the american taxpayer tens of thousands of dollars - I'm all for it.

From a $$$ and sense perspective: Look at the people who bowhunt. These aren't your white-collar highbrow types- they're po' folks from the patchtowns, trailer parks and backwoods. They don't have $50,000 laying around to pay for a major orthopedic injury.

So what happens when they maim themselves? If they're lucky enough to have insurance - the insurer foots the bill and the costs are diluted throughout the insurance system. End result: Working folks pay. If they have NO insurance? The burden falls squarely on the shoulders of Uncle Sam, and we all pay. That sucks.


Furthermore:

Barrier to entry = Less bowhunters = good thing.

Since it serves as a barrier to entry of the sport, it helps keep the number of bowhunters at a minimum.I don't know about you guys, but when I pull up to the farm gate and seefour other vehicles parked there, I'm not exactly doing cartwheels. There's just getting to be too many damn people bowhunting. They're driving up lease prices, ramping up the pressure on public land - and all that is putting the squeeze on guys like me, who have been bowhunting (largely undisturbed) for god knows how long. Greedy? Sure. I don't care. At least I'm up front about it. LOL

So anytime I can do my part and eliminate the competition, I do it. Joe Schmoe can take up fishing or maybe stay home and watch porno and NASCAR. As long as he's not out there crampin' my style while I'm tryin' to get my bowhunt on, I don't care what the hell he does.

By encouraging people to bowhunt, or making it an "easy" hobby to take up - we're only cutting our own throats. Thus, I like as many barriers to entry as possible - but that's just me looking out for #1.

Big conflicts of interest out there... Lots of pros/cons.

In my state there is one HE course that is required to get any hunting license. I am happy with that system....I don't see a problem with it.

I never said that educating bowhunters had something todo with educating college students. I wasmerely pointing out thatthe suggestion thateducation is good, therefore we should make itmandatory, is not very solid.

For example: military service is good...should we make it mandatory? college is good...should we make it mandatory? having a job is good...should we make it mandatory? reading to your kids is good...should we make it mandatory? Donating time to help at a homeless shelter is good...should we make it mandatory? Being a good mentor and taking kids hunting/fishing is good...should we make it mandatory?

There are lots of good things that are not mandatory. Suggesting thatsince something is simply good, we should make it mandatory in order to impose the goodness on everyone is a pretty lame argument (see my examples above). That's all I was saying there. A simple analogy.

What would YOU have us do?

Here is what I could wholeheartedly support. Inclusion of more bowhunting material in the already existing hunters ed classes we have now. Because, well bowhunting is hunting and should fall under hunters ed classes.

I'm glad you recognize this because the arguement that this is going to somehow lead to communism is just as silly. And if I understand you, a line has to be drawn. If your right about this topic then why am I standing on the side of the line with the other 70%.

I am not going to discuss this topic with you any further. Lets just agree to disagree.