Hunting – Page 9 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Bob Barker Lending His Support to HSUS in PA

Bob Barker is donating a million dollars to an animal rights group to fight for a pigeon shooting ban in Pennsylvania, and suggesting he’s going to join protestors outside of Philadelphia Gun Club. I have not been very supportive of Philadelphia Gun Club on this issue, and I consider to believe they are a liability on this issue, but nor am I a fan of the proposed ban HSUS is floating in Pennsylvania, largely because it will also ban many of the methods used in the training of hunting dogs, as well as other completely legitimate sporting activities in the Commonwealth.

The politics of this issue is difficult, because as the ban currently is must be opposed. But I have other, ancillary concerns with it as well. If a ban comes before the legislature, we have a number of local politicians who will likely part from NRA on this issue, even though on other issues they would be otherwise good. I don’t want them to get in the habit of having to go against NRA, especially when I know doing that isn’t likely to hurt them much considering the suburban makeup of the local gun community (most of whom don’t do pigeon shooting, or even hunting dog training for that matter). The only hope is to keep this bottled up in committee so they don’t have to vote on it. Philadelphia Gun Club is making it more likely there’s going to be a vote.

For the record, Pennsylvania is not the only state that still has pigeon shoots. The animal rights folks are lying in order to embarrass us on that count. But Philadelphia Gun Club is the only club in a suburban area doing them. While I understand the club has been around for a long time, and has been doing live pigeon shoots nearly as long, I think they are doing the shooting sports and hunters a grave disservice by continuing to hold live pigeon shoots in an area where it’s not possible to be discrete about it, and where the surrounding culture is not going to be supportive of the practice.

Lead and Bald Eagles

I am willing to believe that lead poisoning is a serious issue for wildlife, but I’d be skeptical of automatically blaming lead shot. This article on lead poisoning by bald eagles is interesting, but there are key details I’d want to know that the article doesn’t explore:

When an eagle was found near Ferryville it was apparent that there was something wrong, so the Wisconsin DNR took the bird to Dr. Laura Johnson.

Dr. Johnson says, “She was having seizures, she was really wobbly. Those are really classic signs of lead poisoning.”

With the help from a Gundersen Lutheran pharmacist Dr. Johnson was able to get a hold of an antidote and started treatments.

Unfortunately, most eagles found with lead poisoning aren’t so lucky.

The questions to ask here would be:

Were blood levels of lead tested for the bird? Or was the diagnosis made solely the basis of symptoms?
If the blood levels were tested, are we sure the lead contamination is a result of ingesting shot?
How common is lead poisoning by shot in birds, and does it have a detrimental effect on populations?

Humans have been using lead shot for hundreds of years. Why only now is it a wildlife holocaust? Obviously the Bald Eagle managed to recover the entire time while humans were using lead shot, and given the decline in hunting, it would seem to me that this should be a less serious problem than now. I’m willing to accept that lead shot is a problem, but I’ve seen no good science to show that’s the case yet.

Reaching the Next Generation of Sportsmen

Today brings news that the fishing & boating industry group is taking another big step in their outreach to recruit young anglers as part of the Take Me Fishing campaign. They have worked with the Boy Scouts to offer up new merit badges for taking lessons in boating and fishing.

About the Scouting Patch Program –

* Passport Patch – Cub Scouts and Scouts aged 6 to 11 earn this patch by completing an introductory six-step program that teaches various skills to be knowledgeable, safe and confident while boating and fishing. The Passport to Fishing and Boating Program has been recognized by the Boy Scouts of America for excellence in aquatic education.
* First Catch Patch – Cub Scouts and Scouts aged 6 to 11 earn this patch by organizing a real-life fishing trip using the resources found on TakeMeFishing.org.
* Mentor Patch – Scouts aged 12 to 17 earn this patch by organizing a fishing trip for newcomers to the sport. The Mentor Patch develops leadership qualities and introduces someone new to boating and fishing.

These are obviously branded patches, but I have to admit that it will be interesting to see what comes of it – particularly the Mentor Patch. At that point, you go far beyond the basic fishing patch into actually encouraging kids to organize fishing trips for others.

I find this interesting because of how many shooters I know who cite the Boy Scouts as their first foray into the gun culture. It’s not surprising since there are two different badge categories for shooting (rifle & shotgun). It is interesting though that there is no hunting badge or anything that going to a range that only allows handguns would earn.

RBFF research reveals “90 percent of adult outdoor enthusiasts were introduced to nature-based activities between the ages of five and 18.” In that spirit, as part of a year-end donation, we called up the NRA Foundation and made a donation to youth programs. A few people come to shooting as an adult (I did in college), but an overwhelming number of people I’ve met who not only shoot, but actively do something to advance our movement (political or sporting) have been shooters since they were children.

Good News for California Sportsmen

The courts have ruled that you’re allowed to have some rights. But just a few, so don’t get uppity. (One judge apparently says you have no protection from full searches just because you do hunt and fish.)

The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District on Tuesday ruled that a state agency may not pull over and search a motorist on a mere hunch that a lobster might be hidden in the vehicle. The court considered the case of Bounh Maikhio, a motorist stopped by Department of Fish and Game Warden Erik Fleet on August 19, 2007 at 11pm. That evening, Fleet had been spying through a telescope on the Ocean Beach pier in San Diego when he saw Maikhio put something into his bag.

Fleet testified that he did not “necessarily” suspect Maikhio of a crime because he had no way of knowing whether the man had been fishing legitimately or not. Regardless, Fleet waited until Maikhio had driven away from the pier to stop him. While searching through his car. Fleet found Maikhio’s bag, which contained a spiny lobster. Maikhio was handcuffed and cited for lobster possession during closed season.

The case is of particular interest because California Attorney General Jerry Brown argued that a state warden has the right to stop any driver “without reasonable suspicion that he committed any crime.” Maikhio, in contrast, could not afford to hire an attorney and was represented by the public defender’s office which argued no such authority existed. The appeals court agreed, citing a 1944 attorney general’s ruling. The court argued that wardens could enforce the law without harassing motorists. …

The court went on to explain that because the warden had no individualized suspicion that Maikhio had been involved in criminal activity, the stop was just as unconstitutional as setting up a roadblock to search every passing vehicle for lobsters. …

Justice Patricia D. Benke disagreed, arguing that Constitutional protections do not apply to motorists who may also be hunters or fishermen.

“Because of the highly regulated nature of hunting and fishing and the consequent diminished expectation of privacy of hunters and fisherman, there is no requirement in our statutes or under the Constitution that a game warden believe that any crimes have been committed or that any game regulations have been violated before exercising his or her powers of inspection,” Benke wrote in her dissent.

Does that mean a game warden can go search Benke’s house without any suspicion she actually committed a crime? Well, they can’t thanks to the decision of her fellow judges, but by her own logic, that would seemingly be allowed.

Breaking Stereotypes

Hunters are so dangerous there were no accidental deaths during the Michigan firearms hunting season this November. Most hunters that die in the field are actually not shot, but have accidents like falling from tree stands or heart attacks.

Top Conservationist

Dave Hardy is asking folks to go have a vote over at Outdoor Life for his friend Lowell Baier. Looks like you get entered to win a Leatherman knife. Â I voted.

NYT Tolerance Goes too Far

According to a PBS host, the tolerance of the New York Times simply goes too far. Why? Because they accept without question that people eat meat and that some people hunt their own meat.

Yes, according to her, the Times staff should be treating hunters like cannibals because any killing of any animal is cruel.

Interestingly, Cemetery noted the anti-gun commentary in the piece. See, even though Bonnie Erbe wants you to immediately stop eating meat, she makes it clear that she’s even more opposed to hunting with firearms than bows and/or spears. Because apparently reducing the likelihood of a quick, clean kill, she’d prefer that animals be tracked for several miles while they bleed out.* Now that’s compassion!

*I’m not saying this as a knock against bow hunters. I just imagine that using a spear to get a deer would neither be a quick process resulting in a great shot to the vitals, nor would it be terribly effective.

UPDATE (By Sebastian): I thought Bonnie Erbe sounded familiar. She’s the one who doesn’t believe in the First Amendment. You know, it’s easy to accept that there are people out there who base their viewpoints entirely based on emotion and feeling, and lack any real intellectual or analytical capacity. It’s harder to accept that the media think it’s quality journalism to give them a column.

Animal Rights Groups Oppose Valley Forge Culling

The Wildlife Society Blog points out that animal rights groups are suing NPS to prevent a deer culling at Valley Forge National Park. Apparently they have never driven through the park. There are way, way too many deer in Valley Forge National Park. On any given day, I would say I see more deer than people.

I do not approve of the methods that the NPS is employing to thin the population. I would much prefer that NPS use local hunters, as we have been doing in various township in my area. But something has to be done about the deer population in the park. It is obviously out of control for anyone who spends any time there. It’s particularly obnoxious that it’s a Connecticut based group that’s filing the suit. I would encourage anyone who ends up with a damaged car or hurt in an accident to send the animal rights whack jobs the bill.

When in Rome

Apparently outsiders moving into Montana heard “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” as “When in Rome, sneer at them and try to frustrate their backwards ways.” Maybe when I retire, I need to buy a house in this neighborhood, do the ariel surveys for the hunters, and put out word in the community that if they want to come on my land and hunt, and annoy my neighbors, they are welcome. I really hate this kind of attitude among people who are recently relocated to an area, and think everything should be as it was in the place they left. Montana is a lot more than pretty scenery.

Expansion of Lead Ammunition Ban Into Arizona

So reports Scientific American:

This year, the CBD filed a lawsuit to institute a similar ban on federal lands around the Grand Canyon in Arizona, where about a third of the world’s wild California condors live. The CBD argues that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and Fish & Wildlife Service are violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing the use of toxic lead ammunition in the condor’s protected habitat.

Of course, the big, bad, mean NRA is getting in the way, but they are saying NRA’s science isn’t strong enough:

But is the NRA’s science strong enough? “The science is in on lead in wildlife and other carnivores. There’s no debate,” says the CBD’s Miller. “The only debate is over what makes sense from a policy point of view. There are alternative ammunitions, which are becoming more widely available, and their cost is coming down. Switching from lead is no problem.”

Beyond doubt and debate eh?Â This sounds really really familiar. For anyone wanting to see the research done by Dr. Saba, you can find it here.