[#1DEER 1-I]

Please keep this post in line, lets not get it locked or anything, speak your opinion but not to strongly that it goes over the line. I know this opens a can of worms so lets keep it in line.

My question to all of you is what is your thoughts, feelings, and/or opinions on activists and people who are against hunting (or fishing) and trying to stop it?

In my opinion it is a right for all of us to hunt, a right that should never be able to be taken away at any time. People against hunting should not have the rights to come and take away what is so important and great to us all. If you personally don't want to hunt I don't care but don't ruin it for people who have such a passion for it. Hunting is a great sport and can bring people together. Anyone needs to have the situation turned around on them and have something taken away from them that is greatly important to them. Like I said before hunting is a right to everyone and under no circumstances should that right be taken away from people who complie with the rules and reg. of it. People who abuse the sport of hunting and do not respect that right should have it taken away, but with people who are ethical about and do nothing but what is legal should not even have to worry about the sport of hunting being threatened by people who know to little about it and think we all go into the forest and it is an unfair chase that we just go in with our high powered rifles and shoot what we want. The truth is they have never done it and the chase between hunter and prey is challenging, hunters don't just go and shoot the animal they want so easily there is a much finer ballance between hunter and prey than us just going out and shooting down the animal we want. More times than less the animal the hunter is hunting gets away, it is fair chase and the animal has a better chance of getting away than it dose getting shot. In my opinion animals will suffer a worse death if they were to die naturally anyway, they could slowly die of a sickness, or injury over a long period of time causing the animal great discomfort and a worse death, but with a gun an animal suffers not at all the animal is gone within a small amount of time and dosen't have to deal with the bad natural death that surely awaited him later on. Animals in the wild die, just like everything else on this earth eventually dies, nothing lives forever, and in nature animals do not survive forever they have predators, diseases, and countless other elements that will eventually decide the animals fate. No matter how advanced humans are or get they are still a part of nature and they are a natural predator and obviously the prey understand that because if they didn't they wouldn't get worried when humans are around. Hunting should never be taken away and it is a right of us all that we should be able to hunt, and knowone should be able to take it away from us, this is why I thank groups like CSI who protect our hunting right even though they shouldn't have to.

 

[ScottyP]

Much like driving an automobile, hunting is a privledge-- not a right. If it was a right, we wouldn't have to get a blue card and pay all the fees and otherwise jump through all the hoops one must do to be able to hunt. As far as the anti's go, they honestly think they are doing the right thing and if one is not thoughtfull in how they counter them, they gain strength through hunters actions.

I mostly fish and only dabble in hunting, but I am definetly pro-hunting and on the side of hunters in most situations. My main gripe with hunters is the types who think that game exists for the sole purpose for them to shoot. We are all part of an ecosystem and hunting has it's place in that; but not to the detrement of any individual species. Predators have a place in that system and should not be eliminated merely so that hunters have more prefered animals to harvest. When the state is running nothing more than a ranching operation for hunters, that puts folks like me at odds with hunters that think that is the way to go.

By definition, hunting is not a garunteed right that we are born with, and if hunters do not prove themselves as responsible stewards of the environment, it is a privledge that will be stripped away from us by and by.

 

[proutdoors]

Having a gun is a right, having a hunting license is a PRIVILAGE. LIke ScottyP said, if it were a 'right' we wouldn't need a blue card, a license, and we wouldn't have to 'apply' for a tag. It is somethong that can be taken away in a heartbeat if we are not careful. Since I see it as a privilage, or better yet as an honor, I value it more and I never want to lose the joys I get from hunting.

PRO

 

[Riverrat77]

Having a gun is a right, having a hunting license is a PRIVILAGE. PRO

+1... my thoughts exactly.

 

[GaryFish]

In today's society, and in how we function, hunting is a recreational activity. It is akin to golfing, skiing, video games, model railroading, hot air ballooning, etc.... It is not a right. It is a priviledge. The reality is that there is nothing altruistic about hunting is helping the animals because they don't starve. We make that same argument while we talk about how much mule deer herds are suffering in numbers but we still go blast 20,000 of them every year. We don't hunt to help the wildlife, although at times, it does. Hunting in today's world is not about subsistence, though most hunters eat their harvest. Hunting is a quality, recreational activity. But a 'Right'? No.

 

[scattergunner]

Priviledge. Far too many things are wrongly classified as rights anymore, it seems.

 

[Finnegan]

In today's society, and in how we function, hunting is a recreational activity.

Oh, them's fightin' words. Poker, whisky, playing bluegrass on the front porch on a Sunday afternoon - these things are recreational activites. Hunting is a lifestyle...a cultural heritage, even.

But you're correct. It isn't a right.

 

[.45]

Jeez.... ........ Whatever Pro abd ScottyP say, and agree on, is fine with me. I guess..... -)O(-
No way am I going to argue with those two...!!!!!.. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[GaryFish]

Its kind an interesting discussion. Several years ago, I applied for a job as the executive director for the Wyoming Wildlife Federation. I did a phone interview and then was asked to do an in-person interview in Cheyenne. Before I went for the live interview, I did quite a bit more homework and research, and interviews of my own with people affiliated with the group. I ended up cancelling the live interview and withdrew from the job on this very question - is hunting a right, or priviledge. My point of view was not in line with that of the organization - that it is some sort of higher, God-given right, above any sort of government regulation. It became a very fundamental concept in everything. I'm not dogging on them for holding to that point of view - it just isn't what I believe. But it is interesting how some groups interpret what those things are/mean. I think at times, that certain groups feel they have their own, money-given right, to 400+elk to shoot every year - everyone else be dammed. But that is another story all together.

 

[Finnegan]

Up until the mid 60's or so, I think the general consensus through most of Utah was that the government had no real authority over hunting, grazing, logging or any other land use issues. That was all local business. That philosophy is still with us today but has evolved into a belief in states rights. It's like when Clinton designated the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. People opposed the designation, but even more than that, they opposed Clinton's arrogance in making the designation.

I remember when I was a teenager, there was a weird sort of local addendum to game laws. Nobody would get away with the kind of shenanigans we used to pull back then - and that's a good thing.

 

[Treehugnhuntr]

Jeez.... ........ Whatever Pro abd ScottyP say, and agree on, is fine with me. I guess..... -)O(-
No way am I going to argue with those two...!!!!!.. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Oh you could argue, But you'd better have a pretty good block of time set aside and prepare to be wrong 99.9% of the time.

 

[Bowdacious]

Having a gun is a right, having a hunting license is a PRIVILAGE. LIke ScottyP said, if it were a 'right' we wouldn't need a blue card, a license, and we wouldn't have to 'apply' for a tag. It is somethong that can be taken away in a heartbeat if we are not careful. Since I see it as a privilage, or better yet as an honor, I value it more and I never want to lose the joys I get from hunting.

Once again.....Pro hits it right on the head!

 

[Treehugnhuntr]

Having a gun is a right, having a hunting license is a PRIVILAGE. LIke ScottyP said, if it were a 'right' we wouldn't need a blue card, a license, and we wouldn't have to 'apply' for a tag. It is somethong that can be taken away in a heartbeat if we are not careful. Since I see it as a privilage, or better yet as an honor, I value it more and I never want to lose the joys I get from hunting.

Once again.....Pro hits it right on the head!

Yep, I agree. But would you stop feeding his ego!

Hey pro, Why don't you run for office and get rid of that Hogan psycho out there in Tooele?

 

[proutdoors]

Hey pro, Why don't you run for office and get rid of that Hogan psycho out there in Tooele?

Which one? St Johns is full of em! Plus, I would be a terrible politican because I never take a stand on issues. :shock:

PRO

 

[Bowdacious]

Having a gun is a right, having a hunting license is a PRIVILAGE. LIke ScottyP said, if it were a 'right' we wouldn't need a blue card, a license, and we wouldn't have to 'apply' for a tag. It is somethong that can be taken away in a heartbeat if we are not careful. Since I see it as a privilage, or better yet as an honor, I value it more and I never want to lose the joys I get from hunting.

Once again.....Pro hits it right on the head!

Yep, I agree. But would you stop feeding his ego!

Hey pro, Why don't you run for office and get rid of that Hogan psycho out there in Tooele?

Sorry, but when he's right he's right....what can we do about it :evil:

 

[proutdoors]

Sorry, but when he's right he's right....what can we do about it

*OOO* *\-\* *(())* *()* -/O\-

PRO

 

[grousehunter]

Hunting is a privilage and not a right, there are quite a few people that should not be able to hunt. We just need to remember to keep our eyes on the right that makes hunting possible.

 

[Riverrat77]

Hunting is a privilage and not a right, there are quite a few people that should not be able to hunt. We just need to remember to keep our eyes on the right that makes hunting possible.

Ooooooo.... thats a good twist right there... nicely put. 8)

 

[Finnegan]

Privileges can easily be taken away. That's the core of the issue. So here's something of interest:

http://www.nraila.org/Hunting/Read/Hunt ... spx?ID=256

And thanks to Call of the Wild for posting the website.

 

[J-bass]

Well, as is implied in my signature, I just do as the government says. If they say that hunting is a priveledge then it must be so. If they set up the laws, regulations, and system so that the rich get far more opportunites at both quality and quantity, the gosh darnit, the rich deserve it more than me!!! I'm just glad they give the five day window for going after a peice of crap two point deer and I only have to compete with half the state to get him too! That's my lot, and Big Brother told me so, so it must be so!!!