The eco-fruitsare more worried about deer eating the trillium and hobblebush than they are worried about eating the deer.

I can justpicture them, skipping through the forest hand in hand, then deciding who should bend over first to smell the flowers. Is it no wonder, that 50% of married couples aren't evenly divided between men and women. Fruitcakes, that's what they are.

Cornelius, do you believe the antis are a real threat?

Have you ever ask yourself how much it would cost to manage all species of wildlife if hunting and trapping were completely banned? That will be the biggest factor which will prevent the antis from achieving their goal of banning hunting.

I feel the biggest threat to our deer hunting is the PGC and coyotes. As the PGC keeps decreasing our herd the number of coyotes is increasing. Our PGC should ask for a $5 increase in regular hunting licenses or antlerless deer permits. This increase should be earmarked for say a $25 bounty on coyotes. They had a $5 bounty years ago on fox and owls, if it worked then it surely would work now.

they would rather pay hunters $100 for killing a tagged doe. I wonder if they will pay a coyote for doing the same?

I agree 100%,,,when i first moved from pa. to va i couldnt find a person that hunted,,,,today,,,im overwhelmed with the amount of hunters i have met,,,i used to be scared that our sport was going to he!!,,,but in retrospect,,,i find that it's growing uncontrollably,,,i used to be able to find a hunting spot just by driving down the road and talking to a land owner that was out mowing his yard,,,,today,,,,,that same landowner tells me his land is leased to a hunt club,,,i look at that as a loss for me personally,,but i also look at it as a gain for the hunting community as a whole,,,,,

I see the anti’s as being a major threat to hunting right now but they are correct that hunter numbers are declining while the anti-hunter numbers are growing. That in its self probably isn’t a major concern provided hunting and it’s management necessity are still recognized by the non hunters and the State Legislature.

I suspect the biggest threat comes from anti hunters getting voted in the Legislature combined with the influence anti-hunters have on the non-hunting members of the Legislature. I believe it is very important for hunters to be professional in their interactions with the non-hunting public. It is not only the perceptions that the non-hunting public have of hunters but also the act of keeping non-hunters educated of the facts of how important haunters are in the big picture of wildlife management. If hunters fail at that the number of non-hunters that slowly become anti-hunters will just continue to increase until the do succeed in ending hunting a species or two at time. All one needs to do is look at how that has already happened in California and New Jersey. It is also threatening other states. Trapping is even more likely to be harmed by the increased power of the anti’s as time moves on, even though there are some species that simply can’t be correctly managed without trapping.

If we lose hunting or trapping we also lose the most effective wildlife management tool available. Yet many hunters either don’t seem to take the treat of anti-hunters seriously or simply refuse to work toward a common objective with other hunters or the wildlife management professionals they don’t agree 100% with. It is encouraging though to see that many hunters do seem to take this threat seriously, because it is a serious threat even if it isn’t one that threatens hunters right this minute or perhaps even this year. Maybe not even this decade, but the work to educate and keep those most important non-hunters as hunter allies should be an ongoing objective and responsibly of every hunter. The worst part is that many hunters simply don’t have the knowledge or the interest it takes to be a good ambassador in explaining the importance of hunting and trapping to the non-hunters in a manner that is both understandable and expectable toward the best interest of their use as a management necessity.

R.S. Bodenhorn

"Cornelius, do you believe the antis are a real threat? "

Potentially. But not due to their over the top propaganda that very few pay any attention to. Only way is if they were to weasel there way in andgain seats on the boc and or strategic legislative positions. I dont ever see that as being the case anytime soon. But I do so a huge threat with treehuggers who have managed to weasel their way in and pretend at times to be our friend, They ARE doingdamage, where the antis currently are nothing more than the "boogey man".NEither are afriend of the hunter and have no business in game management. But currentlyone of the two hasboth feet in the door.They are costing us all alot right now. Whereas the antis are basically doing little to nothing and are a barely existing afterthought by comparison.

Several interesting reports and info on hunter participation on this site:

http://www.responsivemanagement.com/