Pro-Hunting Article
 

Wow, if I had not seen this with my own eyes I never would have believed it. A pro-hunting article from one of the most liberal of the liberal press (see- now that I tested "liberal", I really am reading this stuff in an effort to get in touch with that side of me), "Mother Jones". They actually acknowledge the beneficial role of sport hunting in the preservation of wildlife. This is no secret to those of us that hunt, of course, but to have a source like this (they still couldn't resist using the term "NRA whacko") starting to come to grips with this concept is simply amazing.

http://motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/03/03_2005_Duane.html

I'm all for hunting http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,92070,00.html

Sadly, my guns were stolen a few years back and I have not had the time to hunt recently anyway. But aside from that, you can chalk me up as a Wapiti-blastin' liberal.

I guess stereotypes don't always work so well.

I think Mother Jones is more rural based. Folks in the country do not idealize wildlife in the same ways than those with no exposure to it do..

Thank you for the link, Thom. That will be enough to generate mind images for days or weeks.

I'm not one for regulating people, as I've said. And NakedBambiHunting with paintballs is a consenting adult think in my mind. But as the article says, what if they start using live ammo? What if the participants agree? Would it be okay?

Stereotypes, when dealing with individuals, do not work; agreed. Generalizations, when dealing with large populations, can be more accurate. While Mother Jones is a little "earthier" than many left-leaning publications, they do tend to cater to the Sierra Club rather than Safari Club crowd. Many of these publications, if they ever dared to come out on the pro-hunting side of the issue, would quite quickly alienate their readership. Most of their readership is, after all, urban or suburban, and not living in the areas they read about. They read these publications because they are backpackers, photographers, skiers, and other non-consumptive users of the outdoors. With the left's power base having shifted more to the cities and what rural base they retain being displaced city folk looking for a "simpler life", even their more outdoorsy, down to earth publications just don't seem to grasp the whole picture. Even the least observant of our modern political landscape can see that the left comes down predominantly on the anti-hunting side of the issue; that is a generalization I feel comfortable in making. Mother Jones was very brave to have printed this, but you will notice they hedged their wording quite carefully. The mere fact that they perceived this as remarkable enough to report speaks volumes about them and their target readership. This has been common knowledge for generations in the hunting world and among the rural population that inhabits these happy hunting grounds.

I wonder how many anti-hunting people buy duck stamps, migratory bird stamps, etc. ? After all, that is how a tremendous amount of land has been set aside forever...

I wonder how many Pelican Heads hunt? Maybe time for an Ultimate Hunting/Thophy Thread?

- Skip

although Mother Jones had a nice article, Thom provides better action imo, as usual.

I wonder what the limit is on those. I think they're on the endangered list here in Washington. Hell, they would all have raincoats on anyway.

To hell with the bag limit, I wanna 'field dress' one of them...

We can thank big game hunter Teddy Rosevelt for a lot of the national parks in existance today.

It's kinda funny, urban sprawl is probably the biggest threat to Michigan hunters, but I never heard Fred Trost (local enthusiast/activist) mention it once. That "enemy" isn't the loudmouth organic-tofu hippy, it's the group of people sitting behind the desk of the state planning commision.

...Damn liberals...

Hey, I'm liberal, would never hunt myself, and still think its fine (subject to sharing it around between hunters).

I mean, I like eating meat and my shoes are leather. I honestly think any anti position on hunting (non-endangered) species is pretty difficult to support.