Are there any sportsmen out there?

[OwnedByFerrets]

I need arguments in favor of voting for Democrats and against the present administration on the subject of conservation. Issues that concern hunters and fishermen. What laws have been passed in the past 6 yrs that would/should worry sportsmen?
Thanks

[jpak]

1. ChimpCo tried to sell large tracts of National Forest land to private

(GOP connected) interests earlier this year.

This would have restricted hunter/fisher access to these lands.

The GOP is attempting to (severely) reduce oil and gas royalties that are used to fund federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (????) - which the states use to fund there fish and wildlife programs.

Off the top on me head...

[AndyTiedye]

2. (crickets)

I am not a hunter, nor do I play one on TV. I only shoot with a camera.

Hunters, fisherman, and all who love the outdoors need to be concerned about
the rate at which green places are being paved over and developed.

[shance]

3. I've always wondered why animal killers are called "sportsmen"?

What a joke.

[Odin2005]

6. Ah, yes, us hunters are irredemibly evil scum.

:eyes:

[hunter]

12. That's for sure.

:P

[shance]

15. I come from a family of hunters and fisherman.

I've been on a few hunts myself and grew up bass/crappie fishing myself.

My father hunted and my brother hunted.

Ironically it was their disdain for the unconscious, wasteful hunters that awakened me to such bad protocol, for lack of a better term.

[NickB79]

16. Wasteful hunters?

When do hunters waste game? Spending hundreds of dollars for hunting equipment to simply let the dead animals lay in the woods is something I have yet to hear. You can not legally shoot a deer, cut off it's head for a trophy, and leave the body to rot, for example. You must bring the animal in to be recorded and to verify it has been properly tagged, at which point you either have the meat processed or donate it to a food shelf.

I'm sure some morons get around the law, but they by no means are representative of the vast majority of decent, law-abiding hunters that eat what they kill.

[jilln]

9. I'm with you...

animal abusers can't face any animal without using a gun, hiding behind trees, cutting off horns, having other humans around to distract the animals, etc. Not much of a sport.

[hatrack]

10. Question - I don't hunt, but I do occasionally eat meat, so . . . .

Does the fact that I (in effect) hire someone to do my killing for me make me any less culpable than a hunter who eats what s/he kills?

Sorry, but the environment is too big an issue to exclude anyone who has an interest in protecting and preserving it and that includes people who like to fish and hunt. For what it's worth, I do have a problem with trophy hunting - that's some seriously fucked-up macho bullshit - but if you eat what you legally shoot, that doesn't bug me a bit.

Keep going down this path and you're going to end up with the same kind of blinkered perspective that "Pro-Life" voters are saddled with - unable to see the world burning around their ears, given their infinite concern as to how many blastocysts can dance on the head of a pipette.

[shance]

14. That is a very valid point.

You have me on that one.

I do respect those who, when they kill, respect the animal by eating and utilizing it fully.

I have seen situations in my life where individuals have simply killed for target practice and left the carcasses to rot. It is a disregard for life in my opinion and it has left me with a bad taste in my mouth regarding the whole "sportsman" image.

However, there are many more who don't fall into that category.

My father was a hunter and as he got older, he stopped hunting. He would however still go out to the blinds sometimes and watch the sunrise (probably with a little hooch in a flask*). I think it was the ritual of being with the boys he enjoyed more than the killing.

[hatrack]

21. I think for a lot of people it's just a chance to get out and get away

Hunting may be the be-all and end-all of a hunting trip - or not.

But I'm 100% with you on the assholes who either dump or trophy hunt.

Safari Club International comes to mind - Norman Schwartzkopf, G.H.W. Bush, etc., are members, and they've pressured African governments to loosen hunting rules, to the point that black-maned lions are nearly extinct in Africa (guess they just look too good on the hearth to let alone, eh Norman?) and other predator populations, already hard-pressed by habitat loss and conflict with herders, are getting it in the neck as well.

[mainegreen]

18. It's called 'hunting'. It's a great way for poor people to stock up on...

cheap meat. It's also organic, helps keep people in touch with nature, is a great physical activity, helps bonds parents to children and teaches gun respect. And just so you know, it is a sport because the animals have a sporting chance of getting away. Better than 50% in fact for a lot of people.

[Viking12]

20. It also helps manage herd populations...

Here in WI the elimination of natural predators coupled with landscape changes has led to an explosion in the deer population. The overpopulation of deer is a threat to biodiversity, causes numerous automobile accidents, damages crops, and actually threatens the deer population itself.

Plus we have a great program for hunters to donate meat to those struggling economically, Hunt for the Hungry

[hatrack]

4. Google "coal bed methane" and its effects on groundwater

This is a specially big issue out west, where ownership of land doesn't necessarily convey ownership of the minerals beneath it.

[GregD]

5. Klamath River salmon kill

Look into this story and you will find a gold mine. Administration policies which were intended to help Oregon's Senator Gordon Smith led to a massive salmon kill in the Klamath River.

http://www.pcffa.org/RoveWSJ07-30-03.htm
http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t52297.html

That has had coast-wide implications as the fishing season was sharply curtailed this past year and the economic impact spread to everyone in the commercial and sport fishing industries.

[Odin2005]

7. Global warming is killing trout here in Minnesota.

Trout can't tolerate overly warm water, if the summers get too hot they die.

[Viking12]

22. ...don't leave out northwestern MN's moose population...

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2005/10/global_warming.asp

[Redneck Socialist]

8. Here you go

Try these links: http://www.wilderness-sportsman.com/ and here: http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/water.asp

or google bush + wetlands or bush + mercury.

His wetlands policies should be pretty galling to anglers and duck hunters. Weakening mercury regs should piss off anglers too.

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. Thank you for all the replys......

I am not a hunter, although I do fish like crazy. I live in AL, however, and its a big issue down here in repug land. If I can convince the "sportsmen" that monkeyboy is hurting their sport, maybe they wont vote for his lapdogs. What I have found is that in order to sway someones vote, you MUST talk about something they care about. Otherwise, you are wasting your breath.

[hatrack]

13. Given that, I'd hit the mercury issue

I know the Feds now say that you should just belly up to the all-you-can-eat fish bar, 'cuz it's good for you, but I'm sure Alabama has just as many mercury advisories in place as any other state.

When it comes down to taking your kids (or grandkids) fishing and then not being able to eat what you catch, that sinks in.

[Viking12]

17. Mountain top mining...

is one that springs to mind, although its mostly an Appalacian issue.

As previous posters suggest, mercury is a national issue. I am an avid angler and I like eat part of my catch but I am cautious about how much fish I feed my children and where the fish are caught.

[montana500]

19. I have a huge database on things that effect sportsmen ..

....over the last few years over hunting, fishing and outdoors.

Check out:

http://wilderness-sportsman.com

Also check out:

http://www.flyrodreel.com/index.php/page/blog

Also:


http://www.tu.org/site/pp.asp?c=7dJEKTNuFmG&b=275410

The biggest issues have been the Roadless Rule issue that the Bush admin tried to ignore, the increased oil and gas drilling in Wyoming and Colorado, and the recent attempt by the Bush admin and the republicans to sell huge chunks of national forest land.