Safari Club International

[Rifleman86]

I think hunters being involved in conservation and and conservation organizations is incredibly important. Furthermore I feel like we need further involvement in the political sphere if we are going to effectively fight the current threats we face.

A few of the recent threads here have made me take a deeper dive into some of our more prominent conservation organizations. It’s certainly left me with more skepticism in many ways.

One organization that I was relatively unfamiliar with that has stood out as I was looking for alternates was SCI. It seems not much is said about them, I’m not sure if that is because they are seen more as the “international” Safari type Hunter organization, or if it’s just because they manage to avoid conflict/controversy and and just quietly get stuff done on behalf of hunters.

One thing that was interesting to me was they were the only hunting based conservation organization that has a political action committee, allowing them to directly lobby Congress. Similarly, digging into who they donated money to was revealing as well (in a good way, in my personal opinion.)

Regardless, I’d like to get more information on them and potentially join. Is anyone here an SCI member, or care to elaborate on them?

 

[wytx]

Have you asked your new friends over on 24H Campfire, they will have lots of opinions for you.

Many prefer their conservation orgs to not get involved in politics so if that is what you seek then yes they would be a good fit for you.
They are more of an international org so if you hunt out of country they would also be a good fit.

Many other orgs though do more in North America and US for wildlife here in the states I believe, but
SCI is well known and you should check out their convention and see if they are a good fit for your money.

 

[Rifleman86]

Have you asked your new friends over on 24H Campfire, they will have lots of opinions for you.

Many prefer their conservation orgs to not get involved in politics so if that is what you seek then yes they would be a good fit for you.
They are more of an international org so if you hunt out of country they would also be a good fit.

Many other orgs though do more in North America and US for wildlife here in the states I believe, but
SCI is well known and you should check out their convention and see if they are a good fit for your money.

Snide and petty remarks like your first sentence need left out of this discussion. It has no business to further the topic at hand.

ETA If you have an issue with my 3 posts over on that forum, you are free to discuss it there.

 

[dieselchessy]

Have you looked at TRCP?

 

[wytx]

Lol, whatever man.
Snide comments, just made an observation.
My points are valid about SCI, do some research.

They are a great international org and have a political side to them, not bad just different than other conservation orgs.

Like I said you have folks on that other forum to ask, ask them as well for varying opinions. Might as well go on HT too and ask.
That gets you lots of varying opinions on the organization.

 

[Rifleman86]

Have you looked at TRCP?

I have, I need to do more research, but I have nothing against them.

I’ve been a RMEF member for a while and really like what they do, but want to expand my support beyond just elk.

As far as involvement in the political sphere, we really don’t have a choice these days. It’s either fight that baffle or lose.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I do know they were responsible for getting a large potion of the Mojave desert closed to all but foot access, cutting of access to great quail and chukar hunting. I use to be able to drive off road trails back to areas which held the best hunting. I'm talking min. 5 miles back. all those roads/trails were closed. I will say, as always is the cast there was a particular group, dirt bike riders which caused most of the problems, but they were the exception to the rule, and is the case, it's the exceptions to the rules, which cause stricter rules. So, I am not a fan of theirs what so ever.

 

[Szwampdonkey]

I do know they were responsible for getting a large potion of the Mojave desert closed to all but foot access, cutting of access to great quail and chukar hunting. I use to be able to drive off road trails back to areas which held the best hunting. I'm talking min. 5 miles back. all those roads/trails were closed. I will say, as always is the cast there was a particular group, dirt bike riders which caused most of the problems, but they were the exception to the rule, and is the case, it's the exceptions to the rules, which cause stricter rules. So, I am not a fan of theirs what so ever.

Can you still access those same areas by foot to hunt or are they just closed to hunting period?

 

[Rifleman86]

I do know they were responsible for getting a large potion of the Mojave desert closed to all but foot access, cutting of access to great quail and chukar hunting. I use to be able to drive off road trails back to areas which held the best hunting. I'm talking min. 5 miles back. all those roads/trails were closed. I will say, as always is the cast there was a particular group, dirt bike riders which caused most of the problems, but they were the exception to the rule, and is the case, it's the exceptions to the rules, which cause stricter rules. So, I am not a fan of theirs what so ever.

Was there an ecological reason for the closure?

Though I can imagine the loss of vehicle access was frustrating, I just want to give benefit of the doubt that there might have been a good reason for the closure with regards to stress on game and resultant population impacts.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Can you still access those same areas by foot to hunt or are they just closed to hunting period?

Yes, for the better part access by foot is still allowed. Like I mention, getting to the good hunting areas is a min. of a five mile walk, and as far as thirty plus miles. In the desert, it's not easy to carry everything you would need for a multiple day hunt, water being the big item for you and dogs. Oct. when upland bird season starts, it's not at all uncommon to have days time temps. get into the low to mid. 90's.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Was there an ecological reason for the closure?

Though I can imagine the loss of vehicle access was frustrating, I just want to give benefit of the doubt that there might have been a good reason for the closure with regards to stress on game and resultant population impacts.

The dirt bike riders were making too many of their own trails on the hillsides. Rather than just restrict dirt bikes they closed ares to all motorized vehicles.

 

[Szwampdonkey]

Yes, for the better part access by foot is still allowed. Like I mention, getting to the good hunting areas is a min. of a five mile walk, and as far as thirty plus miles. In the desert, it's not easy to carry everything you would need for a multiple day hunt, water being the big item for you and dogs. Oct. when upland bird season starts, it's not at all uncommon to have days time temps. get into the low to mid. 90's.

Don’t get me wrong i get where you’re coming from. But as the years grind on i’ve come to much prefer foot access only areas as people seem to be getting more disrespectful tearing everything up. Just think how good the hunting is there now if no one’s going! Just my two cents.

 

[Rifleman86]

Yes, for the better part access by foot is still allowed. Like I mention, getting to the good hunting areas is a min. of a five mile walk, and as far as thirty plus miles. In the desert, it's not easy to carry everything you would need for a multiple day hunt, water being the big item for you and dogs. Oct. when upland bird season starts, it's not at all uncommon to have days time temps. get into the low to mid. 90's.

Totally get that. It sounds like the used a chainsaw to address a situation that required a scalpel.

That said it sounds like their intent was in the right place… Not that intent covers all sins. I get your frustration, but it’s not enough for me to write them off personally just yet.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Hey guys, I need to apologize for reading Safari club and my mind reading Sierra club. So it was not Safari club , but Sierra club that was responsible for the closures. My bad. Next time I will be more careful about reading topic. I have no personal knowledge about the Safari club. Sorry.

 

[Rifleman86]

Hey guys, I need to apologize for reading Safari club and my mind reading Sierra club. So it was not Safari club , but Sierra club that was responsible for the closures. My bad. Next time I will be more careful about reading topic. I have no personal knowledge about the Safari club. Sorry.

That makes more sense! Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Rifleman86]

Just listened to the Kifarucast episode with them. Definitely the “hunter centric” conservation organization I’d like to give my money to. I’d highly suggest others give it a listen if you are looking for organizations to donate or get involved with.

I always assumed they were the organization for the rich guys going to Africa given their name. In reality they are a whole lot more than that and are involved with hunter rights and conservation at all levels, and in all places. Indeed, it seems as they are the guys just out there quietly getting it done, without much controversy, drama or fanfare.

 

[philos]

@BuckeyeRifleman-I for one applaud your efforts. I’ve been thinking the same thing of late. It’s hard to decipher all the noise to see which organization might be the best to join up with. The reality is there is no organization that will make everybody happy all the time. The thing we need to remember is there are things more important than hunting. If we don’t put Conservation at the top of the list we are making a mistake in my opinion. I would be lying if I didn’t say hunting is massively important to me, but I need to be mindful of balancing hunter access and opportunity with land and water and game stewardship.

keep us posted on your findings and I intend to do some research as well and will post my thoughts a bit later once I have some details

 

[Rifleman86]

@BuckeyeRifleman-I for one applaud your efforts. I’ve been thinking the same thing of late. It’s hard to decipher all the noise to see which organization might be the best to join up with. The reality is there is no organization that will make everybody happy all the time. The thing we need to remember is there are things more important than hunting. If we don’t put Conservation at the top of the list we are making a mistake in my opinion. I would be lying if I didn’t say hunting is massively important to me, but I need to be mindful of balancing hunter access and opportunity with land and water and game stewardship.

keep us posted on your findings and I intend to do some research as well and will post my thoughts a bit later once I have some details

Good thoughts,

Certainly not the end all be all by any means. We need to worry about conservation obviously, and from what I observe SCI is very concerned and involved with that as well, but there are some very real threats in the near term that need to be addressed outside of the conservation issue alone.

At the end of the day we’re hunters, and even if all the land, water and wildlife is protected and taken care of in perpetuity, if we can’t hunt it, or can’t have a means to hunt it, it’s all a bit of a moot point. I think if that happens, we quit being apart of the natural world and are only observers to it, and that’s not a world I want my kid to face.