I guess? Only because they tell me "their a problem" and "they need to be killed". I haven't witnessed enough "feral cats" causing problems myself , to even consider making this an issue , let alone a hunting issue. But , just because it's not rampant in my corner of the world , doesn't mean it's not real.

Yes!! Thanks for making my point. The "public hates it". But not ALL the public! Now you want to throw house pets into that mix?? Is that a good strategy? Think about it real hard. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how much that will pi$$ off the non hunting (<currently no threat to us) public. In fact it's also divided hunters as well , another good idea I guess too huh?
And before you try to correct me on my term "house pets" and point out that it should say "feral cats" , dont bother. Through the eyes of the public , their cats , plain and simple. In fact when your sitting in your treestand and a cat walks by , how will YOU determine if it's a "feral" cat or someones pet?

They are , and always were , wild animals. But anyway , your putting words in my mouth , and making false accusations , to aid in your debate as always.
I'm not suggesting "we remove" anything from current hunting status. What I am suggesting is that we dont turn this into a hunting issue! You know , one of those issues that really give hunters a black eye. Kind of like canned hunts.

BigJ12

I agree hunters need to stand up and fight.
I definately disagree that we need to stand up and fight "every chance we get".
As you can see by what I put in bold in your post , this issue is exactly what makes us look like that.

BOWFANATIC


I htink the bottom line then is IF there is a feral cat problem, and I believe there is in many areas, you think we should shoot, shovel, shut up and pretend its not there while in secret "taking care" of the problem, right ?

I believe we shouldn't lie about it. We're hunters, we kill things, and some of those things are varmits. When cats or dogs go wild they turn into varmits.

Bottom line

In a heartbeat!!!! i wouldn't give it a second thought unless i had a deerin sight that i was after.

How is this approach a lie. There are things taken care of all the time that the public doesn't know about.

I don't think taking care of wild cats will ever be a big issue. Most of the fence sitters have dumped off their cats in the country. I get them all the time. They are also the prey of owls and hawks and I wouldn't put it past coons to raid their litters. People start making it known that hunters are shooting cats and when little flufy turns up missing hunters will be blamed even though cats have been turning up missing for ever. When John Q starts having a problem with wild pets he'll scream. When Mrs. John Q runs them over with her car or they scare her in the night she'll scream and then John will really scream to get her to shut up.

There are some things better off not talked about. Doesn't make them a lie.

I've done a pretty good job of explaining myself on how the effects of this issue could be devastating to hunters. Or at least I thought I did.[&:]

But , since you keep going back to the SS&S thing , I'll clarify the reason I even mentioned it.

SS&S is not a hunting term. Never was from what I can tell , around here anyway. SS&S is used mostly by landowners/farmers who have continueous problems with varmints on their property. Exactly why this problem (issue) should have been a landowner issue from the start , instead of making just hunters look like the ones who want to start shooting cats.[:@]

Less than a month ago we had well over 100 pages of debate concerning the crossbow , and the two biggest proponents in that thread were using terms like "we need to stop dividing hunters" , and "we need more hunters in the woods". And the very title of that thread , "please tell me one negative..."[&:]
Here we are a month later and the two people mentioned in that thread are proponents for turning the kitty cat issue into a hunting issue. An issue that would do the exact opposite of what you felt hunters "needed" in the crossbow thread. It would divide hunters. It would not bring new hunters into our sport. It would however multiply the very reasoning behind why you feel we hunters NEED new hunters. Because it would grow our enemy much larger than what it is now. If the feral cat issue remains a "hunter issue" I'll be awaiting your thread titled ..."please tell me one negative to.."

BOWFANATIC - perhaps you're right on this one. Seriously. You and I (I hope) know that feral cats are not cute, cuddly kitty's, rather they are farmits not unlike any other varmit that we, as hunters, have open seasons to shoot and kill.

Hunting will never be looked upon favorably, accept that. Trapping, running dogs, hunting cougars and bear, dove hunting, bowhunting ........ PETA and like will keep chipping away whereever they can. Even fishing is under attack. Its a never ending battle.

Will adding feral cats to the varmit list be a death blow ? No, it won't. Would we lose some support from non-hunters ? Maybe, but those people are idiots anyway IMO and would "turn" against Hunting anyway at some point for one reason or the other depending on what commercial they happen to see.

As for me ? I'll kill a feral cat if I see one at my descretion and I don't have a problems with other people doing it too. In my part of the country, I can walk into any woods and see sign indicating a population of feral cats. I have 2 cats, I cannot control where they go or what they do, that is the nature of a cat. I collar them and keep their vet tags up to date. If they get ran over on the road, or shot as they go into Farmer Brown's chicken coup, or if they lose their collar and get shot ........ oh well, I cannot blame the person for shooting them, in the least.

BOWFANATIC,


First, I don't remember saying anything in the crossbow thread about "we need to stop dividing hunters" and "we need more hunters in the woods" I believe I focused more on the fact that a crossbow is a form of a bow and that it shouldn't matter if someone wants to use one during the archery season where it belongs. So please don't put words into my mouth.

Second, I never said the feral cat issue should be a hunter only issue. While feral cats are not just a hunting issue it still effects hunters. Yes feral cats kill song birds and rodents, but they also kill game birds. How is that not a hunter or hunting issue?

My problem is you just want to step back and let others fight it out because you are afraid of the possibility this issue will portray hunters in a bad light. And I say to hell with that! If we sit on our hands and only "pick our battles" when we think it can't make hunters look bad, we as a hunting community will never make any headway.

If you want to pick and choose your battles go right ahead, but don't chastise me for standing up for what is right. Putting the feral cat populations in check is the right thing to do for everyone, including hunters who have something to lose if we don't.

Remove the word "possibility" from that sentence and your dead on!
It's not a possibility , it's a fact. It's already portrayed Wisconsin hunters in a bad light.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then.

I strongly feel we'll have alot more to lose by making this a hunter issue.

There's no sense in dragging this one out for 100 pages. If you cant see the danger in making this a hunter issue , with everything hunters are facing already , then there's nothing I can say to change your mind.
I tried!

BOWFANATIC - curious .............. would you, or did you, fight to protect trapping rights ? Did you fight the battle on cougar hunting ? Spring bear hunting ? Bear baiting ? Dove hunting ?

Or did you lay down each time and say " well, its making us look bad to try and hunt XXX animals, so we'd better just not fight the battle "


???????

BOWFANATIC,

I have no intentions of making this another 100 page thread. I can see your concerns because they are REAL. If not delt with correctly this can and will become a black eye for hunters. My problem is I don't like it when hunters sit on their hands and back away from doing what's RIGHT simply because it might portray them as something they are not. That is a defeatist attitude and I won't be a part of it.

I get the feeling from your posts that you truly don't believe there is a feral cat problem across the country, and you base this on your observations on your land. As you said, you have never seen cats kill/destroy game birds and their nests, and I'm glad there not, on your land. However, feral cats ARE a problem, they do kill/destroy game birds and their nests and it won't go away unless something is done about it.

By NOT getting involved in a JUST cause that will make for a better and balanced eco system, only makes hunters look like they don't care about conservation. It gives the anti's more ammunition in the future. How can we preach about healthy deer herds and the need for extra tags or extended seasons so more does can be killed in order to prevent over poulations when we just ignore the feral cat problem.

The anti's will have a field day with that, I can just hear them now....."You hunters don't care, you just want to be able to kill more deer to satisfy your thirst for blood." And "If you, as you say, do everything in the name of conservation, where were you on the feral cat problem?"

I don't think we have the luxury to pick and choose our battles, we need to address everyone of them as they surface or risk looking like a bunch of inconsistant and selfish group of killers who really don't care about conservation but hide behind it in order to kill more deer.

If you can't see the danger in that, then there is nothing I can say to change your mind.