[duane]

Been paying attention to a few things and it has got me wondering if this isn't the perfect plan to disarm the u.s. citizen. As we all know there are far more hunters than shooters. More hunters shoot because of the hunt and that is it. Recreational and competitive shooters are a smaller group as compared to hunters.
The plan is as follows;
1. small game numbers need to be reduced. This was accomplished through protection of prey animals such as hawks and reintroduction of animals such as coyotes and wolves. Liberal bag limits and introduction of non-native species(pheasant) has also contributed. Asegment of the hunting public now has to find another game species or quit hunting. Locally some fine shotguns have been showing up in gun shops for pennies on the dollar.
2. Big game (whitetail deer) numbers need to be reduced as the food source is not there. This has been accomplished in the large blocks of property here in Pennsylvania such as th Allegheny National Forest through no logging so that the forest canopy does not allow browse to grow. Reintroduction of coyotes, increased bear population and liberal bag limits. Traditions like going to camp in the mountains for deer season has been rapidly disappearing as the bulk of the deer population is around no gun or no rifle hunting urban areas.
3. Sell the idea of trophy antler growth. Done with antler restrictions.
4. give one segment of the hunting public the best possible hunting conditions for success. Throughout rut, warmer weather, 6 week long season. a special bear season and access. Bow season.

This is my conspiracy theory on how to disarm the public yet still allow us to hunt and keep the public from uproar. How perfect we willl get you so interested in bow hunting you will forget about your guns. I know this will infuriate some but it is my observation

 

[JPaulF]

Been paying attention to a few things and it has got me wondering if this isn't the perfect plan to disarm the u.s. citizen. As we all know there are far more hunters than shooters. More hunters shoot because of the hunt and that is it. Recreational and competitive shooters are a smaller group as compared to hunters. Seems to me the figures over the last 10 years demonstrate the opposite. Per capita, we have less hunting licenses being sold and exponentially more ranges and sporting clays fields.
The plan is as follows;
1. small game numbers need to be reduced. This was accomplished through protection of prey animals such as hawks and reintroduction of animals such as coyotes and wolves. Liberal bag limits and introduction of non-native species(pheasant) has also contributed. Asegment of the hunting public now has to find another game species or quit hunting. Locally some fine shotguns have been showing up in gun shops for pennies on the dollar. I don't know what part of the state you live in, but, in the SW part of the state Turkey, rabbits and squirrels are almost at nuisance levels and pheasants have been making a rapid repopulation. Coyotes were not reintroduced into PA - it's a myth. They simply continued adjusting to man and returning to population levels which are supported by available food, including Fido's dog food, left on the back porch. Turkeys are so plentiful that people are killed or injured, every year, when one flies in front of their car and thru the windshield. In fact, PA traps thousands of turkies and sells them to other state's in to increase their population.
2. Big game (whitetail deer) numbers need to be reduced as the food source is not there. This has been accomplished in the large blocks of property here in Pennsylvania such as th Allegheny National Forest through no logging so that the forest canopy does not allow browse to grow. Reintroduction of coyotes, increased bear population and liberal bag limits. Traditions like going to camp in the mountains for deer season has been rapidly disappearing as the bulk of the deer population is around no gun or no rifle hunting urban areas. In SW PA, we have a deer population of 13-15 per square mile and the State says it cannot be supported. That level has no fluctuated over a decade and won't. Hunting camps abound throughout western PA and are very plentiful along the eastern continental divide. The more populated eastern regions may be shotgun only, but out in the west it's tally-ho.
3. Sell the idea of trophy antler growth. Done with antler restrictions. They have tried this since I was a kid. It doesn't work as most hunters in PA are after meat, not just trophies. Those we got who would shoot a deer, cut off its head and head home were all from Philly... and that city should be given to NY or NJ, whichever will take it.
4. give one segment of the hunting public the best possible hunting conditions for success. Throughout rut, warmer weather, 6 week long season. a special bear season and access. Bow season. I don't understand your "one segment" argument. PA game laws cover everyone. If you are talking about bow hunters getting a break, that's foold-hardy, given the numbers of deer taken by bow compared to firearms and it completely ignores the numbers of bow hunters who also hunt with a gun.

This is my conspiracy theory on how to disarm the public yet still allow us to hunt and keep the public from uproar. How perfect we willl get you so interested in bow hunting you will forget about your guns. I know this will infuriate some but it is my observation Doesn't infuriate me, I just think it's silly. The easiest way to reduce hunters is to reduce available hunting lands. PA has done the opposite with its State Game Lands initiative.

Some people will find a conspiracy in any activity of government.

 

[MikeG]

Sorry, we have a long bow season, antler restrictions, generous doe tags, lots of predators - and still up to our ears in whitetails in Texas. Plenty of them and plenty of hunters.

 

[kdub]

Getting ready to pass a more thorough "Hunter's Rights" State Constitutional Amendment law here in Arizona this coming month.

Can't see any conspiracy to deny hunting/shooting/gun rights in this state!

 

[jmortimer]

Seems like Arizona can do no wrong lately. Unfortunately, I'm about 200 miles west of Arizona. Seems like things got much better when Brewer got "promoted" or Napolitano left or both. Either way, you all got it good.

 

[unclepaddy]

You might be exploring "the farther shores" with some of this, but I think you may be on to something with the idea of wolf introduction and the like. The outlawing of trapping here in California has decimated the pheasant, fox and raccoon population in some areas, but I don't see any evidence that it wa n intendd consequence.

 

[jmortimer]

Agree, all that and the genius idea by the tree-huggers to outlaw hunting of Mountain Lions had all but made Big Horn Sheep extinct here in Kalifornia. Don't think it helped the deer population either.

 

[CAROLINAHOAN]

I'm gonna have to agree with JPaulF. I'm gettin' ready to head up to NY State to bow hunt in 2-3 weeks, and trust me I know better than to drive through PA at night during that particular time of year (the rut). I will not do that again. I've never seen more dead deer and turkeys laying on the side of an interstate.


Although, hmmmm, I am concerned about the so-called "reintroduction" of the Canadian gray wolf. Yeah, just go research it online. There are websites on both sides of the issue. Don't get me started on this one cuz I've had a fairly decent day.... plus I am a native Idahoan so you can probably guess that I am in favor of the state managing the darn things.

I also feel for the Californians that don't get to manage their mountain lion population. I've seen bighorn sheep in several parts of Idaho and western Oregon on several occasions. They are an awesome animal to watch. I think they are a much better animal to see in the wild than a mountain lion.

I can't complain about the hunting laws too much in NC..... muzzleloader season extended an extra week this year and it is divided throughout the state (2 weeks in each of the 4 sections) so you can hunt with a muzzleloader from Oct 2nd until almost Thanksgiving..... I've got another week of muzzleloader in the western section where I hunt then back to bow season for another month. I love that....

take care

 

[Pawpaw Tony]

heck it seems to me there are to many regulations now.. if this keeps up..the only thing left to regulate will be regulations themselves..
i know some have good purpose,but im kinda weary of the final result ..
im old school ,from when you could just go squirrel hunting ,on your neighbors land..
give him a call ,an almost always get permission, with mabe a request that you be careful
an remember the woods are dry ,so watch the butts.
i know im a dinasaur..
i know hunters did the damage,leaving cans an plastic bottles etc all over peoples land..
still,i miss those days..
this regulating everything to the exstent its its headed now,is gonna not have a result ,,any freedom loving american is gonna like very much..
even the haves..jmo.
ps one thing for sure though,, is that change is constant..

 

[BAGTIC]

heck it seems to me there are to many regulations now.. if this keeps up..the only thing left to regulate will be regulations themselves..
i know some have good purpose,but im kinda weary of the final result ..
im old school ,from when you could just go squirrel hunting ,on your neighbors land..
give him a call ,an almost always get permission, with mabe a request that you be careful
an remember the woods are dry ,so watch the butts.
i know im a dinasaur..
i know hunters did the damage,leaving cans an plastic bottles etc all over peoples land..
still,i miss those days..
this regulating everything to the exstent its its headed now,is gonna not have a result ,,any freedom loving american is gonna like very much..
even the haves..jmo.
ps one thing for sure though,, is that change is constant..

Yep! We need to return top the 'Good Old Days'. Only a century ago deer were much scarcer than today and elk and bison were exterminated east of the Mississippippi. Bear and puma were eradicated from wide areas of the eastern USA. And it was all done by a population a fraction of today's armed with antiquated weapons that few modern hunters would want to be saddled with. The one bright light was that they did not have to live with all of our contemporary rules and regulations.

Now imagine what would happen if we turned 300-plus million people losse in this country with a similar lack of restraints.

 

[JPaulF]

Those with Utopian thoughts are generally considered Democrats. Those kinds of thoughts are no for me.