Here it comes: "BAN BIG GAME HUNTING"

[BrandonA]

Maybe I missed this but doesn't the African Government require the meat to be donated to the locals?

[Hollywood]

And now this :

Delta is banning the shipment of a host of animal trophies, the airline giant announced in a statement Monday afternoon.

[Speedgoat]

Poaching is sometimes unwise in the dark continent.

[Bisch]

Well, I guess I will definitely find a new airline to fly over there then. Delta won't ever stop taking the hunters $$$$ for the airfare!

Bisch

[meltingfeather]

After Aurora and Sandy Hook they wanted to ban assault weapons as well.
It will blow over... it's just the media (social and professional) frenzy that gets everyone stirred up.
Including TBH apparently.

[DEADEYE1]

Cant wait I am leaving this week for South Africa! Might shoot a couple extra animals , just because!!!

[Shane]

Ironically some of the biggest opponents of "trophy hunting" are other hunters. Just the other day on facebook, one hunting group was once again firing up the baiting debate. In their view, controversial methods like baiting, dog hunting and trophy hunting are ruining the sport as a whole. Their views are more closely aligned with the antis and fuel the negativity that shames our sport. So sad to see so-called hunters turning on each other instead of banding together.

Bingo!

This is insane too. The main thing that antis scream about, whether they call it "sport hunting" or "trophy hunting" is that the hunter is smiling in the photo, apparently enjoying himself/herself on the hunt. The antis are incensed by the thought of someone actually having fun while hunting. Some of them will say things like, "I am OK with hunting for food, but NOT for sport. That's just sickening.....blah...blah...blah....". I even heard Rush Limbaugh say pretty much the same thing about an hour ago when I was driving back to the office after lunch. That is crazy.

Wildlife management is basically just math. What is the carrying capacity of the habitat in question? How many animals are in the herd in question? What is the sex/age structure? How many animals are likely going to die for reasons other than hunting? How many babies are going to be born and survive the first year? And how many animals need to be removed by hunters to make sure everything is in balance?

We need hunters to take the right number of the right animals each year. We need hunters' money to pay for the conservation efforts, including the folks who set the bag limits and the game wardens and others who protect the animals and guard against poaching. Whether a hunter happens to have the time of his/her life in the process is irrelevant. But the fact remains that EVERY hunter enjoys hunting, or else we wouldn't spend time and money to do it. That doesn't make it in any way immoral.

But the crazy anti-hunters can't imagine themselves ever killing an animal, and there's nothing crazy or wrong with that in and of itself. What makes them nuts is that they think that there should be a law preventing anyone from participating in something that they don't want to participate in themselves, regardless of whatever good hunting does for wildlife populations all over the world. They, apparently, would be happier if poachers had a free-for-all and there were fewer animals in the world, as long as nobody actually got to enjoy a hunting trip.

As for the hunters who like to slam other hunters.... if that's you, please just stop. Just because somebody else has more money than you, more time to hunt than you, and/or enjoys using different LEGAL methods to hunt than you do, that doesn't make them bad. It isn't ruining hunting. Legal hunting is the only reason you still get to hunt to begin with. All those other hunters that are hunting a little differently than your favorite methods are helping to support wildlife conservation so that you get to hunt to. You don't have to hunt the same way somebody else does. But don't be a dumbass and throw stones at some other hunter just because he/she hunts differently than you. Just shut up and go hunt, and be thankful that there are millions of other hunters out there making it possible for you.

Sorry.....I got wound up on that one. Hunters griping about other hunters ticks me off.

[DEADEYE1]

What Shane Said!!!!!!!!!

[Bisch]

Man, Shane, you are a great spokesman for out cause! I just hope your msg can be heard by the ears that need to hear it!

Bisch

[RiverRat1]

Bingo!

This is insane too. The main thing that antis scream about, whether they call it "sport hunting" or "trophy hunting" is that the hunter is smiling in the photo, apparently enjoying himself/herself on the hunt. The antis are incensed by the thought of someone actually having fun while hunting. Some of them will say things like, "I am OK with hunting for food, but NOT for sport. That's just sickening.....blah...blah...blah....". I even heard Rush Limbaugh say pretty much the same thing about an hour ago when I was driving back to the office after lunch. That is crazy.

Wildlife management is basically just math. What is the carrying capacity of the habitat in question? How many animals are in the herd in question? What is the sex/age structure? How many animals are likely going to die for reasons other than hunting? How many babies are going to be born and survive the first year? And how many animals need to be removed by hunters to make sure everything is in balance?

We need hunters to take the right number of the right animals each year. We need hunters' money to pay for the conservation efforts, including the folks who set the bag limits and the game wardens and others who protect the animals and guard against poaching. Whether a hunter happens to have the time of his/her life in the process is irrelevant. But the fact remains that EVERY hunter enjoys hunting, or else we wouldn't spend time and money to do it. That doesn't make it in any way immoral.

But the crazy anti-hunters can't imagine themselves ever killing an animal, and there's nothing crazy or wrong with that in and of itself. What makes them nuts is that they think that there should be a law preventing anyone from participating in something that they don't want to participate in themselves, regardless of whatever good hunting does for wildlife populations all over the world. They, apparently, would be happier if poachers had a free-for-all and there were fewer animals in the world, as long as nobody actually got to enjoy a hunting trip.

As for the hunters who like to slam other hunters.... if that's you, please just stop. Just because somebody else has more money than you, more time to hunt than you, and/or enjoys using different LEGAL methods to hunt than you do, that doesn't make them bad. It isn't ruining hunting. Legal hunting is the only reason you still get to hunt to begin with. All those other hunters that are hunting a little differently than your favorite methods are helping to support wildlife conservation so that you get to hunt to. You don't have to hunt the same way somebody else does. But don't be a dumbass and throw stones at some other hunter just because he/she hunts differently than you. Just shut up and go hunt, and be thankful that there are millions of other hunters out there making it possible for you.

Sorry.....I got wound up on that one. Hunters griping about other hunters ticks me off.

And all they see if they were to actually read something like this is.... NO, the world would be perfect like the garden of Eden with no hunters...animals hopping around holding hands etc.

[Shane]

Man, Shane, you are a great spokesman for out cause! I just hope your msg can be heard by the ears that need to hear it!

Bisch

I haven't commented on facebook or anywhere else yet. It's too hard to avoid getting mad and fired up right now. I'm practicing on you guys.

[Shane]

And all they see if they were to actually read something like this is.... NO, the world would be perfect like the garden of Eden with no hunters...animals hopping around holding hands etc.

Yep. The rabid anti-hunters are a lost cause. Trying to engage them in conversation is utterly pointless. But we have to find a way to effectively educate the majority of people out there who don't hunt and aren't anti-hunting either. Most of them aren't interested, so they are not aware of how hunting is responsible for all of the successful wildlife conservation efforts around the world. They're not stupid. They're just uneducated on the topic. We can't let the crazy antis be the ones that "educate" them.

[Speedgoat]

Yep. The rabid anti-hunters are a lost cause. Trying to engage them in conversation is utterly pointless. But we have to find a way to effectively educate the majority of people out there who don't hunt and aren't anti-hunting either. Most of them aren't interested, so they are not aware of how hunting is responsible for all of the successful wildlife conservation efforts around the world. They're not stupid. They're just uneducated on the topic. We can't let the crazy antis be the ones that "educate" them.

Aren't there more hunters than there are anti-hunters? I've always thought that to be the case, but with PC the minority is made to resemble the majority.

[catslayer]

I try to listen when shane talks, he has some great ideas....

One thing I just don't get is how they can ignore the pure numbers... The libs RAGE about habitat loss to cattle and farming... Ok cool, these big game are the most valuable livestock in the world on average. SO the farmers sell the cows and sheep, and bring back in native stock... MASSIVE growth in animal numbers, that haven't been seen in what.... 100 years??? HUGE win for conservation??? NOOOOOO they ignore that just focus, BUT NOW YOU MADE HUNTING LEGAL...

Dumbest one I've seen had to do with bear hunting in Jersey... She claimed that science proved that hunting in an area INCREASES the numbers... that taking the animals out caused the animals left to breed faster and more efficiently... Like they had a magic sense that told them they would all have twins that year instead of singles... I'll see if I can find the vid....


One thing wish we could do is come up with a way to "rank" the way countries over there pass the money around, what the corruption is like and publish it to the guys here who hunt. Make actual economic incentive to shape up and take care of their situation...

Those papers were good... Problem is they were fair, and fair papers get ignored, OR the wacko's just cherry pick the problems and don't actually look at the value of things as a whole...

I hate it but I could see some major splits coming up in our country... the left attacks EVERYTHING, pushing people against each other at every opportunity. I worry what kind of fight I will have to put up for my children...

[Shane]

Aren't there more hunters than there are anti-hunters? I've always thought that to be the case, but with PC the minority is made to resemble the majority.

I'm sure there are more hunters than there are anti-hunters. But there are more NON-hunters who aren't anti-hunting than there are hunters.