any hunters here?

[Sportsman]

opening day of deer season is coming up soon. just wondering if anyone else is going?

i ask because i just heard that the number of hunters in new york state is declining. i think that is very unfortunate.




------------------
Daryl Planter 91C2
Targa

[This message has been edited by Sportsman (edited 10-23-2001).]

[Sportsman]

"A man may not care for golf and still be human, but the man who does
not like to see, hunt, photograph, or otherwise outwit birds or
animals is hardly normal. He is supercivilized, and I for one do not
know how to deal with him. Babes do not tremble when they are shown a
golf ball, but I should not like to own the boy whose hair does not
lift his hat when he sees his first deer. We are dealing, therefore,
with something that lies very deep." [p.227]

"...there are cultural values in the sports, customs, and experiences
that renew contacts with wild things. I venture the opinion that these
values are of three kinds.

First there is value in any experience that reminds us of our
distinctive national origins and evolution..." [p.211]

"Second, there is value in any experience that reminds us of our
dependency on the soil-plant-animal-man food chain, and of the
fundamental organization of the biota." [p.212]

"Third, there is value in any experience that exercises those ethical
restraints collectively called 'sportsmanship'."

"A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter obviously has
no gallery to applaud or disapprove of this conduct. Whatever his
acts, they are dictated by his own conscious, rather than a mob of
onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact.

Voluntary adherence to an ethical code elevates the self-respect of
the sportsman, but it should not be forgotten that voluntary disregard
of the code degenerates and depraves him. For example, a common
denominator of all sporting codes is not to waste good meat." [p.213]

"We seek contacts with nature because we derive pleasure from
them... The duck-hunter in his blind and the operatic singer on the
stage, despite the disparity of their accoutrements, are doing the same
thing. Each is reviving, in play, a drama formerly inherent in daily
life. Both are, in the last analysis, esthetic exercies." [p.283]

"Scientists have an epigram: ontogeny repeats phylogeny. What they
mean is that the development of each individual repeats the
evolutionary history of the race. This is true of mental as well as
physical things. The trophy-hunter is the caveman
reborn. Trophy-hunting is the prerogative of youth, racial or
individual, and nothing to apologize for." [p.293-294]

----------------
Aldo Leopold. 1949. "A Sand County Almanac". Oxford University Press,
New York. ISBN 0-345-34505-3


------------------
Daryl Planter 91C2
Targa

[Diesel]

Yep, I've been hunting and fishing all of my life. I don't get to go out as much as I'd like though. I always have some project or chore to tend to. That and the fact that hunting territory is getting scarce. I don't find any fun in rubbing shoulders with ten other guys when I'm hunting. Good luck, Sportsman!

------------------
Dan, '78 Pearl white 924

[stray15]

I have hunted, but haven't for the last 3 seasons. Not enough time My brother and his wife both got a deer on opening day for Archery season!

[emcon5]

I do a bit of hunting. I used to hunt deer and wild pigs, but being in California, the PITA factor is pretty high. I would have to drive at least 3 hours to get to over-hunted public land. There is no private land hunting in CA unless you are well connected. As with many other things, a few *********s screw things up for everyone else. Landowners are too afraid of property damage and lawsuits to allow anyone to hunt. Most years I fly up to Eastern Washinngton and hunt upland birds, Pheasant and Hungarian Partridge with a friend. I do some varminting as well, primarily CA ground squirrels, but the ocasional trip to Montana for P-dogs.

I used to do a bit of competitve shooting as well, both IPSC/USPSA and NRA Service Rifle. I need to get off my lazy butt and start shooting again, I miss it.

Tom

[drew1]

Went with my bow a couple of times this year, but didn't see anything. Gun Season has opened down here in SC. Haven't been out yet but may go this Saturday on Company property where they allow use of buckshot.

Taken my old hound out once this year. We pretend like we're hunting coons.

drew1

[cegerer]

Ducks, not deer! Duck hunting isn't really hunting, of course. It's a religion!!

------------------
1971 911T - 2.5L Big Bore

The Gray Wolf!

[Obin Robinson]

i go varminting once in a while. the thing that sucks is that as soon as i get into the woods with a gun... word spreads quickly and all the animals disappear. i am NOT kidding you. i even brought my friend Jason along once. i said "watch this, we won't see a damn thing for 3 hours." and we didn't!!!

then when taking a hike through the same forest... i saw deer, rabbits, raccoons, groundhogs, squirrels, etc.

no gun= see lots of critters
gun = they all hide.

that said, it's fun to hunt. we need to keep the deer population down. there's 10x as many as there were not too long ago.

obin