"Hunter's" groups: the good and the very bad

[David Petersen]

#6361

This is excellent food for thought and discussion. In sum, as ethical hunters we need to be far more skeptical about which groups we support … and who we vote for and why. The following article is a good starting point for self-education:

Of Farmers, Hunters, Oil Money and the Double Secret Déjà Vu Shuffle

[Ptaylor]

#50872

It really sucks you cannot take an organization at face value. I’m relatively new to the scene, my 6th year hunting, and at first you see a magazine by a group that states to be in favor of conserving a species or landscape. It looks great. But then there’s all these secret backdoor meetings and agendas. Dave, you make it hard to just belong to a group without doing a thorough investigation of them. And continual monitoring.

[David Coulter]

#50909

Dave,

Good link. It confirms somethings I’ve been thinking for a while now, but goes farther in depth that I ever did. To me, the NRA was obvious. They are outwardly aligned with the pro-development crowd, making it a contradiction or conflict of interest for an outdoor enthusiast to be a member.

It’s a sad state of affairs. Thank you, david

[Stix]

#50922

The NRA has been very successful driving a wedge between sportsmen using the 2nd amendment rallying cry,therefore more hunters and anglers have become what I call “corporate conservationists” and I don’t know how to compete against it other than stating facts of the dangers of corporate conservationism.

[Carl Brickey]

#51278

After reading this article, I can’t help but draw a parallel to an instance happening here in Northeast TN/Southwest VA. We apparently have enough sportsmen and women to support a Bass Pro Shops and a Cabelas within 7 miles of one another. They are both being constructed right now (leveled a mountain for Cabelas but that’s another story). Anyway I know they’re not an organization with member dues, but I can’t help remember Bass Pro’s slogan from only a few years back, “remember, we all live downstream”. This comes to mind because they are doing absolutely nothing to lobby against allowing fracking in Washington County VA, primarily alongside one of the best smallmouth bass rivers in the state. Also, you see nothing from the NRA, who’s member density is no doubt high in this area per the amount of bumper stickers that can be seen.

[Stephen Graf]

#51402

I hope this perspective gets repeated over and over. I have spoken to this point uncountable times, and I just get that 1000 yard stare back.

People just can’t connect the dots. Even when the dots are right in front of their eyes. As an example, when the crossbow issue came up in NC, the NRA was all over it. They gave a lot of money to the crossbow cause, and even had 2 lobbyists here the whole time. Yet our state bowhunter organization still claims the NRA as an organization it supports and donates too. When I pointed this stupidity out to the leadership, the response was that “our members will always support the NRA.” Stupid is as stupid does.

I was a little disturbed by the author saying the following though: “…Now if this were just about climate change, I would probably just shake my head, take a chill pill and walk calmly away…” Not sure what he meant by that.

[WyoStillhunter]

#59783

I decided some years ago that the NRA has a much deeper and broader “agenda” than anything that remotely resembles the rights of hunters. From that time forward I have disassociated.

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