#1767531 - 02/04/10 06:04 PM
Interesting Read that covers a lot of debated.....
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gator-n-buck
16 Point
Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 14908
Loc: Knox, TN / Palatka, FL
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Topics.... Posted it on another thread also.
HERES a long read but interesting...
This is a good read and hits on all this stuff we like to debate..
Who Is Ruining Hunting?
By Ron Niles
Those guys that hunt for big antlers are ruining hunting! Those guys that shoot any year and a half old buck are ruining hunting! Those guys that shoot does are ruining hunting! Those guys that won’t shoot does are ruining hunting! Same goes for those that buy all the newest products on the market, and the same can be said of those that refuse progress. Oh, and those guys that spend money on leases are ruining hunting, as well as those that hunt only public land causing over crowding. You can see where this is going. What about those rifle guys making the woods noisy, disturbing my hunt, or those bow hunters wounding all those deer? Then there are those crossbows, that ain’t hunting. Let’s not get in to the baiting, using scents, using outfitters, using calls, using dogs, sitting in a tree, still hunting, to deer hunt. How about shooting them at 500 or more yards is that ruining hunting? On second thought let’s do get into it or at least think about it.
What hunter hasn’t heard this or even uttered these words or something similar? So what if there are differences in hunting styles and techniques. So what if someone wants to stick with traditional hunting garb and others want the latest and greatest? Is the hunter that is only after a 150” buck or better any less a hunter than the guy that wants to put meat in the freezer?
I guess to get some idea we need to answer, what is hunting? Some will say it’s a tradition and our heritage, and they are correct. Some will say it’s a sport, well okay in some aspects I guess so, anyway who am I to argue. Others think of it as a life style, I’m with ya. Some would say it’s a management tool to control the deer population; be it grow the population or shrink it. This is the one I lean toward mostly but believe the others are true as well. Maybe there are other definitions I’m not aware of?
Here in NH along with a couple other states we have a common law open lands. Way back in the old world everything belonged to the crown and to get away from that, the mentality, in the infancy of the US, some states choose to say that the animals belonged to the state, the citizens of the state, not to the land holder. So hunting is a heritage and a tradition here, not to mention we needed to eat or we died. Then the resources, almost all resources were nearly all gone. Laws were passed to preserve the resources. These laws were changed and modified over the years as the resources and we changed. They also brought back most animals, but in particular deer, to numbers higher than ever. These laws are written and changed from state to state to maintain and control a HEALTHY population of deer. Hunting is the tool the state and game managers use to maintain that. So hunting is now a management tool. We, with the thought of hunting as a tradition and heritage, need to understand that tradition is not the only aspect of hunting, management is as important if not more important. I only say more because with out proper management there will be no hunting allowing us to maintain that tradition and keep our heritage alive. I remember when there were very few deer or no turkeys in NH, and I’m not that old.
The way I see it we are all out there for our own reasons and for the most part that makes the hunt the right thing to do. I, myself, have different modes. If I’m on a trophy hunt I can, and have, passed on that 140” buck holding out for bigger. I have also taken button bucks because I’m putting meat in the freezer. I have gone to Pa to take does for the freezer. The folks with the education and knowledge of the deer population there want a set number of does taken and I was more than willing to do my part. This way I don’t have to shoot the does here in NH which is what our biologist want to see happen, the passing of does. That’s why the doe season has been shortened so dramatically. There are those that say I’m not a trophy hunter but have no problem showing off that nice buck they shot. Hey, we are all trophy hunters it’s just to different degrees and some of us can adjust that like a thermostat.
The use of bait is a tradition in some parts of the country and there is nothing wrong with it. If you choose not to hunt over bait then don’t but don’t belittle those that do. What is baiting anyway? Is it anything placed there by man that deer eat, meaning bean fields or other crops or orchards? Is it that pile of corn? Is it that water tank dug in water short areas? I believe it’s all of the above but others may see it differently. Sometimes it’s the best way to get the deer in a safe place to shoot. It also can allow the hunter to pick and choose, shooting the right deer or shooting only does and mature deer and passing on the young, whatever needs to happen in the area. Baiting does also position that deer for a clean quick ethical shot.
Dogs also are a tradition in some parts of the country. Not here in NH but we do use dogs for bear hunting. So is that any less hunting? I think even though its nothing I’ve done and its not for me, if I were asked to go on a hunt with dogs for deer I would go just to see what it is all about.
The leasing of land to hunt is a big deal in some parts of the country. This is America and we still have the right to own property, for now anyway, and what we do with that property is landowner to decide with out begrudging them that right. There are miles upon square miles of public land that can be hunted for free in this country, so there is no shortage of land. Yea okay it may not be over run with big bucks but what are we all “trophy hunters” now? If you are looking for that monster and nothing less will do then you need to do what you need to do to get it. Lease and manage or use an outfitter, nothing wrong with either.
I bow hunt, rifle hunt, and muzzle loader hunt. What’s wrong with a crossbow? Nothing! I suspect that the traditional archers looked at compound bows with a “less than me with my recurve” eye as well at one point. Some still do today. Is it right? I think not so why beat up those that hunt with cross bows. Since when have we hunters become elitists? Heck I would hunt with a crossbow or a spear or a stick or a Frisbee for that matter.
The point is there are different styles, different tactics, and different weapons for hunting. Be it still hunting and shooting a deer at 650 yards with a rifle or sitting in a tree and arrowing a deer with a cedar shaft arrow from a long bow at 15 yards. We all have our reasons for being out there chasing deer with our chosen style, tactic and weapon. There is nothing wrong with any of them.
The only groups that are ruining hunting are the anti hunters, the politicians they/we elect, the ones I call slob hunters (those that would kill anything just to kill it), and those that belittle other hunters out there in their legal pursuit of game because we don’t use the same methods. Think carefully before saying “they are ruining hunting” or “that ain’t hunting” and think “can that be said of me by some other hunter”, because it probably can, if you hunt at all, you’ll fall into one of the groups mentioned above. Let’s not help those that would like to end our way of life by throwing other hunters under the bus.
Edited by gator-n-buck (02/04/10 06:06 PM)
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#1768610 - 02/05/10 05:51 AM
Re: Interesting Read that covers a lot of debated.....
[Re: Snake]
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MUP
Non-Typical
Registered: 08/01/07
Posts: 36169
Loc: Just North of Chatt-town
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Good Post ! 
x2!
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MUP
Amateurs: Built the Ark
Professionals: Built the Titanic
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#1768616 - 02/05/10 05:57 AM
Re: Interesting Read that covers a lot of debated.....
[Re: MUP]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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There's a guy who doesn't get it.
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"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#1768738 - 02/05/10 07:47 AM
Re: Interesting Read that covers a lot of debated.....
[Re: BSK]
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15488
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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There's a guy who doesn't get it.
My exact thoughts.....
What I got out of this is the fact that this guy is saying that the means at which you achieve your goal is not important and that any form of hunting is fine (if legal) and equally gratifying and respected. His way of thinking says that if the TWRA legalized hunting by spotlighting , baiting and even heat seeking weaponry, then that would be okay too. As long as it's legal, then it's hunting and we as "hunters" should stick together, no matter how we feel about other's technigues.
Sorry, you'll never get me to go along with that. And for those that do, I feel sorry for you because like BSK said..."You just don't get it."
JMO
BH
_________________________
There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict.
Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.
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#1768750 - 02/05/10 07:51 AM
Re: Interesting Read that covers a lot of debated.....
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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Right_Tackle74
4 Point
Registered: 10/12/09
Posts: 294
Loc: Loudon, TN, USA
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If baiting a hook is legal for fishing, I feel a corn pile should be legal for hunting. But you never see a fisherman fined for putting a worm on his hook. Not fair.
Edited by Right_Tackle74 (02/05/10 07:51 AM)
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#1768775 - 02/05/10 08:03 AM
Re: Interesting Read that covers a lot of debated.....
[Re: Right_Tackle74]
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archer19
8 Point
Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 2034
Loc: Erwin, TN
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Hit nail on head. Period. Good post.
All boils down to opinions, everybody has one.
If I like to do things a certain way, and I'm not violating any law according to TWRA but others don't like it, tuff. Get off my back.
Yes, I do get it.
_________________________
Everybody has an Opinion. Just understand that mines the only one that MATTERS!!!!!
SEC hater!
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#1768878 - 02/05/10 08:52 AM
Re: Interesting Read that covers a lot of debated.....
[Re: archer19]
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mathews338
10 Point
Registered: 11/05/09
Posts: 3988
Loc: jackson co.
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Hit nail on head. Period. Good post.
All boils down to opinions, everybody has one.
If I like to do things a certain way, and I'm not violating any law according to TWRA but others don't like it, tuff. Get off my back.
Yes, I do get it.
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