As I hammer away at the keys of my computer getting the next issue of Horizontal Bowhunter Magazine ready for press, I look at the world around me and wonder how many more years will we be writing about hunting. How secure is the future of the modern hunter? In recent months, I’ve seen more televised programs that portray the hunter as the real monster of nature. Recently commercials have been airing that were produced and paid for by PETA that attack sport fishing. Outdoors people, whether they hunt or fish, are under siege!

It saddens me to realize that the bulk of the population has become so far removed from the natural world that they don’t realize how it really works. It’s come to judging natural things by watching movies where animals talk and have feelings like human beings. As I visit with hunters, however, I’m encouraged. More and more outdoors people are realizing that we are, indeed, in serious trouble. One of the biggest hurdles that the modern hunter has to over come is themselves. For years I’ve listened to hunters tear apart and bash other hunters. Gun hunters who beat up bowhunters! Bowhunters who ridicule gun hunters! Traditional archers who sneer at compound users! Solitary hunters who mock the houndsmen! Able-bodied hunters who believe that physically challenged hunters don’t belong in the woods. Bowhunters who fear the use of the crossbow out of plain ignorance of the weapon! All of the above are sad examples of hunters persecuting other hunters.

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There’s hope, however. It seems to me that most of us are realizing that hunters attacking other hunters is counter productive and definitely a losing proposition. We appear to be grasping the idea that all hunters must work together as a single, well organized group if they are to survive. To me this is very encouraging. The other day, a friend asked me, "What can we do to combat the `anti-hunter’ among our own ranks?"

I told him that we have to speak up. When we hear words being used that are negative and abusive towards other legitimate hunters, we have to take a stand. We must say "Shame on you for saying such a negative and thoughtless thing about another hunter. That man is your brother and you and he are both hunters. As long as a hunters are using legal weapons to harvest legal game, we must fight for their right to do so." If hound hunting is legal and someone is trying to take away the houndsman’s rights, as hunters, we are obligated to support him in his battle. Even if we are not hound hunters ourselves, his rights have to be protected. If we allow his rights to be taken away, we’ve lost ground to a force that will not let up until all hunting is a thing of the past.

From there it will work to outlaw the use of bows, then the use of guns and then sport fishing. Do you think that the animal rights activists that worked for the Ontario spring bear season to be closed are going to quit now, just because they have won a major victory. Of course not! The war will continue to be waged and they will not stop until the harvest of all natural resources is banned. If our heritage is to be preserved and our future to be secured, hunters must come together in a single and solid unit to fight against the oppressors who would see our rights extinguished. It is time for each and every one of us to unite and make a stand for ALL hunter’s rights. Believe me when I say, "Any action that increases our numbers or makes our position stronger should be supported by every hunter!"

Don’t let petty indifferences or selfish reasoning cause you to say harsh things about another hunter regardless of his chosen method or the weapon he uses. If you hear one hunter belittling another, shame him. We may not be able to completely still the moronic enemy within, but with a unified effort we should be able to drive them into the closet. If we, as hunters, are to maintain our rights, we must police our ranks. We must take the anti-hunters and troublemakers to task. We must hold them accountable for their anti-hunting behavior. If we fail to do our utmost to defend the rights of all hunters, then we must accept our share of the blame when hunting, as we now know it, is no more.