Hunting Sense

As I write this, I am watching a Jim Zumbo Q&A session play out over at the Ted Nugent Forums. Ted arranged this yesterday and I’m glad he did. So far there is little response from Zumbo, but there’s also 15 pages of people hurling questions at and attacking him.

I made a post, said my piece, and offered up Hunting Sense as another outlet for Jim and Ted to get their message out. What may come of it is what comes of it.

I know I’ll be keeping a close eye on the happenings so I can maybe have a better understanding of what is going on from the actual man involved. Keep your eyes focused here to see what I find out.

hunting, Jim Zumbo, Ted Nugent, Second Amendment, legislation, anti-gun

Everyone knew the fallout from the comments made by Jim Zumbo on his now defunct Outdoor Life blog would be major, but how deep it goes is somewhat surprising to me. The “terrorist” and “banning” remarks Zumbo made were bad, no doubt about it. The turmoil that’s erupted though has the potential to be more damaging to gun owners and their rights than any one of the now infamous Zumbo quotes. The thing that surprises me the most is where this turmoil is stemming from.

Gun owners, both hunting and non-hunting shooting enthusiasts, are now supplying additional ammunition for the anti-gun supporters. While there are many level headed people on both sides of the fence, there is a large number of both too busy pointing fingers and laying blame to even realize what the hell they are doing. I, for one, say it is time for the to take the time to stand back and take a look in the mirror before they continue running their mouths.

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Mentioning gun control of any kind will no doubt spark a debate among sportsmen. And if you’re well enough known in the sporting world, it may even be the first nail in your professional coffin. Jim Zumbo, a hunter and outdoor writer for Outdoor Life magazine, found this out the hard way after making a blog post about the use of AK and AR weapons by hunters.

After the flurry of controversy, Outdoor Life has pulled the plug on Zumbo’s blog, but here is what he said.

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I was reading the Moose Droppings blog this morning and discovered there is a Senate Bill intended to protect our federal hunting lands.

SB 408 was introduced by Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss and is a bill “To recognize the heritage of hunting and provide opportunities for continued hunting on Federal public land.” It is to be officially recognized as the ‘Hunting Heritage Protection Act’, a title that I like the sound of.

I’m glad to see Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhoffe’s name attached to the bill, as that is my home state. Reading through part of the bill, I find some interesting findings listed that I am glad have been noticed.

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An article in the Deseret News proves there are still new things to learn about hunting. The research and findings of the National Shooting Sports Foundation is quite interesting. Although, if your spouse sees the part about how much you spend for hunting over a lifetime, you may wish you had found out.

I’m not sure if that amount would apply to me. It most likely comes close, but spending nearly $18,000 over a lifetime seems rather extreme. I realize I spend money on hunting and hunting related products, but I doubt I spend as much as most of the people the survey consider being the average.

I have always been taught to make the most with the least amount of extras as possible. No wasting of ammunition, no unneeded gadgetry to weigh things down, and things like that. That seems like where a lot of the costs would be incurred. Who knows though?

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It’s simply amazing the things that you can run across when browsing the net. My latest find is ‘Weekend Warrior Outdoors‘, a company that produces hunting DVD’s with footage submitted by you, the hunter. Sure, having your hunt included on a retail DVD available to the masses sounds awesome, but what about the $100 membership fee that goes along with it?

Yeah, that’s what I thought too.

After discovering the site, I did a little digging to see what I could find out about the company. A simple Whois search revealed that the domain is roughly five months old, registered in August of 2006. A Google search also showed that David Knupp, a co-founder, is a member of the field staff at TheHuntZone.com. and provided a few references to co-founder Cory Ouellette in outdoor related topics.

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Even after two years since Texas lawmakers put a stop to the so-called virtual hunting website Live-Shot.com dreamed up by Texas rancher John Lockwood, other legislatures are taking measures to prevent such sites in their states. A bill has been filed this month in Illinois which would make it the latest to take pro-active measures against this flawed and outrageous concept.

The original concept of the Live-Shot.com website was to allow hunters to hunt animals on Lockwood’s Texas ranch using their computer and a remote operated rifle located on the property. In defense of the idea, Lockwood claimed it would be a useful tool for disabled hunters. Shortly afterwards, the Texas legislature shot the venture down, to much applause of sportsmen.

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Hunters tend to be very vocal in their opposition against gun control. More often than not, this paints them in a bad light to the general public. While there are plenty of radicals out there, many hunters have sound and logical reasoning for their views on the issue.

While I’m not able to speak for all hunters, I do feel my views on it are fairly common ones throughout the hunting community. No matter, though, they may give people a little insight into what I feel is a reasonable stance on gun control. At the very least, it could provide some food for thought.

Gun control itself isn’t a bad thing. It’s when it’s carried to an extreme that it becomes an issue with me. There are plenty of good laws already on the books that would do a good job of gun control if they were enforced, or if they were even enforceable for the people they need to target. Many of the new proposals and laws currently target law-abiding gun owners, not the criminal elements they should be.

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While browsing this morning, I found a Press Release on Topix.net for The Hunting Wire. Here is a short quote from the release.

“…hunters and sportsmen can now receive free hunting news directly from equipment manufacturers, game ranches and hunting organizations with the all-new launch of TheHuntingWire.com, Hunting’s Sure Shot for On-Line News.â€?

Sounds good, doesn’t it? I’m always in search of a new service to get the most up to date hunting news and info, so I checked out their site. Being a new launch, there isn’t much there yet, so it’s a little hard to make a judgement call on it yet.

The concept is sound, and it may well be an excellent service once it gets established. The few press releases they have posted so far are informative, and that was something I worried if would happen when I realized a marketing firm manages it. As long as they’re able to continue delivering a balance of quality information along with promoting products and services, they may do well.

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According to an article in The Kentucky Post, steps taken to promote youth hunting have raised a debate. The state Fish and Wildlife Commission sets the minimum age children may enrol in hunter education training at 9, increases the age it’s mandatory for the child to pass the course to 12, and drops the requirement of purchasing a “junior: hunting license for children under 12. This has brought about the question of at what age should a child be allowed to hunt with firearms and who has the right to decide—the parents or the government?

Having come from Oklahoma, a state where many children are traditionally introduced to hunting at an early age, and a family that hunts, I started hunting before the age of ten. Granted, every child may not be mature or responsible enough to begin at that early of an age, but it’s surprising how many are. And a deciding factor is the amount of instruction they receive, whether it is by attending a hunting course or the parents passing along what they know.

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One of the more exciting unveilings at the SHOT Show I wrote about yesterday is Smith & Wesson’s aggresive return to manufacturing shotguns.

When it comes to pistols, the S&W name holds quite a bit of esteem among gun owners. The number of people owning one is a high one no doubt, but the number owning a S&W shotgun isn’t. After a brief foray into shotguns during the mid 70’s and early 80’s, they quit manufacturing them and the guns aren’t very prolific.

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A recently proposed North Dakota bill requiring hunters to cover their game while transporting them on roads was dropped after garnering opposition from all sides. While there isn’t any way to tell how many similar type laws there are, it has become a trend over the last few years to promote covering of carcasses.

Rules and regulations for hunting are fine, but why go this far to begin with? I don’t know about anyone else, but I see this as an example of ‘political correctness’ being carried to the extreme. We have to be so worried about what other people think and their rights that we begin to infringe on the rights of others.

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We’ve all heard stories of does that have antlers, but how about a deer with seven legs? That’s what Rick Lisko of Wisconsin discovered after hitting a nub antlered buck with his truck on Nov. 22.

Not only did the deer have seven legs, but Lisko also claims the deer had both male and female genitals. This couldn’t be substantiated by Doug Bilgo, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Warden who went to Lisko’s property to tag the deer, because they had been removed when it was gutted.

Other than that, the deer appeared to be in perfect health. Lisko also said “It was tasty.”

Apparently, Bass Pro Shops has shown interest in doing a full body mount of the deer and displaying it in one of it’s retail stores.

Although I would like to include a picture here, they are copyrighted, so I’m not able to. The article above does include one, though, where one of the extra legs is clearly shown.

hunting, seven legged, deer, Wisconsin, Bass Pro Shop, stange

Hunters in Ohio are getting a bonus from the Department of Natural Resources during deer season. They are encouraging hunters to shoot any wild boars they see while hunting. Any hunter with a valid deer-hunting permit may take a wild pig using whichever weapon is legal for the season they’re hunting.

Wild pigs are destructive, destroying crops and habitats, so many states find them an unwanted presence. While care should be taken with their meat and the handling and preparation of it, they’re an added bonus in the freezer. Hunters who help out by shooting them can benefit from the extra meat while helping out the other wild game that suffers from the wild pigs’ presence.

Ohio, wild pigs, hunting, deer hunting

Roger Barnett, an Arizona rancher and border vigilante, was found to be responsible for false imprisonment, assualt, and inflicting emotional damage on Wednesday in a civil trial.

The trial was the result of an Oct. 30th, 2004 incident when Barnett held Ronald Moralas’ hunting party at gun point on state land Barnett leases. Barnett, who boasts of detaining and handing over more than 10,000 illegal immigrants to border patrol, harrased and abused the Mexican-American family and a daughter of another family. Morales is a US Navy veteran and he and his family are citizens of the United States, not illegal immigrants like Barnett normally targets.

I’m glad Barnett has to pay for what he did, but it seems like a small price when you look at what happened. Border vigilantism leads to discrimination, racism, and violence against anyone of Mexican descent, regardless of whether or not they’re here legally or illegaly. A family out for a family hunting trip on land they have permission to be on shouldn’t have to be exposed to such things.

Barnett faces further charges of violence related to vigilante activity. Maybe then he won’t get off so easy. My hope is they lock him up so he isn’t able to terrorize people while trying to act like a hero, something he most definitely isn’t.

vigilante, illegal immigrants, border patrol, Arizona, Mexico