Will Hunting Remain Relevant To Conservation?

[Pheroze]

In Washington State, Hunters May No Longer Be "Necessary to Manage Wildlife"

An emerging wildlife war has its first skirmish this week in Spokane where a reformist group is looking to deprioritize hunting and hunters.

www.outdoorlife.com

 

[Frederik]

Nowhere in the article does it meantion conflic between wildlife and livestock?
When the deer and elk are few cattle will be next easy target.

 

[BRICKBURN]

The repeated lessons in Alberta come when the deer start bouncing off windshields. They call Fish & Wildlife and say do something about all these deer.

In the community meetings F&W asks "Do you allow hunting?" "No!"

The public starts to grasp the relationship between "No hunting" and sky high vehicle insurance premiums.

Now there are shotgun seasons in the areas of concern.

 

[375Fox]

I’m not sure if most hunting in the United States or Canada falls into the category of conservation in 2022. I’d look at it more as sustainable use activity that we have a right to and population control many areas. I think presenting it as a wilderness experience and harvesting meat is best approach in an area like this where there is a massive divide between hunters and non-hunters. I wish I could find article but I read in certain states wildlife agencies were switching from trying to attract kids to hunting and instead focusing on 25-35 year olds by presenting it that way. Their basis for this was the kids who were going to hunt already were but they could attract new hunters in the 25-35 year range who had stable lives/income to give hunting a try for meat and get out of house.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Canada and the USA need to reinforce the case of sustainable use, 'renewable food' or some such. As for Africa, get the locals to benefit, especially financially, and it will never go away.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing. I can tell you that in Colorado, tax revenue from hunting is greater than the skiing industry here. If it weren’t for hunters dollars, MANY small towns outside of the ski areas would dry up as they derive much of their entire tax revenue for the year from the big game hunters spending money in their towns.

 

[AjFourie]

In Washington State, Hunters May No Longer Be "Necessary to Manage Wildlife"

An emerging wildlife war has its first skirmish this week in Spokane where a reformist group is looking to deprioritize hunting and hunters.

www.outdoorlife.com

View attachment 499064

The short answer to the question stated would be yes, our approach however is the bigger matter here. Where to find common ground has always been the problem as both sides stands very strongly in their orientation.

This article takes various points of views into consideration but some points stand out. For instance the funding that are mostly generated by outdoorsman, fishing or hunting, both enthusiastic about nature and conservation and the biggest pressure coming from a "group" that is less in touch with nature and spends more time behind screens than around camp fires. I cannot speak for conservation in the US as I am African but I can see the problem.

Another point would be the rise in divide that they refer to in the article. Society is constantly changing these days depending on the latest trends and while I'm not getting into the influence of social media or the polarization of society I don't believe it will be possible to find common ground that takes the interests of all people into consideration, for heaven sake, we're still trying to figure out restrooms/bathrooms....

The loss of habitat is of great concern for all of us. People that spend more time outdoors have seen the changes over the years and where we used to have fields where kids could go out and play and have some good old fun in the sun, we now have malls with allot less sun in them, instead they have artificial lighting to drive consumerism (This is all over the world, if not malls then highways). There is quite allot of evidence that if we could protect more habitat they bounce back and animal numbers increase again but this does not take the hunter out of the equation, it might change the way we do things to a certain extent but we are also a part of the bigger solution. ( We all know of the work that is being done for conservation by hunters on an international level, and they can't fight the facts.)

Lastly I will quote the end of the article. “If there’s science to support a different approach, then we should be paying attention to it, whether we agree with it or not. Besides, where would you rather this conversation played out? On social media? In the courts?”. Every hunter that I have met is willing to have the conversation of conservation but unfortunately social media has become the court room with every ill informed to uninformed participant having their opinion and remember in our new society, everyone is always right....

We as hunters have come to the party, we spend time outdoors and we love it. We have done allot for conservation as mentioned above and we will do much more to protect what we love. a Time is coming where the anti hunters will have to bring their A-game and not by opening yet another sanctuary but being actively involved and actually, terrifying as it might sound, get outdoors and see what they are missing.

Anyway, that's all I got from that, the future of hunting is in all our hands and together I'm sure we can come up with a sustainable way forward.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing. I can tell you that in Colorado, tax revenue from hunting is greater than the skiing industry here. If it weren’t for hunters dollars, MANY small towns outside of the ski areas would dry up as they derive much of their entire tax revenue for the year from the big game hunters spending money in their towns.

Just looked it up. Colorado receives $3.25 BILLION each year from recreational hunting and fishing. Not easily replaced revenue from other means.

 

[steve white]

If you bought a duck stamp, if your dollars went to Robertson/Pittman, then you are a conservationist and those are just the tip of the iceberg, tho the world doesn't get it.

 

[Sourdough]

The very need for conservation of wildlife is not because of wildlife, but rather because of too many humans. When people over populate (which they always do) wildlife disappears. The two cannot live together. Certainly reserves, sanctuaries, parks, etc can be established if taxes allow. Most of that comes directly or indirectly from hunters. Okay we all know this.

South Africa is a fine example of how wildlife can be saved and/or reintroduced by private ranchers, but only if the wildlife has a dollar value associated with them. Hunting is that dollar value.

The anti-hunters could pony up the equivalent monies or more, but they never will. Another option is they could remove themselves from the earth, but that's unlikely.

Bottom line is the Anti's will never change their position even when presented with facts. We can't waste our time with them. It's that huge middle population that no longer hunts that can be swayed to be against hunting or for hunting, they just need to be educated on it's importance as THE conservation tool.

It's up to us hunters to see that happens. It's not easy, nor fast, nor inexpensive. And for those that feel a need to post selfies of everything they hunt on social media, before doing so they need to ask themselves is what I'm about to post purely narcissistic or will it help non-hunters understand hunting's extremely important role in conserving what wildlife is left. Don't apologize and don't use woke terms.

 

[Philip Glass]

Libs want to pay state employees to shoot the excess and problem animals instead of allowing hunters, who pay lots of $$, to hunt.
This is what happened in CA with lions.

 

[Jfet]

The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation

North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: Wildlife for Everyone | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Hunting and wildlife conservation. At first blush, the two might seem to be at odds. How can you promote wildlife conservation by hunting for the same animals you’re working to save? Welcome to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, a model that is truly unique in the world. From its...

www.fws.gov

 

[steve white]

Canada and the USA need to reinforce the case of sustainable use, 'renewable food' or some such. As for Africa, get the locals to benefit, especially financially, and it will never go away.

gotta love the Campfire program in Zim
Stateside, we need to join Sierra Club and others and inform them from the inside that we are not monsters and have something to say?

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing. I can tell you that in Colorado, tax revenue from hunting is greater than the skiing industry here. If it weren’t for hunters dollars, MANY small towns outside of the ski areas would dry up as they derive much of their entire tax revenue for the year from the big game hunters spending money in their towns.

Do you think that the anti thing ers in Denver or Boulder care what happens in small towns, who goes out of business or who gets hurt? As long as they don't feel it directly, and we all bend our knees to worship at the idol of Bambi, they will believe that they are doing the right thing and the rest of us will just have to accept it.

Colorado is under the control of the urban centers of Denver and Boulder, just as Washington is under the control of Seattle and Tacoma. The anti-hunters will never accept that hunting is a good and useful activity that should be preserved. The key is in the neutral nonhunters. The hope we have is to educate and recruit more young people to see the reality of life in nature. A great amount of life requires a great amount of death.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Do you think that the anti thing ers in Denver or Boulder care what happens in small towns, who goes out of business or who gets hurt? As long as they don't feel it directly, and we all bend our knees to worship at the idol of Bambi, they will believe that they are doing the right thing and the rest of us will just have to accept it.

Colorado is under the control of the urban centers of Denver and Boulder, just as Washington is under the control of Seattle and Tacoma. The anti-hunters will never accept that hunting is a good and useful activity that should be preserved. The key is in the neutral nonhunters. The hope we have is to educate and recruit more young people to see the reality of life in nature. A great amount of life requires a great amount of death.

No, the antis don’t care about anything or anyone except ramming their extreme views and agendas through legislatures and vilifying those that disagree with them. However, with regards to the revenue ($3.25 BILLION/year) Colorado receives from hunting/fishing (mostly big game), even the antis wouldn’t be able to convince the majority electorate to replace that amount with astronomically higher taxes to eliminate hunting HERE. Others states, maybe not so fortunate.

 

[Jfet]

The key is in the neutral nonhunters. The hope we have is to educate and recruit more young people to see the reality of life in nature. A great amount of life requires a great amount of death.

The Outdoor Tomorrow Foundation has developed an Outdoor Curriculum that is used in over 1000 public schools throughout 45+ states. This curriculum is centered on sustainable conservation. I helped right the conservation unit. This curriculum teaches hunter safety, archery, fishing, camping, outdoor cooking, and many more outdoor pursuits. It is a gateway to competitive archery, shotgun sports, and rifle and pistol sports. In my classes, I had many students that had no understanding of how hunting has been and will be instrumental to the success of wildlife and wild places remaining in North America. Go explore the link below and see how you can get this program into your local schools.

This is not something we can wish someone else would do. All of ya’ll have to go talk to your school administration and get this program in your schools. Then you need to support it by getting the equipment. Let’s Go!

Home - Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation

Discover the Outdoor Adventures curriculum that combines outdoor recreation and wildlife conservation in schools. Transforming traditional PE, the OA program teaches lifelong skills through fun activities and supports teachers with resources and training. Explore outdoor activities, wildlife...

www.gootf.com

Pictures from my from my classes

Outdoor Cooking

Culmination of hunter and firearm safety unit. We took the students to actually shoot

Archery Unit. Those are Matthews Genesis Bows.

 

[Jfet]

Scholastic Shooting Sports : https://sssfonline.org/
NASP: https://www.naspschools.org/

According to a former Offensive lineman of mine, ”Shooting is a great way to be an athlete and not have to run.”

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Alas, I lived to see the day when mentally ill anti hunters have started to have a say in American wildlife management. This can never end well.

 

[geoff rath]

I will point to where the funds/income from hunting goes (back to the local area) to where funds from regular/photographic "adventures" go: into the tour operators pockets.
Australian hunters are having the same battles ...

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Do you think that the anti thing ers in Denver or Boulder care what happens in small towns, who goes out of business or who gets hurt? As long as they don't feel it directly, and we all bend our knees to worship at the idol of Bambi, they will believe that they are doing the right thing and the rest of us will just have to accept it.

Colorado is under the control of the urban centers of Denver and Boulder, just as Washington is under the control of Seattle and Tacoma. The anti-hunters will never accept that hunting is a good and useful activity that should be preserved. The key is in the neutral nonhunters. The hope we have is to educate and recruit more young people to see the reality of life in nature. A great amount of life requires a great amount of death.

Sorry. The word was "anti-hunters", not "anti thing ers." Gotta love autocorrect.