Here it comes: "BAN BIG GAME HUNTING"

[Geezy Rider]

After the ban lion hunting it won't be long before the residents over there start crying and demanding that the government do something about all the people being killed by roaming prides of lions.

[RiverRat1]

No money from trophy hunters equates to no money to fight the commercial poachers ( as i understand it).
These liberal do gooders should quickly realize that trophy hunters are the best option to protect all the wildlife in Africa and here for that matters

Let me sum this up (not for you but for all posts like this).

They (being liberals) don't give a rats ***** about anything except their cause. They don't care if Africa goes broke because hunting is banned. They don't care if people go hungry. They just want to ban hunting. They see their window here and will run with it lying the whole way. They know the facts. This just shows how low they will go.

[fireman0684]

Some poor cop will have to shoot a black guy some where and no one will even remember any of this ever happened

Now that's funny right there, sad but true

[Duzy]

It's another effort to redefine a long standing traditional belief. Redefine hunting as murder, start the "all hunting and taking of animals is murder talk". We as hunters better stand up and promote the positive aspects of hunting, or in a year or two some judge will ban all hunting.

[CP121]

Ridiculous!! Makes me glad I went ahead and did a lion hunt this past May.

[howabouttheiris]

I was not pleased with the way CNN took it the other evening....

The host said that Zim was going to ban big game hunting close to the preserves. They were also going to ban archery hunts all together as Zim claims archery hunting was 'cruel and unusual punishment'.

Then one of the accompanying talking heads chimed in that it (referring to archery hunting) was 'horrifying and still practiced here in the US'.

It was not mentioned further, but this is not the next hashtag I want to see on twitter/facebook.

[whitetailfanatic]

I've banned George Lopez viewing and also Jimmy Kimmel viewing
At my home both are anti's

But so are my avatars

[bowhunterchris]

It just saddens me. As everyone else here I grew up hunting, it is all I know. Other than my family hunting is one thing that I could not live without.

[AtTheWall]

Pretty soon, this will be all that's left of hunting in Africa.

[Etxbuckman]

Pretty soon, this will be all that's left of hunting in Africa.

I wouldn't even go that far. Do you even realize how many stereotypes those tribal dolls perpetuate?

[Etxbuckman]

I say let them ban hunting. In a few years when the local economies have gone to crap and the remaining game herds have been wiped out completely by unmitigated poaching from the people who no longer have Western money supporting them, we'll find out who was in the right. Of course by then it will be too late, but oh well.

[Chase This!]

I don't have a problem with it, but I also have no desire to kill a big cat.

[Shane]

Mob mentality through social media is fueling the fire. But here's the deal....

The rabid anti-hunting crazies don't really matter. They are a small minority. BUT....hunters are a small minority as well. What matters are the non-hunters who aren't part of the militant anti-hunting crowd. There's a big push from the nutjobs to try to win over as many of the non-hunters as possible right now. They are obviously shameless in their efforts to throw fact out the window and just go with the most sensationalized emotional arguments they can think of.

So what do we do about it?

One thing I'm seeing on social media is the WRONG thing to do. I am seeing some hunters getting very ugly and mean in their responses to the nutjob antis. Posting loads of bloody animal pics and saying, "How do you like that? There's a LOT more where these came from!!!" is definitely not the way to win this battle. Don't get sucked into that kind of childish argument with the crazy anti-hunters. You are NOT going to change that person's mind anyway. Just ignore them.

But DO be concerned about the vast majority of people who are neither anti-hunter or hunter. The non-hunter matters politically. If you want more and more non-hunters to start agreeing with anti-hunters, all you have to do is present yourself as the vile, crazy, blood-thirsty killer that the antis claim you are. I know those crazy nutjobs make you angry. I know that they have no clue what they're talking about. I understand that they're wrong. But don't let them drag you down into the gutter with them. We will lose if we go there.

So what should we do?

First off, when you read something that really ****** you off - STOP! Don't post a hot-headed defense. You don't have to respond to every comment that every idiot anti-hunter makes. In fact, it would be best if you don't respond to any of them. But do take an opportunity, whenever possible, to talk to non-hunters about what hunting REALLY is, the vital role that hunting - especially trophy hunting - plays in conservation, why people like us love hunting, etc.

The vast majority of non-hunters can recognize the nutiness of the anti-hunter wackos all by themselves. They don't need us to point that out. But if they see two groups who appear to be equally crazy, they'll probably start siding more and more with the touchy feely anti-hunters - just out of pure emotion. The reason being, is that if we act the same way that the antis act, we'll look exactly like what the antis falsely claim we are.

DO NOT GET SUCKED INTO THAT.

[Buff]

Please don't get that idea started! Does seem like the medical professionals are taking a hit. Probably because we make a good living and can afford a hunt in zim. Problem is we don't quite make enough to do that hunt in somewhere more stable like Tanzania.

That is funny and kinda covers where I have always been. I can go but just not to a very nice place

[Bisch]

Excellent post, Shane! Spot-on!

The non-hunting population that really have no opinion one way or the other can be swayed either way to form an opinion! The antis know this, and that is what they are after, even if it takes untruths to get what they want!

Bisch