The Real Champions of Wildlife

The majority of the hunters I know (and I know a lot of them) describe themselves as environmentalists. I'm fairly positive none of them voted for Bush in either election. To care about animal populations and the health of the environment is the same as caring about the future of the human race. Bush prefers handing out public hunting grounds to the lumber and oil barons, they don't need public space to hunt, they all have their own private estates to shoot their game. Remember Dick shot his buddy on private property, no way was he going to be so gauche as to be found shooting birds in season with the commoners.

Any hunter that calls themself an "environmentalist" is a hypocrite. Especially if they voted for that anti-everything boob Kerry.

In Germany, hunting/hunter affairs etc are regulated in most states (and on federal level) by the Environmental ministries.

So, "champions of wildlife" is okay, but nix on "environmentalists", eh?

Ri-i-ight.

The animal rights folks have taken over. Good luck getting your hunting and fishing rights back once they are gone.

The hunter's are proud to be environmentalists although they really don't do much more than cleaning up their grounds, I think.

This nothing, really nothing at all to do with their hunting rights.

But with champion of wildlife, what your headline says.

One of the battles I and many others are fighting is getting rid of the ridiculous rules pushed through by the enviro types who don't have a clue about true conservation. In Michigan it is almost impossible to step into the woods and go hunting without breaking some dumbass rule. You're missing this stamp or some endorsement or you have too many shells in your shotgun. It's dumb. As are those that made the rules.

I'm fighting the good fight. What are the rest of you doing?

ignoring you

Bear, ignore the guy dressed all in white with the 30-06 at your own peril.

Oh, that's right, you're protected in these parts.

How am I hypocrite for harvesting from nature and caring about the Creator's creation? I'm probably more of a gatherer than a hunter, but my brother and father have both hunted and go big game fishing. They are also card carrying members of the Sierra Club and World Wildlife Fund. They know it's hard to shoot duck or deer in a shopping mall.

I'm an environmentalist partly because I want to gather pollution free food. I grew up near the ocean in NY, and at a very young age gathered clams, crabs and muscles for beach bakes. When I was about 7, we went to visit family in NJ and we went to the beach there. I happily ran around collecting steamer clams. When I returned to my family I was told we could not eat the clams because the water was so polluted that they would make us sick. This was the first time I associated a clean environment with good food.

Recently, my favorite chanterelle mushroom spot was destroyed by some jerk driving an ATV over it, again and again. It's private land and I have permission to pick mushrooms, he is a trespasser who has never been caught and is probably a local knucklehead teen who thinks the forest will always be around for him to destroy for fun . I don't see how caring about your food, your health and your life can be different from caring about the environment.

Both the Sierra Club and the WWF are for the most part anti-hunting. The Sierra Club is less so, and it takes a great deal of flak from its own membership for being that way.

When hunters/fishers join organizations that they think support their causes, the should look extremely closely before doing so.

The HSUS/WWF is the biggest example. They have combined to form the single largest anti-hunting PAC in the states. Do you know that HSUS has absolutely nothing to do with your local Humane Society? They are a Washington D.C. based anti-hunting political action committee.

Check the mission statements of both HSUS and WWF. Your hunter/fisher friends will likely be dumbfounded at their own gullibility.

WWF is definitely against big game trophy hunting anywhere in the world, and so am I. They don't give a poop if you pop white tail deer or wild turkey in season. Our local Sierra Club encourages hunting to control deer and bear populations. All organizations have things one will agree and disagree with, you just have to decide if something is more positive or negative to your values.