Hunting Sense

I was Googling hunting news this morning in hopes of finding an idea for a post, and I came across an article about changes to Alberta’s subsistence hunting license. Basically, it’s a hunting license issued to anyone in the province that relies upon moose, elk, or deer meat to feed them and their families and can be used anytime during the year. It got me to thinking.

Would the creation of a subsistence hunting license elsewhere help curb the cases of out-of-season poaching? Granted, some poaching isn’t for the meat to feed the poacher and their families. For those people poaching as a means to feed their families, though, it would provide a legal way for them to do so.

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“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Lord Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887.

Like me, this may be what you think of when you read about a British Columbia proposal on deregulating parts the commercial hunting industry and turning regulation of the rest over to an industry-led board. I hate thinking such things when talking about hunters, but no matter the nobleness of intentions, too much power can change people and whatever good they wanted to accomplish. All you have to do is take a look at politicians for proof of this.

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According to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation, only five percent of Americans now call themselves hunters. This sad fact is driven home by situations like the one in Solebury, Pennsylvania where they are paying the U.S. Department of Agriculture over $250,000 for sharpshooters to get the deer population under control. There is something seriously wrong with people being paid to kill deer because hunter numbers aren’t great enough to control the ever growing deer population.

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Last week I posted that the Michigan Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to uphold a ban by the city of Saginaw on discharging any type of weapon in the city limits. I also voiced my concerns of this type of ban catching on, eliminating hunting land in more rural towns. Well, the dominoe effect I feared seems to have already begun.

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It seems there has been a new way found to eradicate hunting in Michigan and the state’s Supreme Court has given it their blessing in a 4-3 vote.

Basically, what the ruling states is that a city or municipality has the right to ban the discharge of any type of weapon they want within its limits. At first, this doesn’t sound so unreasonable, but when you look at it on a grander scale, it is very disconcerting. Let me explain why I think so.

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After the Mitt Romney debacle, it is surprising to see another Presidential candidate brave enough to claim to being a hunter. But that is exactly what New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is doing. Unlike Romney, though, he has some proof to back up his claims.

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It’s no secret that I believe schools should offer a gun safety course of some kind to our children so they have the proper exposure and training in handling firearms. I’ve written many times about it here at Hunting Sense as many of you may already know. Well, today I stumbled across an article that touches on one such program.

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Two interesting stories in hunting news caught my attention this morning. One deals with the taking of hunting and fishing license by authorities in Oklahoma and the other is about a donation of land for wetland management in North Dakota.

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Republican State Senator George Maziarz has reintroduced legislation seeking to make hunting with a crossbow legal in the state of New York. You would think that Mark O’Brien, a disabled Iraq War veteran who lost his right arm and leg in a rocket attack in Iraq in 2004 and would like to bow hunt again, proves to be a good example of why the laws should be changed, but that isn’t the case. The same ol’ rhetorical prejudices against crossbows have already reared their ugly head once again.

“Mostly the bow hunters don’t want crossbow users in their season, hunting their deer in their woods,�? said long-time sportsman Bill Hilts Sr. “I always thought it belonged to all of us, but apparently not. The big objection is you can cock this. It takes away the challenge of pulling the bow back.�?

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The last time Arkansas reworked their whitetail deer management plan was in 1999. This summer, they will be reworking it again, and this time they’re asking for the help of hunters from around the state. If you live and hunt in Arkansas, here’s your chance to help shape whiteatail deer hunting for the next few years. Watch for the meetings and get involved.

hunting, Arkansas, deer management, plans, public meetings

Another post by the wife

Right off the bat I’m going to point out that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an American, but I’m embarrassed for Cliff, as an American, when I see wingnuts like Dan Simpson spouting their verbal diarrhaea to the masses. Let’s take his ideas point by point (it’s easier to swallow drivel that way).

Now, how would one disarm the American population? First of all, federal or state laws would need to make it a crime punishable by a $1,000 fine and one year in prison per weapon to possess a firearm. The population would then be given three months to turn in their guns, without penalty.

3 months, eh? (note Canadian lingo). How generous. For the sake of extreme generosity, let’s say there are only 1 million of the suckers floating around between Canada and Mexico. That would mean 11,111 firearms would need to be turned in each day all across the country. Anyone see any red tape/logistic problems there? From what I understand, a trip to the DMV would be a vacation compared to a trip to turn in your guns. FYI, there are an estimated 193-250 million firearms in the good ole US of A. Crunch those numbers.

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The word radical quickly brings to mind a myriad of negative connotations for most people. It’s a word that is increasingly used and thrown around to label people or groups in today’s world with little regard to the actual definition of the word. Maybe a review of the meaning is in order.

Radical
1. of or going to the root or origin; fundamental
2. thoroughgoing or extreme, esp. as regards change from accepted or traditional forms
3. favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms
4. a person who holds or follows strong convictions or extreme principles
5. a person who advocates fundamental political, economic, and social reforms by direct and often uncompromising methods

Radical is often times used to label anyone who supports gun rights and the Second Amendment, with little care for the fairness or validity of doing so. How often, though, do you see the term used to describe anti-gun groups and some of the ideas they have? In all fairness, I believe this is one instance where the use of the word radical has become skewered in America today.

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Hillbillies and gators are just two images I don’t see going together. Apparently, though, the hillbillies are firing up the truck and loading the guns because they may be going gator hunting. That’s right, it seems Arkansas is considering having their first alligator season in history.

Now, I hope none of my readers in Arkansas take offense as I’m just joking around about the hillbilly part. It was too good to resist. If it makes anyone feel any better, I openly call myself a Redneck all the time.

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Missouri sportsmen who buy hunting and fishing license may soon find a voter registration form in their mailboxes. HB 845, which passed on a voice vote after nearly two hours of debate, would require the Secretary of State to send a voter registration card to anyone who buys a hunting or fishing license and who are not registered to vote. Before being sent to the Senate, it will still need to pass in the House one more time.

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Mitt Romney wants us to believe he is a hunter and a pro-gun supporter. He has gone to great lengths in trying to do so, from joining the NRA to stretching the truth about his hunting experience. Even as the truth is separated from fiction, he continues trying to make us believe by spinning elaborate excuses and cracking jokes about it.

Interestingly, Mr. Romney failed to take an opportunity in St. Louis on Friday to further make us believe by not attending the NRA annual conference. He was in the same city at the same time for a fund-raiser, so why didn’t he? Like many of his other actions and remarks, it does little in supporting his claims of being one of us. It does, however, help in confirming the only reason he wants us to believe these things is to garner our votes.

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