rammac
Well-Known Member
It's not just the managers and rule makers, they respond to the political pressure that the voters apply - and voters are hunters.
I've been kicked off of a forum for telling an out of state hunter (a guy from Texas) that was guided by a couple of non-licensed friends that used a cell phone to text the location of a bull elk during a elk bow hunt in SW Montana, that it was illegal to use a cell phone to communicate about elk locations during the hunt. I was told that I was a jerk even after posting the Fish and Wildlife rules and other comments from Game Management. Not a single person on that forum agreed with me and all of them said that not only was I stupid but I was probably the worst human being in the world for attacking this poor guy for successfully dropping his first Montana Elk with a bow. As the out of state hunter said, I was pizzing in his Cheerios. It didn't matter that he poached that elk, it didn't matter that his two Montana buddies helped him do it, nobody stopped to think that this guy just used three sets of eyes and an electronic means of communication and stole a resource from other hunters that were in the field, working their backsides off to follow the rules.
I've had arguments on hunting forums about corner crossing laws, some even said that we needed to change private property laws so that out of state hunters could cross private property where ever they wanted so that they could access public lands. One guy told me that he lived in Montana and always corner crossed and that anybody could do it because the Law Enforcement wouldn't do anything about it because the County Attorney would not take the case. I was told I was a jerk when I challenged the guy to come to my property and trespass and I'll call the Sheriff to have him cited.
Even this forum with the idea of "Long Range Hunting" is part of the problem. You get novices that don't have any idea what they are doing, shooting at over 300 yards at elk and deer and I'd bet that most make bad hits on an animal without even realizing it, they think that they've just missed the shot. I've done enough long range work over the years (20 years in the Marine Corps and involved in shooting since the early 1970's) to know that long range hunting isn't the same as shooting at paper. As soon as you open a conversation about hunting ethics and a hunter's responsibility is toward the animal you get ridiculed and shouted down. You are told that you don't have any right to push your ethics on others. I see lame statements all the time about how they missed the animal with their first, second, third or whatever shot but it was OK because they were sure that they didn't hit the animal - how the heck would you know. Anybody that has shot any living creature at long range (I'm talking about 600 yards or more) knows that it's hard to tell if you've hit the animal. Very seldom does a living thing react to a gun shot at that kind of range unless it's a very large caliber bullet with lots of energy - and nowadays everybody uses a super whiz-bang 6.5 something and claims that it's enough gun to make an ethical kill at 1000 yards on anything with four legs.
So yes, it's a combination of greed, stupidity, and arrogance that has caused a terrible impact on the animals and yes, we should all get involved in finding a good solution but don't forget that we are part of the problem too and we need to check our moral compass and make sure that we aren't doing unnecessary things just so we can brag about the kill we made.
I've been kicked off of a forum for telling an out of state hunter (a guy from Texas) that was guided by a couple of non-licensed friends that used a cell phone to text the location of a bull elk during a elk bow hunt in SW Montana, that it was illegal to use a cell phone to communicate about elk locations during the hunt. I was told that I was a jerk even after posting the Fish and Wildlife rules and other comments from Game Management. Not a single person on that forum agreed with me and all of them said that not only was I stupid but I was probably the worst human being in the world for attacking this poor guy for successfully dropping his first Montana Elk with a bow. As the out of state hunter said, I was pizzing in his Cheerios. It didn't matter that he poached that elk, it didn't matter that his two Montana buddies helped him do it, nobody stopped to think that this guy just used three sets of eyes and an electronic means of communication and stole a resource from other hunters that were in the field, working their backsides off to follow the rules.
I've had arguments on hunting forums about corner crossing laws, some even said that we needed to change private property laws so that out of state hunters could cross private property where ever they wanted so that they could access public lands. One guy told me that he lived in Montana and always corner crossed and that anybody could do it because the Law Enforcement wouldn't do anything about it because the County Attorney would not take the case. I was told I was a jerk when I challenged the guy to come to my property and trespass and I'll call the Sheriff to have him cited.
Even this forum with the idea of "Long Range Hunting" is part of the problem. You get novices that don't have any idea what they are doing, shooting at over 300 yards at elk and deer and I'd bet that most make bad hits on an animal without even realizing it, they think that they've just missed the shot. I've done enough long range work over the years (20 years in the Marine Corps and involved in shooting since the early 1970's) to know that long range hunting isn't the same as shooting at paper. As soon as you open a conversation about hunting ethics and a hunter's responsibility is toward the animal you get ridiculed and shouted down. You are told that you don't have any right to push your ethics on others. I see lame statements all the time about how they missed the animal with their first, second, third or whatever shot but it was OK because they were sure that they didn't hit the animal - how the heck would you know. Anybody that has shot any living creature at long range (I'm talking about 600 yards or more) knows that it's hard to tell if you've hit the animal. Very seldom does a living thing react to a gun shot at that kind of range unless it's a very large caliber bullet with lots of energy - and nowadays everybody uses a super whiz-bang 6.5 something and claims that it's enough gun to make an ethical kill at 1000 yards on anything with four legs.
So yes, it's a combination of greed, stupidity, and arrogance that has caused a terrible impact on the animals and yes, we should all get involved in finding a good solution but don't forget that we are part of the problem too and we need to check our moral compass and make sure that we aren't doing unnecessary things just so we can brag about the kill we made.
