You All Should have a read.............

[scooter]

Click here for the article (http://www.bowzone.ca/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=267&mode=thread&order=0&thold=-1)

[WOOKIE]

That is a very well written article. We should all read it and take the lessons learned to heart. Mr. Strangis speaks volumes about the mindset of "Trophy Hunters". Maybe it is time to get back to basics, the joy of the hunt, not the quantity, whether it be animals or antler points.

[blakeyboy]

i'm having issues with posting here, i can post a new topic with not registering, i've lost or changed my email addy and can't seem to log in as Blake anymore(note if it was a shaw account i'm not using it anymore, might be the problem), yet i can't seem to reply to any thread unless i join, so i have joined again. This is just a test to see if i can reply to a thread.

B

[WOOKIE]

Blake, I have reset your password for username "Blake" Check your email.

[blakeyboy]

Okay, we are 'wired for sound', lol.

I agree with much of what the article said. I do however believe there is a fine line we must dance. Not sure exactly how to go about discussing issues like this without it getting emotional so bear with me(pun intended). :oops:

As much as we have this negative aspect within our sport and we do what we can to help us portray a better image to the anti's and public etc. but i wonder at times if our efforts are better spent educating some other facts?

Facts like....there is nothing glamorous about killing anything face to face. This includes all animals killing other animals, not just us. In fact i find watching other animals killing animals far more disturbing compared to what we usually aim for(minimum suffering). Usually we exceed in being far more 'humane' than the rest of the animals on the planet, we have developed far more 'humane' methods to dispatch (ie; guns, bows...tools, etc.), which are usually far faster and more effective than say...claws and teeth. We generally don't start ripping our prey apart and eating while the animal is still alive, like many other animals do.

The point i'm trying to make is, why do we have to 'act' nobel when we are killing animals? Why do we have to act like its no fun. The truth is we enjoy what we do, some enjoy it more than others but thats human nature. Some enjoy hockey more than others, some get more involved than others. When we are hunting, we have already dealt with the emotional side of killing animals, we have accepted the reality of what we are doing as right. Being people we still like to go out and have a good time. I admit, it looks bad to people who don't understand but hiding the 'truth' from the public won't help. I believe educating is the more effective weapon. Trying to change attitudes and beliefs and how people 'act' is going to be a never ending struggle imo.

We are killing animals and enjoying it. So are everyday folks inside the city walls, they enjoy their chai lattes, bookshops, movies, cars, houses, roads, computers, lights etc. this means they also enjoy killing animals...AND habitat.

I believe that educating the general public as to what it REALLY means to be a human being will go further into preserving what is right than anything else.

I believe that if we try to 'hide' the truth it gives the antis ammo. I know i'll need to explain this one. See, we will never be able to change an antis mind. What the antis do is try to sway the general public into believing their one-sided story. The antis are irrational, emotional, ignorant and intolerant. They tug on the heart strings of the general public to get them on their side. This is wrong.

If there is one thing the public doesn't like to be is hypocritical. The other thing they don't like are liars. You can get away with allot on this continent so long as you tell the truth. If we educate that the antis, the general public and the hunters are ALL killers (just many of us are ignorant) and that all we do different from them is kill a few face to face the MORE natural way and without any ignorance etc. i believe we have a better shot at getting the general public to follow the logic. They might understand why people can be just as happy driving a car as they can killing an animal. The justifications of course are all there, and valid. We kill for food, wildlife management and vermin control. We also kill to build our cities, drive our cars and turn on our lights.

The actual difference between a hunter and a non-hunters in terms of 'killing' is moot imo. In my eyes, REAL education will take us further than trying to be polite.

This is what the antis do when we try to be polite. They show the public that we are trying to hide something...and we are. We try to do the world a favor and keep the 'blood & guts' and the 'killem all attitudes' hidden. Not that it is wrong or even indifferent in our society, but when we do this the antis try to expose us.

Ultimately what happens is, we find ourselves being our own worst enemies. The antis don't have to work very hard as we do all the work for them. We start fighting within, we start looking down upon one another for not being 'perfect'. Bow hunters will look down upon gun hunters. Solo hunters will look down upon those who hunt with dogs. Catch and release fishermen will start looking down upon those who catch and keep for food. The list goes on and on.

The antis just add fuel to stoke the internal fire. We need to accept the reality, because it is a reality, that we do enjoy doing this, and that we enjoy doing it in many different ways and we like getting involved at many different levels. No different than any other group of people participating in anything in life. Some take it too far, some barely get involved, some make careers out of it, some do it for a multitude of personal reasons. No different than say....hockey, accounting, partying, relaxing, working, you name it.

These truths have been with us since the start of our time. Its time to recognize and educate. Watching the u.k. for example, the antis are rampant, the hunters hardly have anything left to look forward to. They have had one part of their sports taken away from them after another. WHY? And yet they still continue to try and hide truths and realities. WE are our own worst enemies. We need to educate from within, and to the public. Not force it down anyones throats, only educate the willing to learn, those who ask.

If we don't we will only start down the same path as the u.k. The entire fundamental on how they fight is wrong. They fight by trying to be polite, the become 'antis in disguise'. We must recognize this and fight the antis with their own medicine. We must help them understand the truth and get them fighting themselves.

In how we educate we must NEVER cram anything down anybodies throat, it closes minds real quick. We only educate using wisdom and tolerance. We don't show somebody a gory pic of a coyote missing half its head. If somebody comes to a hunting forum and sees a pic of a coyote missing half its head and they ask the merit of this, then, and only then, do we take the time to educate. If your neighbor wants to know why you come home with a deer in the back of your truck every fall, then, and only then, do we take the time to educate. When some jackpot puts a false, biased, fiction based article in a newspaper, then, and only then, do we educate....using wisdom and tolerance.

We have to stick up for our brothers who take our sports to the extreme ends. Those who get all high and mighty on the t.v. screens are the extreme end imo. As mentioned before, people have extremes in every aspect of life, why do we have to be any different. We don't. We just need to start educating people the TRUTH, instead of sweeping it under the carpet. We need to start standing up for every single aspect of our sports, every single one of our brothers and sisters, from the quiet...to the extreme.

In my opinion, we only give ourselves a bad name by becoming 'antis in disguise' and helping them without even realizing what we are doing. We will be the end of ourselves if we don't learn what works and what doesn't. Discretion can still be had, like i said, we don't cram it down someones throat, but at the same time, if people post 'hunting' pics, gory or not, on an outdoor forum...they should not be edited to be 'pc'. Just educate the truth, should anyone actually inquire.

I hope i made my points without offending. Sometimes its a hard dance and i find myself doing it with two left feet more than not. I like to show the extreme opposite side of a story if someone is showing me what i feel is the same thing. I'm not trying to point out anything about this particular article, just trying to give you MY opinion on how to REALLY fight the antis. Like i said, the public will accept the truth(even if gruesome), the two things the public(on this continent) hates is being lied to or being hypocritical.

Brother Blake

[blakeyboy]

Blake, I have reset your password for username "Blake" Check your email.

Many thank yous to you sir.

B :D

p.s. i checked hotmail, nothing yet, will check again later, stuck with blakeyboy for now, no biggie, i use it all the time anyhow

[cdn-redneck]

I read that article and liked how I felt about the way I hunt. Then this Calgary Sun article appeared and I figured it was a reasonable reply to it.