Being a Hunter

There is a link on CNN’s homepage the last 48 hours, the headline:

NHL Player Ripped for Beheading Grizzly

It’s a link to the bleacherreport website. Clayton Stoner

Apparently a Mn Wild hockey player was recently successful on a grizzly hunt in British Columbia. The amount of hatred and venom being spewed his way is unbelievable. I get it, people don’t eat grizzly bear, it’s a trophy hunt. This can be hard for some to accept.

When I look at how popular hunting and fishing continues to become, just look at all the camo clothes out there now days. Prom to wedding formal wear, I think we are making progress. Then spend 10 minutes on any prominent Facebook page like Eva Shockey’s. She’s getting ripped by the anti’s daily. Then I see this article on Mr. Stoner and I’m just disgusted and reminded how diligent we must all be for our great sports to survive.

It doesn’t matter if you are a bow hunter, muzzleloader person or traditional archery, we must all band together to continue this fight. The extreme side of the political whackos are coming for us each and everyday. We must continue to introduce our children to the outdoors and show them all the glorious benefits it offers us. We must teach them that renewable resources need managed properly. It’s on US!!

I am a hunter, I will not apologize!!

Proud to be a hunter, fisherman, and overall lover of the outdoors.

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Proud to be a hunter, fisherman, and overall lover of the outdoors.

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X2!

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I am a hunter, I will not apologize!!

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Here, Here!!!

Mark

My grandfather was a hunter. My dad is a hunter. I am a hunter and my 5 year old grandson is a hunter. No apologies from any of us….

With that said, we must all be ethical hunters and lead by exmaple. No need giving the antis any unnecessary leverage.

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With that said, we must all be ethical hunters and lead by exmaple. No need giving the antis any unnecessary leverage.

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Well, I think you’ve put your finger on the crux of the issue, right there. “Ethical” is a loaded word. Ethical by whose standards?

IMO, the taking of any animal purely for the trophy of having done so (hide, head, claws, horns, etc) is one of the most problematic situations and it exposes all hunters to critisim.

I’m not sure how on-board I am with the situation in Canada. My understanding was that in Alaska you better pack out 100% of the edible portion of EVERY game animal including bear or you’ll get socked for a wanton waste violation so quick it’ll make your head spin. Lack of easy access to truc/pack/fly out meat is NOT an excuse for waste.

Grouse

All I’m talking about is staying within the law. Maybe “ethical” is a loaded word. I get upset every year when I hear the stories about gut piles being dumped on private property, road side ditches and public areas. Then we get the baiting stories,and the tresspass issues and hunting without permits, not tagging game properly. Leaving trash behind on public and private property. These are examples of things I was refering too. Everytime someones does these things they get lumped onto hunters as a whole and it hurts how the non hunting public percieves “hunters”. Trophy hunting vs meat hunting and the bigger issues are going to be there but we should do all we can to help foster a positive image for ourselves.

I could be wrong, but in Alaska, there are certain times of the year you are not required to keep the meat even off black bears. The risk of disease is too great. I don’t believe you are ever required to keep grizzly meat. I’ll ask my alaska buddy to confirm this.