Snowflakes in Hell

Not something I think the Brady Campaign wants to see in a major media outlet — an article that laments not enough kids like to hunt and shoot because of video games, and because they never get exposed to shooting sports. Of course, as bloggers have pointed out before, video game exposure can be as much an opportunity as a curse.

Looks like the Center for Consumer Freedom Ringling Bros. Circus is suing HSUS under RICO. I can’t speak much to the merits, but RICO suits are often a refuge for kookery, so color me skeptical about the prospects of this.

This very easily could have turned from a run of the mill accident to something a lot worse. You’ll cringe when you see the picture. I think, in the realm of accidents you can have on a hunting trip, I’d almost rather shoot myself :)

Apparently we’re not shooting enough here in Pennsylvania. But they refer to snow geese. Why can’t we shoot more Canadian Geese?

The Bucks County Courier Times covers the 1 million dollars donation by Barker too, and includes this:

Barker said he believes “the good citizens in Pennsylvania would be embarrassed if they knew in detail just how horrific these pigeon shoots are,” Barker said. “These are not hunters. They’re assassins.”

Assassins kill people. Birds are not people. Whether pigeon shooting is right or wrong, it’s not the moral equivalent to murdering humans, sorry.

For years, Barker said, “I’ve heard the same thing from everyone that is tormenting animals. There are thousands of people who are helping with every disease and the children of Haiti, but there are very few who are giving any money to help animals,” Barker said. “That’s what I do.

“I wonder how much the members of the gun club have given for the children of Haiti,” Barker added.

How many children in Haiti would that cool million have helped Bob? Don’t play that moral card with us, asshole. You’re donating a million to save fucking pigeons. There’s nothing particularly noble about that. If you have a million dollars burning a hole in your pocket, why not donate it to children in Haiti? If it’s because the pigeons are important to you, you have no moral room to disparage others who also feel passionately about the pigeons… err… as targets.

Even if protesters somehow managed to shut down the pigeon shoots, that wouldn’t save the birds, Corr said. “The pigeons in question have been trapped as pests and are in line for extermination,” according to Corr. “The pest control companies usually accomplish this by asphyxiation, more precisely by sealing the trap with plastic and then introducing carbon dioxide gas.”

One could perhaps argue that’s more humane than shooting them, but the point that pigeons are vermin is a valid one. They will be killed one way or the other. What makes Leo Holt particularly more reprehensible than the pest control workers who kill the pigeons by gassing them to death or poisoning them?

Keep in mind that I have no issue with groups putting social pressure on PGC to cease their pigeon shoots, and wouldn’t even have a problem with Bob Barker lending his celebrity to the cause. But that million will go to lobbying — lobbying for a ban that’s going to ban many forms of dog training, among other things as well, including putting pigeon shooters in prison. Social pressure is fine, but I do not advocate the government coming in and forcing one group’s moral preferences on another. Isn’t that what folks get uppity about the religious right for?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.  I voted.

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.

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.

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.

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? This sounds really really familiar. For anyone wanting to see the research done by Dr. Saba, you can find it here.

Looks like Solebury, not far from me, is also opening up to using hunting as a method of reducing deer population instead of the “sharpshooters” typically employed for such a task. Not only is using hunters cheaper, but safer too. Most of the sharpshooting companies hire people that are neither sharp, nor shooters.

This is the culmination of the work of the archers at my club, who put in a lot of time and effort to convince Lower Makefield Township to open up to the idea of thinning out the deer population using bow hunters. So far the township has been very pleased with the hunt. I think more local communities will adopt this model. It’s even getting traction over in New Jersey. It’s a good thing for hunting, since one of the chief causes of its decline is lack of places to hunt.

Ban it! From an article about how animal rights whack jobs are infiltrating hunting groups over in England:

Hunting was banned in 2005 but since then the number of people taking part in the sport has continued to increase, with 50,000 mounted followers expected this year compared to 40,000 in 2004.

This year there are expected to be a further 50,000 supporters following the hunt on foot or in cars in order to put pressure on any new Government to overturn the law.

The Tories have said that if they win the election, they will allow a free vote on repealing the ban.

The same thing happened with assault weapons in this country. Not many people owned them in 1994, but once the government said you couldn’t have one, it got people interested. Much like hunters in the UK, gun owners in the US managed to work around the ban.

If it hadn’t been for the Assault Weapons Ban, I may never have become a gun owner myself. My first gun was a Romanian Kalashnikov, that I got specifically as f— you to people who said I shouldn’t have one. Then I remembered I really used to enjoy shooting as a kid, and it was downhill from there. I think a lot of other people my age have similar stories.

Jim Shepherd has an interesting report on the various species conservation groups.

Overlooked in the economic hubbub is the toll a bad economy takes on wildlife advocacy groups. Many depend solely on memberships and donations for their revenues. For many of those groups, the numbers have dropped – some precipitously. In fact, I’m hearing the numbers at a couple of the larger and more active groups have dropped as much as fifty percent. That is a serious knock on even their bottom lines.

It could be that some members were upset when 20 groups signed up to support Obama’s cap & trade agenda. Of course, that doesn’t explain nearly every loss, but getting involved in unrelated issues is usually a very good way to drive off members.

For some groups, there are other problems, including costly litigation with ousted former executives. Quail Unlimited, the oldest and largest of the quail groups, is under criminal investigation by the ATF unaccounted firearms; those investigations and management problems have splintered that organization, left it without an executive management team, and have state QU groups vowing to fix the organization – even if it means starting from scratch. In the meantime, the organization as surviving – but is essentially ineffective nationally.

Well that is interesting. I wonder if they are an FFL. But more importantly, where are the guns? Did someone decide they were an unwritten perk to membership? Speculation, but interesting.

While their situation is unusual, membership losses have led many groups to reduce staff and cutback on programs. Their ongoing wildlife programs have been invaluable resources to many state wildlife agencies also feeling budget squeezes.

Yesterday, I spoke with David Allen, President and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation about the situation. Allen was candid about the problems many organizations face. After all, he told me, RMEF had faced many of their own “challenges” over the past few years. RMEF, he says, is regaining momentum – and members – by focusing on realities and their core constituency -hunter conservationists.

“Some groups have been living beyond their means,” he said, “you can’t live in anticipation of money. Here, for example, I tell the staff ‘we won’t spend money we don’t have’. It meant downsizing our undertakings and cutting expenses, but it is just an economic reality.”

Allen says finances aren’t the single biggest challenge facing organizations. That, he says, is a one-word threat: complacency. Complacency, he says, is reflected in the fact that there are 1,000,000 elk tags sold annually – but only twenty percent of those hunters are RMEF members. While it’s unrealistic to presume all off them would ever become RMEF members, Allen makes a good case that the absence of that remaining eighty percent of elk hunters- as is true in any affinity wildlife group – deprives the organization of the two things that fuel their work: funds, and volunteers.

He remains convinced, however, that the single biggest concern for all wildlife groups can be summed up in a single word: habitat. Fighting habitat loss, unfortunately, takes time, money and volunteers. Today, many of the organizations are lacking in money and volunteers – and that may mean their time is running out.

“As a group,” he adds,”we also tend not to support each other and act as a group until there’s a crisis – then we overreact.”

Will all the groups survive? “Not without some consolidation, I’m afraid,” Allen said,”we have to find ways to get together for some of these groups to survive. I’m not optimistic everyone will.”

It’s good to hear that RMEF is surviving by being true to their main members and not hoping on board with the HopeChange plans just to curry favor in a temporary administration with declining numbers.

Heh, bet I made you double check the byline with that title.

But seriously, 12-year-old girls are making waves in hunting this month. One in Oregon snagged a (literally) once-in-a-lifetime mountain goat tag. She not only went out, bagged her animal, but the goat is likely to take the record for the third largest one ever taken in the Beaver State. Her 150-yard shot was filmed by The Outdoor Channel for air in March. She took 4 shots, 2 missed. Did I mention that since her dad broke her scope on her rifle, she was using his rifle for the very first time? That’s impressive for a gun she had never fired.

Meanwhile a Minnesota pre-teen takes the record for the youngest hunter in the state to harvest a moose. This 12-year-old managed to take her moose at 75 yards with just one shot. She was shooting her own rifle that dad bought her when she got her rare tag. Even better? Dad is a taxidermist and he will be mounting the full moose that had a 58-inch antler spread.

A bow hunter who was trying to recover a deer was unable to, because the property he tracked it to wouldn’t let him recover it. Normally, that kind of thing would just piss you off, but you know, I think I’d be ok with losing the deer if I knew it had wandered onto the property of the CEO of the Animal Rights Alliance.

Who do you think is respecting the deer more? The CEO, who will let the animal go to waste, or the hunter, who wants to recover the animal to use it for a purpose nature intended — food.

We’ve known that HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle has had his eye on shutting down hunting since at least 1991 when the Associated Press reported him saying, “If we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would.” In the Obama-themed “Change Agenda for Animals,” HSUS outlines their plans to stop hunting step-by-step in the first term in of the new administration.

First and foremost, Pacelle’s organization has called for an end to expansion of hunting activities on federal lands. However, his call goes one step further and asks the Obama administration to close down hunting on National Wildlife Refuges and, eventually, all other public lands. In Pennsylvania, we only have two Refuge properties, and only one currently allows hunting. However, shutting down this federal property will close the Erie National Wildlife Refuge’s 8,260 acres to hunters. Nationally, that would close 370 Refuges open to hunting from Alaska to Florida.

HSUS’s leaders are intelligent folks, and they know that shutting down access is one of the fastest ways to reduce the number of hunters nationwide. In Michigan, they figured out how to divide hunters and passed a dove hunting ban as a ballot initiative. The group has also been instrumental in hurting the hunting culture in New Jersey as one of the largest opponents of the state’s historic bear hunts.

In addition to closing down the National Wildlife Refuge System’s hunting opportunities, HSUS has set a goal of defeating all Congressional attempts to better equip National Park wildlife managers with hunting options. Specifically, the Rocky Mountain National Park and Theodore Roosevelt National Park have severe elk population problems in need of control measures such as a restricted hunt.

For those hunters looking to go west, HSUS wants to make sure you have fewer species to hunt. After the wolf populations of western states recovered enough to be taken off the threatened or endangered species list, hunts were opened to keep the population balanced with other animals they prey upon. HSUS is actively fighting to shut down those hunts, going so far as to put the wolves back on the endangered species list regardless of recovery status.

If any American hunters hope to head overseas for a hunt, it might be time to book the trip before hunting is shut down. HSUS proposes ending aid to African countries that promote trophy hunts to American hunters. They hope to use dollars meant for economic development and assistance in order to shut down lawful industries abroad. These same hunts actually support the conservation programs for African species.

Finally, HSUS has already seen success with another agenda item. HSUS wants the government to end all permits for polar bear hunters headed to Canada. Similar to African species, these polar bear hunts support not only the conservation programs for the species, but also native populations and local environmental projects. HSUS asks the Obama administration to maintain the current ban on import of polar bear trophies, a success they won at the end of the Bush administration.

As just five of the 100 action items, this list should strike fear into the hearts of hunters across the country. Even if a hunter never plans to head off across the ocean to hunt exotic species in Africa, HSUS has made clear that they want to shut down access to public lands in everyone’s home state.

Yesterday, I mentioned the outrageous power grab that the Humane Society of the United States was making in the name of the animal rights. With new government divisions, agency liaisons, and a White House czar proposed, their agenda is far-reaching and a threat against many issues, not just animal production & far-flung animal rights concerns like whaling.

In their “Change” agenda, HSUS specifically calls for a ban on handgun carry for self-defense, using poaching of big game as an excuse.

Hunting in National Parks – in order to protect wildlife from poaching and ensure public safety, reverse final rule by Bush Administration that undid a longstanding ban on carrying of loaded, concealed weapons in National Parks; continue the historic prohibition on sport hunting in national parks, and prevent attempts to allow private sport hunters to target elk in Rocky Mountain National Park and Theodore Roosevelt National Park; oppose legislation like H.R. 1179, S. 917, and S. 684 in the 110th Congress that would open National Parks to sport hunters

In Pennsylvania, the National Park Service controls 24 popular recreation areas. That means in order to defend against poaching, HSUS believes you should be disarmed while visiting Gettysburg, stopping at the memorial in Valley Forge, or even walking across the lawn in front of Independence Hall in downtown Philadelphia.

Fortunately, pro-gun leaders in the US Senate & House have made the case against carry in these areas much harder. HSUS would now have to overturn legislation signed into law earlier this year to ban lawful carry again. With our friends in Congress, that will be much harder to do.

Beyond the Second Amendment, HSUS also called for the White House to defend a law that makes hunting photos & outdoor media illegal. And defend, they did. Obama’s administration went to the Supreme Court to protect the law to restrict the First Amendment. Fortunately, Court observers say that it appears not a single Justice agreed with the positions of HSUS & the administration.

If the law is overturned on Constitutional grounds, HSUS indicates it would like to be involved in writing a replacement speech-restriction law. While lawmakers would be expected to try and limit such a law to ban pictures of extreme acts such as so-called “crush videos,” but HSUS could try to expand it to again target outdoor media, photos, and videos.

For those gun owners who don’t believe that the Humane Society of the United States isn’t a significant threat, consider their resources. When they decide to pick a fight with gun owners, they have funds that far surpass those of the Brady Bunch. In 2007, the Brady Center reported total revenue of $3,863,596. Their net assets at the end of the year totaled $3,013,211. On the other hand, HSUS has far more flexible income. In the same year, HSUS reported total revenue of $101,826,190 with net assets at the end of the year totaling $204,868,764. Once they turn their sights on us, it will be a well-funded fight.

HSUS is once again trying to play the general public in exchange for donations with commercials featuring abused animals and shelters even though they give only a pittance to the local shelters.  Most of the money raised actually goes to support their legislative agenda. And if you are a hunter or gun owner, you should be concerned.

In their Obama-themed “Change Agenda for Animals,” HSUS spells out their goals for the first term of the current administration. The changes reflect an all-out assault on agriculture, meat production, hunting, and even gun rights. The 100-item list doesn’t even include the summary outline of new agency divisions, liaisons, and yes, even a new czar.

In the opening notes, HSUS calls for a new White House specialist, a so-called czar, for animal rights issues. The specialist would work with liaisons on animal rights in at least 20 agencies and departments, including:

1. Department of Agriculture
2. Department of Interior
3. Department of Commerce
4. Environmental Protection Agency
5. Department of Health & Human Services
6. Department of State
7. Department of Transportation
8. Department of Housing & Urban Development
9. Department of Defense
10. Federal Trade Commission
11. Department of Education
12. Department of Justice
13. US Agency for International Development
14. US Trade Representative
15. National Institutes of Health
16. Food & Drug Administration
17. Centers for Disease Control
18. Department of Treasury
19. US Postal Service
20. Consumer Product Safety Commission

All of this is in addition to a new proposed division of the Department of Justice to prosecute all of these new animal rights crimes, including the taking & sharing of hunting photos, provided the Supreme Court doesn’t step in to stop that particular infringement on the First Amendment.

I guess this agenda fits right in with the administration’s attempt to consolidate decision-making in the White House.  The specifics, which I’ll break down tomorrow, are pretty horrifying.

A favorite pastime of hunters and groups that represent hunting is to slit their own wrists. We don’t need Wayne Pacelle when hunters are completely willing to off themselves. Study after study has shown that the primary impediment to people going hunting is the lack of places to hunt. With increasing sprawl, hunters and anglers find themselves having to go farther than farther out to find land to hunt and fish on. And what is the primary thing that lets hunters and anglers get to far away and remote places to hunt? Energy. Namely gasoline and diesel. So how is gasoline and diesel being a lot more expensive going to help hunters? That’s why I’m displeased more than a few hunting groups have signed on to the National Wildlife Federations mission to get crap and trade passed the Senate. For of you who are curious, the complete list of groups signing on can be found here (large PDF, warning):

1. American Fisheries Society
2. American Fly Fishing Trade Association
3. American Sportfishing Association
4. Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
5. Berkley Conservation Institute
6. Campfire Club
7. Dallas Safari Club
8. Ducks Unlimited
9. Houston Safari Club
10. Izaak Walton League of America
11. Mule Deer Foundation
12. National Trappers Association
13. National Wildlife Federation
14. Pheasants Forever
15. Quality Deer Management Association
16. The Wildlife Society
17. Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
18. Trout Unlimited
19. Wildlife Forever
20. Wildlife Management Institute

Only a few of these groups are actually hunting and fishing groups, but if you belong to any of them, I’d quit, and call them up and make sure you know why. They do not look after the interests of hunters. I can tell you in at least one of the cases, the Mule Deer Foundation, they are actively supporting HSUS’s attempts to restrict hunting. They are bad news for hunters.

It would be a good first step toward reversing the long slide. The question is whether the Tories will take up the issue. It appears they are willing, but don’t want to burn up a lot of political capital over this one issue, and end up getting bogged down in Parliament.