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My buddy at work and I were talking about all the animals we see when we visit the Midwest that were rare or non-existant when we were kids and we both said the same thing in unison "The generations after ours have no idea the wildlife exists because of sportsmen (and sportswomen)." I am sure most of the younger folks think that PETA and WWF are responsible for the conservation that happens in the US. Its sad.
Andy
Well yeah it’s sad.
The new Gen are brainwashed morons.
They think hunters are evil helping balance the imbalance people have created.
Such as?Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyLate
Turkeys - Yotes - Bears - Lynx to name a few. There were zero of these roaming when I was running the woods.
My dad still talks about how his mom woke him up as a kid to show him some whitetail deer across the road. It was the first time he had ever seen any, as they used to be rare. And this was in rural Kansas.Quote:
Originally Posted by Disciple
Turkeys, grouse, eagles, cranes, mountain lions, elk, comorant, multiple small birds. Honestly, pretty much all the migratory birds have increased in the 40 or so years since I was a teenager. Jackrabbit are still scarce in western SD, sadly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Disciple
Andy
I forgot about the Eagles. Also Trumpeter swans are making a comeback as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyLate
One of the only cool things I actually learned from a hunter's ed course was about the portion of firearms and ammo sales tax that goes to support conservation. That's a voluntary tax I can get behind.
Anti hunters have a lot of misconceptions and just ridiculous beliefs about hunting. In California they ban mountain lion hunting but then use tax payer money for game wardens to kill them and throw them in open pits, when they could be getting money that hunters pay for licenses, hunting gear, food, and lodging.
Another thing I've noticed is reactions to pics of animals killed by hunters in Africa, like elephants, rhinos, lions, etc. Anti hunters become irrational and furious at the sight of these pics. What they don't know is that the money from hunters is supporting these wildlife refuges, paying for biologists, game officers to stop poachers, and other wildlife management. The animals that are shot legally in these pics are usually older males that have stopped breeding and are aggressive to other younger males and keep them from breeding, or it may be an aggressive animal that is killing young animals. Biologists have determined that these animals need to be culled for the benefit of the heard. There are hunters willing to pay big money to harvest that animal, that money goes to the benefit of the game preserve. Often the hunters give much or all the meat to the local village. Legal hunters, hunters that understand and respect wildlife management is the reason so many animals are making a come back. 100 years ago people didn't understand wildlife management. We are now seeing the results of modern wildlife management. Look at how many more whitetails and turkeys there are now, compared to 50 years ago. Many anti hunter will never understand these things because they think irrationally. Legal ethical hunters are funding wildlife management all over the world. The anti hunters need to put their money where their mouth is.
My (deceased) father-in-law, who grew up in an Appalachian coal mining town, said growing up he rarely saw deer and only the occasional rabbit as all game was hunted year round for food. They used to set snares along the creek to catch songbirds to eat. He lied about his age and joined the Army at 16 years old just to get 3 meals a day.
The latest Meateater podcast had a couple PHs from Tanzania discussing African hunting. They described much of what you're saying. Specifically they stated that the debacle about the lion killed by the dentist a few years back led to extensive loss of habitat and other issues. Rapid drop in demand for lion hunts led to hunting outfits giving up their lion-heavy concessions that were no longer profitable. Without these people acting as good stewards over the land there was deforestation, increased development, increased poaching, etc as soon as they weren't there to prevent it. The revenue from hunting and the lease of concessions funds the conservation efforts. Without the hunters the governments don't have the funds to take care of it themselves. Very interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by e z money
Steve Rinella is a very knowledgeable conservationist and seems like a good guy. I haven't listened to his podcast, I will have to check it out.Quote:
Originally Posted by dmd08
Steve is a gift to the world of hunting and conservation. I highly recommend his documentary on Netflix. Stars in the Sky: A Hunting Story.Quote:
Originally Posted by e z money
I will check it out. He is also an author, I hear his book "American Buffalo" is good but I haven't read it. Also he has been on Joe Rogan's podcast a few times. Very interesting conversations. I think Steve is the one that got Joe started hunting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Inkslinger
I watched that with my wife, great doc and helped her to better understand that my hunting trips were more then an excuse to have a boys drinking weekend (mostly).Quote:
Originally Posted by Inkslinger
Maybe OP should do a little editing?
I had to read a couple of times to understand what he was on about.
However, it’s habitat destruction much more so than hunting.
There are mentions in early 20th century hunting books about game animals being mostly wiped out and a large part of that was due to market hunting.Quote:
Originally Posted by dan1612