“The greater the controversy, the more you need manners.” Judith Martin
Mr. Webster’s book I am looking at right now defines controversy as “a discussion marked especially by the expression of opposing ideas.” Well we certainly have this in our country right now. You can’t turn on the tube or pick up a paper with seeing something about the “expression of opposing ideas.” I will leave the discussion as to just how we are expressing our ideas to greater minds than me, but I would like to talk to you about controversy in the world of hunting, fishing, and the outdoors.
As I have told you many times before our outdoor realm is not without strife and trouble of its own. How we address these controversies as sportsmen is what concerns me. I am always amazed when different factions in the hunting and fishing crowd seem to go out of their way to argue with each other. This is not good boys and girls, those of us who treasure our time in the outdoors need to stick together, support each other, and not quarrel over petty differences.
So gather round children and brothers and sisters in camo, your humble outdoor scribe will make a speech. Division is not good; division among our ranks is the goal of our enemy, the anti-hunting crowd. Hunters, fishermen, and recreational shooters need to look at ways to unite, not squabble.
Bow hunters need to see there is no future in quarreling with those who want to carry a crossbow. Deer hunters and others should recognize hunters with dogs need access to public land and time on the calendar when regulations permit them to have their dogs afield. The list goes on but a little civil discussion between groups and common courtesy in the field would go a long way.
So let’s look at some of the controversies at hand in the hunting, fishing, firearms and outdoor world. Again, these are things we need to find common ground on and not argue about till all the bovines come home.
CWD, Captive deer, and the use of natural deer products. As noted here before, the treat of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) may be the biggest threat to hunting on the horizon. It would seem there is still more that we don’t know about than we do. Many blame captive deer facilities, and the transportation of these animals to and fro for much of the spread of CWD. While this may be true it cannot be denied that deer infected with CWD have turned up in areas far from any deer farms. Some maintain that using deer urine and other natural deer products while hunting may cause the spread of CWD. This is an issue without easy answers and it may be some time before scientists get a good handle on how to handle this nemesis.
So what is the average Joe sportsman like me and you to do until we know more about it? Stay informed; don’t go by what you hear at the barber shop and Wally World. Go to meetings, read up on it instead of watching another episode of The Walking Dead. Find out what your state’s DNR or other wildlife agency is saying about this topic, ask questions, how else will you know what the deal is? Consider supporting your DNR if they take a stance on these issues, these are the trained professionals being paid with your license money to deal with these matters and they need our support. I know you don’t want to hear it but the wildlife biologists know more about deer biology and management than you do, even if you have been deer hunting for forty years.
Traditional archery versus the crossbow debate. This argument is getting pretty long in the tooth and I want to say this rub between hunters has died down, but I am not sure. Dyed in the wool (or fleece) bow hunters for many years berated the use of crossbows for reasons I never clearly understood.
Traditional bow hunters would say the use of the crossbow was not “fair”; the crossbow hunter did not have to practice as much as they did, and the use of crossbows would lead to more illegal deer kills. Folks we can argue what is fair and not fair in hunting until Hades freezes over, I never understood who got to decide how much practice and preparation you had to do before you were allowed to go hunting, and no state that I know of reported any rash of illegal hunting after crossbows were legalized. We are past all of this boys and girls, if you want to hunt with a stick and a string, fine, if you want to use a crossbow and it is legal in your state, great. Let’s quit arguing about this, the fried tenderloin tastes the same no matter what you bag it with.
Using hunting dogs when other hunters are afield. This is another issue between hunters that has been around since Noah got off the ark. No deer hunter wants to be in his stand and have a pack of hounds or someone’s bird dog come running by. As difficult as it may be the hunter without dogs must recognize that the guy with dogs has just as much right to access those woods as anyone. As with many things in life a little common sense and courtesy can really help.
If you know a hunter is on a stand in a certain area or see that someone is ahead of you in a parking area, consider going to another area before releasing your hunting dog. By the same token if you are alone in the woods and a hunting dog runs by your stand, the day is not lost, I find that often the mere presence of a dog for a short time has little effect on the deer and other wildlife in that area.
I know this is a very incomplete list of topics troubling the ranks of sportsmen, but the editors have not given me the three page spread yet. The continued fighting among our own family will get us nowhere. Remember what Red Green used to tell us. “We’re all in this together!”
larryocase3@gmail.com