Hunters: To protect our social licence, we have to stop killing animals we don’t eat

colinjw said:
Well time to put on my flame suit I guess.

I am not a hunter. It never appealed to me. I love animals.
That said, I see little difference between going to the store to buy meat or getting it yourself.
So I am not against hunting for food.

I am against what has become known as trophy hunting . By that I mean someone who hunts for the thrill of the kill,
to put a trophy on the wall or to have a picture taken with the dead animal.

I also realize that the media tends to push stories that portray ALL hunters as cruel , sadistic people .

If the animal is for food, to eliminate a dangerous predator or to control the population of a species, fine.
However do not give the anti hunters a photo or story of someone seemingly bragging about the kill that they just made.
Then it becomes a matter of perception not facts.
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imagine as you are you gunutz you love guns that i may not like like ar15 or handguns and i say you do not need them the police is here to protect you and shooting at the range for what ...?

you see where im going ...

btw i own handguns and ar15 ....
 
Hunters must take every opportunity to express their views - the future of hunting depends on it.

Submitted this to the Globe and Mail this morning. If you wish to express your own opinion, send it to:

Letters@globeandmail.com

NHassan@globeandmail.com (Opinion editor)

Good morning. After reading Mr. Darimont’s anti-hunting opinion piece in yesterday’s Globe and Mail, I hope the Globe and Mail allows differing viewpoints to be published in the Opinion section. There are many wildlife management professionals and conservationists who would be keen to present an alternative perspective.

Typical of an anti-hunting position, Mr. Darimont’s opinion piece is characterized by charged emotional language – the “frenzied dogs”, the hunter “lording over” the fallen cougar, etc.


Mr. Darimont alludes to diseases that can be acquired by humans as a result of consuming the meat of predators, but fails to provide any examples or evidence to substantiate his position.


Mr. Darimont uses the economic example of ecotourism revenue generated by grizzly bear viewing in certain regions of coastal British Columbia. He does not provide any evidence this economic activity can be “scaled up” to a provincial level.

Mr. Darimont’s position is nothing more than an attempt to demonstrate the self-declared superiority of his personal ethics and impose them on society at large. Science should dictate wildlife population management, distinct from Mr. Darimont and the vagaries of his “social license”.

Thank you for your time and consideration.
 
jparent said:
Or maybe the public can just learn to accept how people behave.
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One thing many hunters fail to realize is there are far more non hunters than hunters in Canada and the very nature of our hobby makes it very easy to judged and put in the spotlight. Basically, hunters need to cater to non hunters emotional needs to avoid farther attacks on our hobby, especially today where the internet can ruin someone/group so quickly. We need to keep "them" happy to protect what we do as it's much, MUCH easier for them to put and to hunting than it is for us to gain support. It's unfortunate and totally against what I believe in, but it's the sad truth.

The only defense we have is hunting is a means to gather natural and healthy food while continuing our traditions. Non hunters can and do understand and support this. However, most non hunters and many hunters are against the idea of trophy hunting or killing for fun and the trophy hunters posting their pics everywhere are not helping. It's a battle we will never win so those who're making it harder for hunting to be accepted are harmful to our sport.
 
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My initial take at reading 'social license' is FU. There are many aspects to hunting that many do not understand, hunters included. (and I'm including myself here). Beyond hunting for sustenance and wildlife management. Tugging and peoples morality meters on 'hunting' is utterly laughable when you consider what people take as acceptable behavior and morality in their daily lives, let alone hold opinions on things they know nothing about and have not experienced, such as 'hunting'.
 
There is a trend of articles aimed at peoples emotions with a specific influence in mind to push the agenda of either the writer or whomever funds the writer. If I had read that sentence five years ago I probably would have dismissed it as some conspiracy theory type stuff, but nowadays it just seems to be the way things go. People are being told what is wrong and what is right, but they aren't be presented with all the facts from an unbiased point of view, but I digress, the news having an agenda is nothing new. At least not recently. I'm not against trophy hunting so long as it is done right, to say that a specific animal is targeted. Whether that be because it is a problem animal, or sick, or old, and that all parts of the animal are used and the money goes into the community. And that the population can sustain it.

The part where the writer talked about the dogs chasing the exhausted cougar into the trees where it found temporary refuge until the hunter showed up with his gun to me seems like it paints a picture that the animal was next to tortured before it was killed. Makes me wonder if the author knows how animals hunt and kill one another in the wild.
 
We are not immune to it either. The amount of hunters that say they won't harvest a doe is startling. There is about 50% that claim it's for management reasons... the other 50 % watched Bambi as a youth. Really; how much emotion is involved in this decision?
And I've found Cougars get bitter as they get older...:p
 
Why, I eat every skunk I shoot. Mangy coyotes are on the menu at a lot of homes. Well, you get the drift.

While I never have "trophy" hunted, I am not particularly offended by it. I agree that posting pictures of bloodied animals on spacebook or TWITter will cause the snowflakes' heads to explode.

Will we all have to become city dwelling, electric car driving vegans? I don't EVER see that happening. Can we tone down our macho images of our kills, maybe.
 
sharpsway said:
The part where the writer talked about the dogs chasing the exhausted cougar into the trees where it found temporary refuge until the hunter showed up with his gun to me seems like it paints a picture that the animal was next to tortured before it was killed. Makes me wonder if the author knows how animals hunt and kill one another in the wild.
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This particular detail ( the cat being treed ) is what cause people to object because it is not sporting. Much like putting a deer in a 10x10 pen and then shooting it. I have guns, I also hunt BUT I do not jam it down people throats by posting that huge boar I got last year, the dozens of roe buck that I have shot or even the moose from 2 years back. I agree with many don't post such photos and the anti hunters have no ammunition to protest our actions. I find that doing my own thing and not bragging about it makes for a smoother journey. Just my thoughts on the topic.
 
I'm into trophy hunting and I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm also into eating the meat of the edible trophy animals I've killed. I'm still at a loss why people assume trophy hunters discard the meat, it's baffling.

Funny that trapping isn't mentioned in the article.
 
Wait a few years when the grizzly bear encounters increase to a alarming Rate then the same people screaming against will want some one to do something about it. It is not just bears it is all wild life the population size needs to be controlled to what the land can support. That is what the wild life departments are there for but it has got to the point most of our governments either don't listen or take the funds raised or allotted to those departments and use it up some where else.
Take Edmonton area for example there were years the deer/auto in-counters were a major problem as either not enough hunters or most land being posted as no hunting but people were screaming for something to be done about it. where do you draw the line?
I thing most of the anti hunting comes from cities, and Every time I drove through Banff or Jasper and I watched the people interacting with the wild life I had to shake my head, people have no idea what can happen if some thing should go sideways fast.
Bottom line let the wild life experts do their job and quit pandering to the general public as most of them have no clue about the subject. And politicians should butt out.
 
Uisge said:
So you can’t protect livestock unless you plan to eat the mangy coyote that’s been killing it?
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Superbrad said:
Whoever wrote this nonsense article or has never tried mountain lion.... it’s delicious....
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I don't think anyone (but the most rabid vegan anti-hunters) would object to killing coyotes, bears, cougars or wolves if they're protecting livestock. As far as eating cougar - biped or quadriped?

But, yeah, I've heard it can be tasty, and that's what he should come back with - if he did eat it. I love bear meat - it's my favourite game meat, but I'm not sure I could eat cougar - too much like eating cat (and no, I have nothing against eating pussy-cat)

Personally, I eat everything I shoot, but would not consider vermin like coyotes, etc. to be game.
 
tokguy said:
We are not immune to it either. The amount of hunters that say they won't harvest a doe is startling. There is about 50% that claim it's for management reasons... the other 50 % watched Bambi as a youth. Really; how much emotion is involved in this decision?
And I've found Cougars get bitter as they get older...:p
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Once you get a doe you won't want to eat a buck again, wayyyyy better in my opinion.

I never really thought about shooting a doe just because most bucks have more meat, that all changed this year
 
Uisge said:
So you can’t protect livestock unless you plan to eat the mangy coyote that’s been killing it?
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Superbrad said:
Whoever wrote this nonsense article or has never tried mountain lion.... it’s delicious....
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wce323078 said:
Wait a few years when the grizzly bear encounters increase to a alarming Rate then the same people screaming against will want some one to do something about it. It is not just bears it is all wild life the population size needs to be controlled to what the land can support. That is what the wild life departments are there for but it has got to the point most of our governments either don't listen or take the funds raised or allotted to those departments and use it up some where else.
Take Edmonton area for example there were years the deer/auto in-counters were a major problem as either not enough hunters or most land being posted as no hunting but people were screaming for something to be done about it. where do you draw the line?
I thing most of the anti hunting comes from cities, and Every time I drove through Banff or Jasper and I watched the people interacting with the wild life I had to shake my head, people have no idea what can happen if some thing should go sideways fast.
Bottom line let the wild life experts do their job and quit pandering to the general public as most of them have no clue about the subject. And politicians should butt out.
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Oh. no they won't. They'll want them live-trapped and flown out by helicopter (while we can't afford to pay to fly critically ill people to get care). If anyone gets killed, well, that's on them.
 
tokguy said:
We are not immune to it either. The amount of hunters that say they won't harvest a doe is startling. There is about 50% that claim it's for management reasons... the other 50 % watched Bambi as a youth. Really; how much emotion is involved in this decision?
And I've found Cougars get bitter as they get older...:p
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Bambi was a buck. :p ;)

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Why just eating though? How about wearing some nice furs downtown or putting a nice carpet in the living room? Understanding that cougar is perfectly edible the last time I checked the hunting regs furbearers have a place in them and at least legally have a well recognized place as game. 'Society' without checks or led by a media as biased as ours is about the worst guide for behaviour you could get in my personal opinion.
 
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