Friday, October 13, 2006
More Hunting On Sunday
9:35 AM | 
Posted by
Unknown
My Friend Jim From the Herald in Canada worte a great article on this topic and agreed to let me share it on my blog.
Thanks Jim!!!
Meek for Herald
For Oct. 7, 2006
“Now it’s time for Sunday hunting”
Now that we’re among the global sophisticates who can shop at Wal-Mart on Sundays, someone has to stand up for the “Men in Orange” – the guys who go into the woods of Nova Scotia and fire bullets at God’s creatures.
And that someone is me.
Hunting is now the only activity I can think of that is utterly banned on Sunday – or what used to be known as the “Lord’s Day”. And it is palpably unfair that this is so. I say this as a non-hunting city dweller who doesn’t much care for the sport. But I say that my values are less important than their rights – and I say it seriously.
To the media and political elite in Halifax, hunters are forgotten people. They are neither urban nor urbane, and like barn-raisings and bingo games, they seem like quaint relics of a dimly-remembered past.
But I’ve got news for you city folk.
To begin with, Nova Scotia has thousands of hunters who love their sport. If they are qualified, they can bait bears, trap beavers and shoot deer. If they win a loto, they can even hunt moose in the Highlands of Cape Breton.
And why should people be allowed to golf on the old Christian Sabbath, but not be permitted to hunt? I mention the old links game with a purpose, for hunters and golfers are more alike than either would like to admit.
Like our distant ancestors, both types of sportsmen satisfy the primal male urge to carry spear-like devices into nature – and either whack or fire away at things.
What score did you “shoot” on the course yesterday, anyway? And were your irons “on target”?
And let’s not even mention hockey players, who are taught from a young age to use their sticks as weapons.
At least the hunters know what these rituals are about – they are about bringing down prey to feed families, getting through another hard winter, making life possible for another few months.
This is what primitive man did. And we don’t call ancient societies “hunting and gathering cultures” for nothing.
Men hunted animals while women gathered vegetative food and firewood, which helps explain why so many modern men prefer to golf and sweat and swear in the absence of distaff companions.
And ancient female “gathering” traditions have now evolved into “shopping” - on any day of the week.
Don’t get me wrong.
Shopping too is a profound ritual, the gathering of foods and goods – including $2,300 espresso machines - to make the home a safer, friendlier, warmer sanctuary.
Nor should it be a surprise that women sometimes want men nearer to hearth and home.
Those old hunting outings weren’t just fun for the boys. They were also dangerous – you could get lost, you could starve, you could die.
And if a man never came home, his family would suffer or die too. I know - you’ll tell me this has all changed. And I’ll ask you who takes the dangerous jobs today. And why did it seem that only women lost their firefighting partners five years ago, during the World Trade Center tragedy.
Call it love if you like - this womanly impulse to gather together the family, to keep everyone close and safe.
But it’s also about something that is more basic – survival.
Sunday was the traditional day for this “gathering-together” in our society. It was a holiday sanctioned by Christian tradition, just as Saturdays or Fridays were the “Sabbath” for people who followed Jewish or Islamic traditions.
The idea – a day of rest from hunting and shopping-gathering – was important then.
And by then, I mean last week in Nova Scotia.
But it’s not so important now. You can hire someone to do your shopping, and meet your kids once a week at a restaurant.
So if this is really a just, equitable, fair, and secular society, the liberalization of Sunday hunting laws will quickly follow the decision to open our stores on this former “day of rest”.
Who am I to fight progress, after all?
So call me Iron Jim, and meet me on the first tee on Sunday morning. Just don’t bring your shooting irons to the golf course.
Thanks Jim!!!
Meek for Herald
For Oct. 7, 2006
“Now it’s time for Sunday hunting”
Now that we’re among the global sophisticates who can shop at Wal-Mart on Sundays, someone has to stand up for the “Men in Orange” – the guys who go into the woods of Nova Scotia and fire bullets at God’s creatures.
And that someone is me.
Hunting is now the only activity I can think of that is utterly banned on Sunday – or what used to be known as the “Lord’s Day”. And it is palpably unfair that this is so. I say this as a non-hunting city dweller who doesn’t much care for the sport. But I say that my values are less important than their rights – and I say it seriously.
To the media and political elite in Halifax, hunters are forgotten people. They are neither urban nor urbane, and like barn-raisings and bingo games, they seem like quaint relics of a dimly-remembered past.
But I’ve got news for you city folk.
To begin with, Nova Scotia has thousands of hunters who love their sport. If they are qualified, they can bait bears, trap beavers and shoot deer. If they win a loto, they can even hunt moose in the Highlands of Cape Breton.
And why should people be allowed to golf on the old Christian Sabbath, but not be permitted to hunt? I mention the old links game with a purpose, for hunters and golfers are more alike than either would like to admit.
Like our distant ancestors, both types of sportsmen satisfy the primal male urge to carry spear-like devices into nature – and either whack or fire away at things.
What score did you “shoot” on the course yesterday, anyway? And were your irons “on target”?
And let’s not even mention hockey players, who are taught from a young age to use their sticks as weapons.
At least the hunters know what these rituals are about – they are about bringing down prey to feed families, getting through another hard winter, making life possible for another few months.
This is what primitive man did. And we don’t call ancient societies “hunting and gathering cultures” for nothing.
Men hunted animals while women gathered vegetative food and firewood, which helps explain why so many modern men prefer to golf and sweat and swear in the absence of distaff companions.
And ancient female “gathering” traditions have now evolved into “shopping” - on any day of the week.
Don’t get me wrong.
Shopping too is a profound ritual, the gathering of foods and goods – including $2,300 espresso machines - to make the home a safer, friendlier, warmer sanctuary.
Nor should it be a surprise that women sometimes want men nearer to hearth and home.
Those old hunting outings weren’t just fun for the boys. They were also dangerous – you could get lost, you could starve, you could die.
And if a man never came home, his family would suffer or die too. I know - you’ll tell me this has all changed. And I’ll ask you who takes the dangerous jobs today. And why did it seem that only women lost their firefighting partners five years ago, during the World Trade Center tragedy.
Call it love if you like - this womanly impulse to gather together the family, to keep everyone close and safe.
But it’s also about something that is more basic – survival.
Sunday was the traditional day for this “gathering-together” in our society. It was a holiday sanctioned by Christian tradition, just as Saturdays or Fridays were the “Sabbath” for people who followed Jewish or Islamic traditions.
The idea – a day of rest from hunting and shopping-gathering – was important then.
And by then, I mean last week in Nova Scotia.
But it’s not so important now. You can hire someone to do your shopping, and meet your kids once a week at a restaurant.
So if this is really a just, equitable, fair, and secular society, the liberalization of Sunday hunting laws will quickly follow the decision to open our stores on this former “day of rest”.
Who am I to fight progress, after all?
So call me Iron Jim, and meet me on the first tee on Sunday morning. Just don’t bring your shooting irons to the golf course.
Labels:
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Three Chears For the Arizona Department Of Fish & Game
It seems the Arizona Department of Fish and Game understands that it is important to introduce new people to hunting. They are putting on free workshops for anyone who would like to learn the basics of hunting.
The workshops include the free use of hunting equipment and free meals. Their goal is to introduce new hunters to the world of small game hunting and the importance of habitat conservation.
Two camps are scheduled. Both cover hunting opportunities, firearm selection and hunter education requirements. Other activities include 3-D archery, wildlife photography, environmental education games and survival basics.
WAY TO GO ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME!
While I am at it I guess I can give a cheer to the South Dakota Department of Fish and Game as well.
This year they are starting pheasant hunting season early with a special youth only pheasant hunt. The youth pheasant season is for those who will be at least 12 before the end of the year and are not yet 16. They can hunt this Saturday and Sunday on private and public property, with the exception of the right-of-way along roads, unless those ditches are adjacent to public lands. Young hunters must be accompanied by adults, who may not carry guns. The regular pheasant season opens October 21st.
WAY TO GO SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME!
The workshops include the free use of hunting equipment and free meals. Their goal is to introduce new hunters to the world of small game hunting and the importance of habitat conservation.
Two camps are scheduled. Both cover hunting opportunities, firearm selection and hunter education requirements. Other activities include 3-D archery, wildlife photography, environmental education games and survival basics.
WAY TO GO ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME!
While I am at it I guess I can give a cheer to the South Dakota Department of Fish and Game as well.
This year they are starting pheasant hunting season early with a special youth only pheasant hunt. The youth pheasant season is for those who will be at least 12 before the end of the year and are not yet 16. They can hunt this Saturday and Sunday on private and public property, with the exception of the right-of-way along roads, unless those ditches are adjacent to public lands. Young hunters must be accompanied by adults, who may not carry guns. The regular pheasant season opens October 21st.
WAY TO GO SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
No Pheasant Hunting On Sunday?
Did you know that eleven states ban hunting on Sunday or restrict it in various ways, such as allowing it only for certain game or in certain locations.
Some bans go as far back as the 1700s and are among the "blue laws" enacted to restrict working, shopping, drinking, dancing and other activities on the Sabbath. Courts have upheld Sunday bans on hunting, according to David Hudson of the First Amendment Center in Nashville.
Chris Cox, from the National Rifle Association states that bans like these that limit hunting cause the sport to loose ground. According to the NRA for every 100 hunters who quit, only 69 people take up the activity.
Source: Emily Bazar, "States consider lifting Sunday hunting bans; Loosening 'blue law' limits could control deer overpopulation," USA Today, October 3, 2006.
Some of the current states with sunday hunting bans include:
Virginia
Maryland
Connecticut
North Carolina
If you live in a state that bans sunday hunting give your legislator a call and tell him or her to do somthing about it. I would like to complete my list of eleven states so if you live in one of the states that is not mentioned above please let me know so I can add it to the list. Also, if you have a contact for the correct person to call in that state please post it for your fellow hunters in that state.
Remember it is our responsibility to keep hunting strong for future generations.
Also, I can't forget my advertising pitch- Please visit my pheasant hunting site.
Some bans go as far back as the 1700s and are among the "blue laws" enacted to restrict working, shopping, drinking, dancing and other activities on the Sabbath. Courts have upheld Sunday bans on hunting, according to David Hudson of the First Amendment Center in Nashville.
Chris Cox, from the National Rifle Association states that bans like these that limit hunting cause the sport to loose ground. According to the NRA for every 100 hunters who quit, only 69 people take up the activity.
Source: Emily Bazar, "States consider lifting Sunday hunting bans; Loosening 'blue law' limits could control deer overpopulation," USA Today, October 3, 2006.
Some of the current states with sunday hunting bans include:
Virginia
Maryland
Connecticut
North Carolina
If you live in a state that bans sunday hunting give your legislator a call and tell him or her to do somthing about it. I would like to complete my list of eleven states so if you live in one of the states that is not mentioned above please let me know so I can add it to the list. Also, if you have a contact for the correct person to call in that state please post it for your fellow hunters in that state.
Remember it is our responsibility to keep hunting strong for future generations.
Also, I can't forget my advertising pitch- Please visit my pheasant hunting site.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Quit slamming Pheasant Hunters
Well, I didn't think I would use the blog much but right off the bat I found something that really gets me fired up.
For my business www.gamebirdhunts.com I subscribe to google news for the words "pheasant" (that is a cool feature google offers and may be the subject of my next blog) anyway, I received this gem of a article which is really a letter to the paper posted by this women who really doesn't have a clue Linda Rauter. Here is the title of this clueless women's article:
Ban Fish & Game's pheasant 'put and take', LINDA RAUTER, Chichester - Letter
You can view this article at: http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060929/REPOSITORY/609290347
Anyway, she states that New Hampshire tax payers pay for 13,000 birds per year at $8/bird plus transport expenses to stock pheasants on public land and is calling for public pressure to stop this practice. "It is time to end this inhumane program" She goes on to describe a scene of hunters lined up as the birds come off the truck waiting their turn to shoot the birds.
I have got to tell you this is one of the most slanted letters I have ever read. I am not even sure where to start my rebuttal.
I would venture to guess that most of the fees for stocking these birds comes from hunters buying a pheasant or habbit stamp and that license is just the beginning, hunters are also responsible for spending a huge chunk of money getting ready for a hunt. Let me break down my typical hunting budget:
Dog- I can't even begins to tell you what type of cost I have in this mutt. Vet bills, dog food, the purchase price, training collar the list goes on and on. Conservatively my dog probally costs me a minimum of $600 a year
Gas & Lodging- Us Pheasant Hunters like to travel to different locations and most of us have big trucks so lets say we spend $800/year for gas & lodging.
Food- You have to eat when you go on a hunting trip $100/year
Guns and Ammo- With the price of a good shot gun running around $800 and shells running at least $4.50/box if you average out your gun cost by the year (lets say 10 years and 5 boxes of shells per year) you are probally talking about $102.50/year
Hunting Clothing and Gear- Lets not forget boots, vests, hats, gloves and all the other goodies you need for pheasant hunting $200/year
That is $1802.50 per year I spend and I would guess I am a bit more conservative them most. So, Miss Linda Rauter in addition to my licensing fee (which a good portion of the fees go to pay for not only the birds but also the habitat needed to support them) I also pay about $90 per year in sales taxes on my hunting purchases. I bring money to your local economy and the small invenstment that Fish and Game Makes on wild birds more then pays for it self in economic benefits directly and indirectly.
Now, lets talk about the "Dazed, hungry, confused and sometimes injured birds being released from cages. Apparently some hunters had gotten word of the release site and stood waiting to shoot as soon as the transport truck was out of the area"
Did you know that the ringneck pheasant is not a native bird to the United States. Infact, all the pheasants in the country were released at one time. I challenge you to go out and watch this process for your self. I have been around when a truck lets off pheasants and they are almost impossible to find shortly after. One of my customers runs one of the largest pheasant breeding facilities in the country and they take every precauction to ensure that their birds arrive healthy and in good condition. They even set up their farms to ensure that the birds are not allowed to get use to human contact.
At the end of this letter Linda calls on readers to call Lee Perry to stop this program. I challenge you as a hunter to call Lee Perry and tell him you enjoy the program and wish it to be increased. Lee Perry can be reached at 603-271-3511. Linda didn't leave her number.
I guess the point of this whole post is to let you hunters know our sport is under attack every day by uniformed people or just plain nuts. We need to voice our opinion as well in order to protect pheasant hunting and way of life for our kids and grandkids.
For my business www.gamebirdhunts.com I subscribe to google news for the words "pheasant" (that is a cool feature google offers and may be the subject of my next blog) anyway, I received this gem of a article which is really a letter to the paper posted by this women who really doesn't have a clue Linda Rauter. Here is the title of this clueless women's article:
Ban Fish & Game's pheasant 'put and take', LINDA RAUTER, Chichester - Letter
You can view this article at: http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060929/REPOSITORY/609290347
Anyway, she states that New Hampshire tax payers pay for 13,000 birds per year at $8/bird plus transport expenses to stock pheasants on public land and is calling for public pressure to stop this practice. "It is time to end this inhumane program" She goes on to describe a scene of hunters lined up as the birds come off the truck waiting their turn to shoot the birds.
I have got to tell you this is one of the most slanted letters I have ever read. I am not even sure where to start my rebuttal.
I would venture to guess that most of the fees for stocking these birds comes from hunters buying a pheasant or habbit stamp and that license is just the beginning, hunters are also responsible for spending a huge chunk of money getting ready for a hunt. Let me break down my typical hunting budget:
Dog- I can't even begins to tell you what type of cost I have in this mutt. Vet bills, dog food, the purchase price, training collar the list goes on and on. Conservatively my dog probally costs me a minimum of $600 a year
Gas & Lodging- Us Pheasant Hunters like to travel to different locations and most of us have big trucks so lets say we spend $800/year for gas & lodging.
Food- You have to eat when you go on a hunting trip $100/year
Guns and Ammo- With the price of a good shot gun running around $800 and shells running at least $4.50/box if you average out your gun cost by the year (lets say 10 years and 5 boxes of shells per year) you are probally talking about $102.50/year
Hunting Clothing and Gear- Lets not forget boots, vests, hats, gloves and all the other goodies you need for pheasant hunting $200/year
That is $1802.50 per year I spend and I would guess I am a bit more conservative them most. So, Miss Linda Rauter in addition to my licensing fee (which a good portion of the fees go to pay for not only the birds but also the habitat needed to support them) I also pay about $90 per year in sales taxes on my hunting purchases. I bring money to your local economy and the small invenstment that Fish and Game Makes on wild birds more then pays for it self in economic benefits directly and indirectly.
Now, lets talk about the "Dazed, hungry, confused and sometimes injured birds being released from cages. Apparently some hunters had gotten word of the release site and stood waiting to shoot as soon as the transport truck was out of the area"
Did you know that the ringneck pheasant is not a native bird to the United States. Infact, all the pheasants in the country were released at one time. I challenge you to go out and watch this process for your self. I have been around when a truck lets off pheasants and they are almost impossible to find shortly after. One of my customers runs one of the largest pheasant breeding facilities in the country and they take every precauction to ensure that their birds arrive healthy and in good condition. They even set up their farms to ensure that the birds are not allowed to get use to human contact.
At the end of this letter Linda calls on readers to call Lee Perry to stop this program. I challenge you as a hunter to call Lee Perry and tell him you enjoy the program and wish it to be increased. Lee Perry can be reached at 603-271-3511. Linda didn't leave her number.
I guess the point of this whole post is to let you hunters know our sport is under attack every day by uniformed people or just plain nuts. We need to voice our opinion as well in order to protect pheasant hunting and way of life for our kids and grandkids.
Welcome to the pheasant hunting blog
Welcome to my pheasant hunting blog. As a hunter and webmaster of a major online pheasant hunting site (www.gamebirdhunts.com) I decided I would check out this blog thing. As a pretty advanced web user I have always resisted the idea of setting up my own blog because it is so easy to edit my own web page I really didn't see the need for a pheasant hunting blog. However, I keep reading about how good that a blog can be for your business so here we go.
If you visit my site (www.gamebirdhunts.com) you will find a lot of information on keeping the sport of hunting alive by getting kids and non hunters involved. As I think about what this blog will be about I think I will dedicate much of my time to that subject as well as blatant advertising for my site.
Let me make one thing clear right off the bat. I can't spell! So if you see a lot of mistakes in grammar and spelling please forgive me. This blog is just a experiment and a hobby.
I am not sure how much time I will have to dedicate to maintaining this as pheasant hunting season is just around the corner but feel free to check back often.
And, don't forget to visit my main site www.gamebirdhunts.com for more info on pheasant hunting. (REMEMBER MY BLOG MISSION OF BLATANT ADVERTISING!)
Till Next Time,
Jon Ballard
Happy Hunting!
If you visit my site (www.gamebirdhunts.com) you will find a lot of information on keeping the sport of hunting alive by getting kids and non hunters involved. As I think about what this blog will be about I think I will dedicate much of my time to that subject as well as blatant advertising for my site.
Let me make one thing clear right off the bat. I can't spell! So if you see a lot of mistakes in grammar and spelling please forgive me. This blog is just a experiment and a hobby.
I am not sure how much time I will have to dedicate to maintaining this as pheasant hunting season is just around the corner but feel free to check back often.
And, don't forget to visit my main site www.gamebirdhunts.com for more info on pheasant hunting. (REMEMBER MY BLOG MISSION OF BLATANT ADVERTISING!)
Till Next Time,
Jon Ballard
Happy Hunting!
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