Most Important Issue in US Conservation

[WoolOverAll]

The first two you could just say social media because my grandpa has grip and grins from the 60's in his gun cabinet no one cared. Coyote calling contests are fine and with no reason to kill them because fur isnt worth any thing and the trophy hunting thing is a tag word antis just use and in reality hunting the old mature animals is a good thing

Social media drives public perception. It would be a mistake to discount it. I'm not sure what you mean by discounting drinking. It is absolutely a negative to the public for drunk men to be wandering in the woods with guns and has been a problem long before social media. Making a game out of killing animals is not going to shine hunting in a positive light. People pay good money to shoot the biggest bucks and exotics. There wouldn't be a massive market for antlers if hunters didn't care about deer scores.

 

[BustedRagHorn]

I would like to highlight a theme I think is getting missed and would appreciate y'all's thoughts. Looking through the lens of legislation for the mass of people in the middle. Hunters and ranchers have a lot in common. Now sure, how we want to manage the resources on public land we could have a fist fight over (why I think we are too educated). From my point of view that is not as soon of a risk as just loosing the right to hunt. For example in CO we lost spring bear hunting, lost the right to use foot hold traps, gained an apex predator, and are looking down the barrel of a fur ban statewide. Not to mention Oregon is looking at a full on hunting and ranching ban. My grandpa once told me "Kid, they are going after hunting so one day they can go after your guns and go after your beef. Once they have control of your protection and your food, you have to abide." I thought he was senile, I see it now. The opposition prays we fight with ranchers, 2nd amendment folks, fishermen (commercial too), loggers, and hunters from every category. If we cannot find ways to bring more people into the fold with our messaging we loose. The other side has an absolute goal "end animal suffering at the hands of man". That overall message has hundreds of activist groups and others who follow it. Those groups will come to the fight if they hear that rally cry. We have 1000 different messages and if I was an outsider looking in I would see a disorganized, argumentative group with out any clear understanding of what they stand for. Or a very small group that has a stance that doesn't mean much to me. If I was on the fence I would go with the other side because animal suffering at the hands of a man sounds like a noble goal. Instead of saying why it is awful to work with someone you don't agree with, what messaging would you use to gain support from those exact same people? Specifically some of the folks that mentioned ranching and agriculture are the wrong people to gain support from, I challenge you to find something you would agree with them on and how you would get them to support your hunting rights.

 

[KurtR]

Social media drives public perception. It would be a mistake to discount it. I'm not sure what you mean by discounting drinking. It is absolutely a negative to the public for drunk men to be wandering in the woods with guns and has been a problem long before social media. Making a game out of killing animals is not going to shine hunting in a positive light. People pay good money to shoot the biggest bucks and exotics. There wouldn't be a massive market for antlers if hunters didn't care about deer scores.

So whats your solution?

 

[bayoublaster7527]

Broadly, yes, anti-hunting groups are a threat to hunting. Anti-hunting groups being a threat to conservation is more questionable. By 'community', do you mean neighbors and people who live there? In that case, yes I would generally align with those groups. If 'community' means the enormous agriculture and ranching lobby, no absolutely not.


Science based management sounds ideal. No issues there. It fits right into the North American model.

Protecting 'traditions' is a topic I would want them to define. There are plenty of hunting and fishing traditions that make us look terrible to the public. Happy to elaborate on any of these if you want.

It seems you have intentionally avoided the tangible, current anti-hunting efforts in places like Colorado, Washington, and Oregon. When I say community, I typically mean the state and local level stockgrowers and cattlemen associations. When I show up to Colorado wildlife commission meetings or legislature committee hearings, I am usually testifying shoulder to shoulder with those folks from the agriculture community. Fighting against the numerous anti-hunting organizations here.

I disagree, anti-hunting groups are a huge threat to conservation. From a funding standpoint and also looking at it conceptually. Conservation allows for consumptive use, those uses actually fund it. It recognizes the sustainable use nature of the resource. There is a difference between conservation and preservation.

As far as “traditions”, that is what concerns me with some in the hunting community. The anti-hunting groups have taken a clear “divide and conquer” strategy. Separate the hunting community based on those same “traditions”. Then pick them off, one species and method of take at a time. In Colorado, we have seen attempts to eliminate mountain lion hunting, hound hunting, harvest of furbearers, trapping. and initial discussion of eliminating harvest of black bears and bighorn sheep. Heck they even wanted to eliminate use of live bait in fishing. Are those the “traditions” that you believe are suspect?

 

[Gila]

What I recall from the research was that other predators like bear and coyotes were having a higher impact on the elk calf recruitment.

Yes…bears and coyotes make up most of the predation in some units. However wolf predation wasn’t occurring at the rate it is now.

 

[WoolOverAll]

It seems you have intentionally avoided the tangible, current anti-hunting efforts in places like Colorado, Washington, and Oregon. When I say community, I typically mean the state and local level stockgrowers and cattlemen associations. When I show up to Colorado wildlife commission meetings or legislature committee hearings, I am usually testifying shoulder to shoulder with those folks from the agriculture community. Fighting against the numerous anti-hunting organizations here.

I did not intentionally avoid them. My first statement you are responding to is "Broadly, yes, anti-hunting groups are a threat to hunting.". So we are aligned then on who we support on a local level, "In that case, yes I would generally align with those groups."

I disagree, anti-hunting groups are a huge threat to conservation. From a funding standpoint and also looking at it conceptually. Conservation allows for consumptive use, those uses actually fund it. It recognizes the sustainable use nature of the resource. There is a difference between conservation and preservation.

We will have to slightly disagree here then. I agree funding from licenses and tags is a major component of state ran wildlife departments.

As far as “traditions”, that is what concerns me with some in the hunting community. The anti-hunting groups have taken a clear “divide and conquer” strategy. Separate the hunting community based on those same “traditions”. Then pick them off, one species and method of take at a time. In Colorado, we have seen attempts to eliminate mountain lion hunting, hound hunting, harvest of furbearers, trapping. and initial discussion of eliminating harvest of black bears and bighorn sheep. Heck they even wanted to eliminate use of live bait in fishing. Are those the “traditions” that you believe are suspect?

Grip and grin pictures, the prevalence and acceptance of drinking while hunting, round ups/predator eradication treated as a game or festival, and obsession with trophies to name a few.

 

[WoolOverAll]

So whats your solution?

As for how to help, bring new hunters out with you and be willing to teach. A lot of people do not have family that hunt and have no idea where to start. Donate to groups that champion public lands and access for everyone. Be a respectable representation of hunting and fishing.