Thursday, November 08, 2018

What You Tell Me When You Talk "AR"



Whenever anyone talks to me about how the “AR” (“animal rights”) folks are coming after hunting in America, I laugh.

Do these folks not know they have told me they do not hunt at all? 

Because anyone who does hunt gets "the paper" from the Department of Natural Resources every year -- magazine-length publications chock-full of hunting opportunities. 

Maryland sends me a special mailer every year begging me to take up bear hunting.

Would I like to shoot a dozen deer? Two dozen? Three dozen? More? No problem.

How about two dozen geese a day? Go for it!

Groundhogs are an unlimited take and an open season. Perfect.

Chase fox all year long? Of course.

Are there still local cash bounties on coyote?

Is the Fox Hound still the state dog of Virginia?  Yep.

 Is the Chesapeake Bay Retriever still the state dog of Maryland? Of course.

The wild turkey population exceeds pre-Columbian levels, same as for raccoons, possum, and red fox. A trapping license is just $5 extra.

If there’s a war on hunting in this country (and there isn’t), no one who actually hunts can see it.

God bless our game managers; they are not perfect but they are certainly the very best in the world.

And God bless Teddy Roosevelt and the other conservation politicians who gave us Fair Chase ethics and public lands to practice it on. 

Practice Fair Chase, stay within the law, love your dogs, and maintain your equipment.  Protect public lands and close gates behind you. 

This land is your land; it was made for you and me.

No comments: