BeaverJack

Ain't no secret that there wouldn't be no hunting 'thout the actions of past conservationists. Wouldn't be any huntable populations of game, wouldn't be no public lands to hunt on. So why don't hunters talk 'bout conservation? Why do they label anybody talkin' conservation with the dreaded "e" label? Seems kinda hypocritical to me. I've even heard critisism of the best conservation organization we got going, RMEF, because the magazine "Bugle" talks about conservation instead of purely devoted to "hunting'. Big surprize, conservation is the primary mission, and without it, you can sell your huntin' boots for dog toys. Anybody ever wonder what the so-called "conservatives" of the early 1900s thort of the actions that saved game and made hunting possible today? Too bad this site is constrained by political rhetoric and small-minded labeling. Pretty much insures that nuthin' good and lasting will ever come of our banter here.

1eyedfish

What makes you think there arent conservasinist among our hunters ? ( jusin u?) other then those things in Remf - cant& dont exist? Hunters give back to the land MUCH more some of those so called eviro, earth fish/first flakes, peta ppl ever will& we are not all rapers of the land &pillagers jack( remember dont believe everything you read[&:]) - Im more green then the greenies- but i wear a brown hair shirt& brown camo like spots on my body( sometimes).

have reclaimed ( helped repair areas not formyself or benafit but wildlife.

Now if i could jus git thos fat cows outa my(seasonal) water areas on my land they keep tearing up, stopng eating & killing the trees& vegataion.

Yes i know free range rules& all that i guess? i dont have a problem with the cows or cratwright types - i would not want to drink from the mudhole i saw that was left last summer- water is scare i will need to drink it soon maybe. In the meanwhill i do wish those dama cartwrights would stop putting salt blocks near MY seasonal water on MY land & stop using that long black hose too! to take what is not yours.

Otherwisen ima thinking you should comipsate me with a few of thsoe fat black angus yrly as payment. maybe one of those landowner hunting tags you sell to others too.

FL/GA Hunter

I've read the first two posts about four or five times... anybody care to translate? Ugh.

I don't understand where the original question comes from - every time I've ever had a discussion with someone about hunting, I point out that it's the best form of conservation on the planet, and that hunters are the largest group of conservationalists on the planet. I guess Jack's got different experiences. *shrug*

Wolf killer

Hey BJ have you ever heard of the Pittman Robertson fund? That is where most of the money comes from on the federal level. Everytime you buy something in a store that is used for hunting & fishing there is a small tax on that item. That money goes into the big pot for the future of our fishing & hunting. I think the people who made the scarifices so we could enjoy hunting & fishing in the future were great forward thinking people.

sawbill

I gotta tell ya I'm agreeing with FL/GA hunter. I'm not sure what you guys are saying either but I get the general drift of it--I think. You can look at the Game and Fish clubs, DU, Wetlands people, the Fur trappers Organizations, Hunting and Fishing clubs, campers associations, all are doing their bit toward conservation in some small way. All together, they are making a huge difference by educating their own, giving talks in schools, getting out and physically improving the landscape for the betterment of fisheries and wildlife.
Its my humble opinion that the Antis, like Peta and Green Peacers are talk without the dirty hands and blisters.

121553

I really do not know how you can stero-type hunters. What kinda crapola you tring to start. I always thought hunting is conservation. I buy the required license and stamps to hunt and even purchase stamps for animals that I care nothing about to shoot but just to help conservation purposes for that species not to mention the $$$ I have donated to the P/R tax. I am a member of the RMEF, NRA, Montana Bowhunters Assiociation, Montana Bowhunter Instructor, and if we all feel like you, our sport will surely die, if your not doing anything to promote conservation by sticking together in numbers our sport will dissolve.
Fla/GaHunter you guys got the ballot machines figured out down there yet? Bobby

James B

Hunters are the greatest conservationist of all. A big part of our hunting dollars go to habitat improvement. Food plots, Wetlands. Fish and game stocking. Walkin hunting acres and tons of research. Hunters are the reason for the population of wildlife we have today. Thats because its our dollars that pay for 90 percent of the conservation efforts. As hunters we need not apolagize to anyone. If we don't pay for it it won't be there. The antis are not going to put thier money where thier big mouth is.

stuckinthereeds

I have to disagree. Most hunters I know do say they are conservationsists. I know I am. Proud to. I want my kids to beable to enjoy the land and the wildlife just has I have.

I

Coastie

Because the word has come to mean something entirely different than its original concept. Conservation is the wise use of natural resources, take what you need today and leave something for use in the future. Most organizations that have labeled themselves as conservationists today are actuall preservationists. They don't want anybody to use anything, just look at it. Teddy Roosevelt and the other conservationists of the past century understood this and promulagted the concept and theory. The HSUS, WWF and others today just don't get it.

I'm just wondering something BJ, isn't it much more difficult to write all of these posts trying to come off as some ill educated backwards jerk than to just allow your natural intellect and talent through? Your posts would be much easier to read and more enjoyable if you did.

BeaverJack

I suppose hunting IS conservation. But remember, the country was 'bout hunted out at one point, before modern management. Even more recently, some states had no huntable populations for some species. Now they're doing better because of reintroduction. I haven't seen much posted about some of the other activities ya'll mention. Ya know, urban sprawl is gonna do us in eventually. I went back to where I lived as a boy. Nothin' but subdivisions and shopping centers. There's one or two farms left on the old road, but for how long? No real woods left. Seems that hunters are turning a blind eye to this stuff, an' don't like to think 'bout what it really means. I've brung it up a time or two, an' a argument usually comes about. I've actually read posts where fellers say they quit the RMEF cause the magazine is too touchy feely with all its conservation articles an such. I don't know, jus' seems to me that with as many hunters as there is, as much land being gobbled up by growth and ruined by overuse, there outta be some talk 'bout conservation on these boards. Myself, I'm fond of the Land Trusts we got here. They buy up development rights from ranchers and large property owners, keeping the land's rural character forever, supposedly. Hard to fight the dollar though. Of all the hunters, seems like the waterfowlers are more conservation-minded as a group. Wonder why?