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http://www.lowellsun.com/sports/ci_9932618
http://www.lowellsun.com/sports/ci_9932618
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I have hunted and fished to put food on my plate because of the simple fact I was a disabled white american male who tried to get food stamps. I was granted initially $35/mo for food that quickly got reduced to $25/mo.
Hunting is still used today to put food on the table for many families throughout the the United States. Just because you don't have to do it, or know people who do doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
This article needs some more comments. (please remove my handle before you do.)
http://www.lowellsun.com/sports/ci_9932618
JenniferInSC wrote:
<quoted text>
Hunting for food and hunting for sport are two different things in my mind. If you NEED to kill an animal to sustain your life, then that's one thing. But for those who kill animals for sport, because they ENJOY it, they scare me. I can't imagine taking pleasure in a living breathing animal's death, nor in the thought that you may cause their offspring to die of starvation or being killed by other animals because YOU wanted the thrill or the challenge of killing their caretaker.
Thing is, all the anti's I have met do not and will not seperate the two.
Fact is, Hunters and sportsmen do more to protect and fund wildlife conservation than the 'conservation' groups do. Read up on the Pittman-Roberston Act as well as the Wallop-Breaux. Since its inception over $4 Billon dollars have been raised by these two acts, then add in approx.$300 millon a year from hunting groups such as Duck's Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Nation Wild Turkey Federation, Safari International.
The fact is, 75% of ALL conservation agencies get its funding from hunters and fisherman (U.S Forest Service). Hell, Hunters and Fisherman are the ones usually leading the charge for conservation and instead of writing letters to the editor, protesting some one or something, we are out there spending our own money to buy land and preserve animal habitat.
Give you an idea how much us hunters care for the environment, Duck's Unlimited alone has bought up over 11 Millon acres to be used in habitat conservation.
How much land have groups like The Sierra Club, PETA or other such 'conservation' groups bought?
One of these days, I'm gonna have to go out with a hunter to see what it's all about. Somehow I don't think it's about just slaughtering Bambi.
I personally dislike hunting, but I'm not stupid enough to try to tell others what to do. I swear, some people...
I personally dislike hunting, but I'm not stupid enough to try to tell others what to do. I swear, some people...
Give Bambi a shotgun, then hunting would be a fair fight
By Matt Spencer, [email protected]
Article Last Updated: 07/19/2008 06:36:05 AM EDT
I have some sad news for all you hunters. Dogfighting is now illegal in all 50 states.
The last holdout was Wyoming. But earlier this year, the state that gave us "Brokeback Mountain" and legendary quail hunter Dick Cheney called it a day. Wyoming decided to join the rest of America in the 21st century and declare it a felony instead of a misdemeanor when folks gather to watch Fido and Rover rip each other's ears off.
What does your pristine "sport" have to do with the outlawed mayhem of ultimate doggie brawls? Well, you don't have to go hunting for the answer. I'll fire back the reality.
There is a difference. Hunting is worse. Hunting is deadly certain. At least when White Fang is brawling, he has a fighting chance. In hunting, the bullet and arrow offer no TKOs.
You hunters don't give a flying duck about protecting the wildlife. And I don't give a flying duck about your rights as hunters. You are not outdoorsmen, or sportsmen. To claim that you are conservationists would be like saying ExxonMobil is peddling the idea of getting more cyclists on the roads.
It astounds me that Michael Vick is jailed as a war criminal, deemed worthy of a Nuremberg tribunal, yet armed citizens are licensed by our states to get their jollies blowing Bambi, Bullwinkle, Braer rabbit and even Yogi Bear to smithereens.
As someone who has never executed a fellow mammal, I am even more astounded by the fact that states encourage children to join in on the kill shots. In the Bay State, I was shocked to learn that a child at the tender age of 15 can get a hunting license. I was flabbergasted to learn that Massachusetts will allow boys and girls as young as 12 to enter the wild shoot-out as long as they're accompanied by a "duly licensed" adult.
Then we track north where the rules are -- no rules. Welcome to Thunderdome. There is no age limit to hunt in the Live Free or Die state. A toddler can lock and load if that licensed adult hunter is riding shotgun. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but hunters have bloody promises to keep.
You can be too young to drive a car, smoke a butt, have a beer, or become husband and wife, but all ages are welcome in the Granite State to blast away. In fact, New Hampshire is on the hunt for kiddie hunters.
The state is pitching a youth hunting weekend for deer in October, where participants MUST be under 16 years of age. So, armed children can walk the woods with dad this fall and watch the deer fall, thanks to this lovely promotion by the state's Fish and Game Department.
"Because there won't be other firearms deer hunters in the field that day, youth have a better chance of succeeding in getting a deer than during the regular season," the state Web site excitedly exclaims.
The online campaign includes a ghoulish photo of a small boy named Patrick clutching the antlers of a deer he's just gunned down.
New Hampshire lives for animals to die. Fish and Game is also hailing a hope that because there are so many beechnuts and acorns it will "create some exciting opportunities for bear hunters." And of course the big shooting edge up north is the exhilarating moose hunt, where there is a lottery contest more prized than Patriots Super Bowl tickets. If you're a non-resident and one of the lucky winners, you can join in on the giant killing for a giant-sized fee of 500 bucks (pun most definitely intended).
But the kinder and gentler commonwealth of Massachusetts is also plenty fired up about hunting. Here's a partial lineup this year for hunters in the Bay State: Crow, pheasant, quail, ruffed grouse, turkey, black bear, bobcat, cottontail rabbit, coyote, deer (naturally), fox (a rainbow coalition of both red and gray), jackrabbit, opossum, raccoon, snowshoe hare, bullfrogs, green frogs, snapping turtles, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Of course, there are rules. There's no hunting on Sundays, and according to the state's Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, it is unlawful to hunt with a ferret. Targeting the market on wisdom, Massachusetts also order hunters to report any deaths -- of humans.
A recent federal report says that in 2006 the number of licensed hunters in the United States dropped to 12.5 million, down from 14 million a decade earlier.
If you want to bring life back to this dying sport, I have a suggestion for our Elmer Fudds. Give the deer bows and arrows to shoot back at all you Bravehearts.
Agree with Matt? Disagree? Let your feelings be known. Click on the comment line for this article at LowellSun.com and register your feelings