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Post by whartonrattrapper on Jan 15, 2020 9:22:56 GMT -5
The anti's are getting closer all the time, and their means of communication through social media bring them to our doorstep, know matter where they live. Hancock cancels coyote contest; wbng.com/2019/12/31/207689/
It seems to me our DEC could do a better job of informing these idiots about controlling animal populations for the sake of a healthy population.
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Post by whartonrattrapper on Jan 15, 2020 9:33:36 GMT -5
Furthermore the lady interviewed is a city dwelling, professed cat lover and lives an hour away from Hancock. so the TV station is doing us no favors in giving her the platform to speak without an equal platform for the sportsmen involved. If I knew the most efficient way to start a petition boycotting WBNG TV's anti sportsman policies I would. Does anyone wish to help with this?
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Post by walleyed on Jan 15, 2020 12:38:38 GMT -5
Furthermore the lady interviewed is a city dwelling, professed cat lover and lives an hour away from Hancock. so the TV station is doing us no favors in giving her the platform to speak without an equal platform for the sportsmen involved. If I knew the most efficient way to start a petition boycotting WBNG TV's anti sportsman policies I would. Does anyone wish to help with this? While I thoroughly disagree with the rational posed by the lady with petition. In my opinion, It was never a good idea to promote coyote hunting as a competitive sport. While coyotes and all other wildlife should be properly managed in a conservative way within the carrying capacity of the range, achieving that goal by means of a competitive killing contest only portrays hunters in a negative light with non-hunting public who might otherwise support reasonable wise use management of the coyote resource. We are never going to change the minds of rabid, anti-hunters but we can certainly turn ambivalent non-hunters against our cause if we can't justify our actions as conservative, necessary, and reasonable. In my opinion, hunting & killing coyotes for prizes in an organized contest gives us a black eye. I don't begrudge others the right to do so, but you can't convince me that it is a good idea. It's not what we do as consumptive users of wildlife, but instead, what we APPEAR to do, on which we will be judged by the non-hunting public. All in my opinion, of course. w
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Post by whartonrattrapper on Jan 15, 2020 12:59:17 GMT -5
Walleyed, I am not a coyote hunter so I have no skin in the game. I just feel enough is enough. This BS needs to stop now.
Could you imagine this ladies response if she found out about the local VFW rabbit hunt?
It's time that WE the outdoorsmen take this fight in our own hands and stop these people from influencing the rest of the fence sitters before it's to late.
These people need to see video of a deer dragging ass across while the coyote eats it's ass and leaves it for dead....I bet they would have a different outlook on managing our wildlife population.
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Post by walleyed on Jan 15, 2020 15:44:06 GMT -5
These people need to see video of a deer dragging ass across while the coyote eats it's ass and leaves it for dead... I bet they would have a different outlook on managing our wildlife population. Maybe they would and maybe they wouldn't. You just described the natural process of coyote managing the deer herd. Even bet there are many people who understand the natural process of mother nature "taking it's course". I've heard lots of trappers on here complaining about deer and deer hunters ruining their access and interfering with their trap lines so why not let the some coyotes do what some coyotes do. With the Democrats in the majority in both the State Senate & Assembly and Cuomo ready to rubber stamp their work, we're only about a couple of Anti-hunting or Trapping bills away from being out of business. We'd better be more cognizant of our reputation with the non-trapping/hunting public. Boycotts and Petitions are a waste of time. Lobbying Our Legislators and winning the publicity battle for public perception is far more important. w
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Post by trappermac on Jan 15, 2020 18:19:12 GMT -5
Bass fishing contests, walleye tournaments, big buck contests, largest turkey contests, etc. I enter two walleye contests per year, I keep a fully equipped boat in a slip all year on Lake Erie so I'm out there anyways fishing for them. Is that any different from a coyote contest? Are any of the other contests? I also predator hunt, I enjoy the challenge. I don't during the time I am trapping but right now, this time of year, I enjoy night hunting or even early morning for coyote and maybe fox for another week. Its a hell of a lot more exciting and challenging then deer hunting. I also usually partake in one predator contest each year, they are fun and involve much more than killing. Most start Fri night, run until Sun afternoon. Usually a couple hundred guys and gals gathering afterwards for food and drink, raffle prizes, door prizes, awards, gun, ammo, caller talk, etc. All the ones I've gone to have a fur buyer present so all the critters either go home with him or the hunters who do put up their own fur. One guy I know gets 75 coyote per year, all night hunting, all well put up and sold just like trappers. Some hunters in PA I know of take over 200 fox per year, same way.
If a single trapper goes out and traps 100 canines in a season he is a hero. A weekend long contest yields 100 total canines from 200 participants and that's not a wise use of the resource? Not trying to convince you Bob but you'd have a hard time convincing me that there is a difference.
This little contest in Hancock was their biggest fund raiser, for a volunteer fire dept in a very small town that is sorrounded by big woods, farms, and coyote. Many residents of the town have complained about the high coyote population there. Unfortunately, the antis win another one.
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Post by whartonrattrapper on Jan 16, 2020 7:16:17 GMT -5
Boycotts and Petitions are a waste of time. w That's funny.. an online petition was the driving force behind the contest being cancelled. Like it or not anyone from anywhere can influence our way of life with one click of the mouse. I'd have to believe if WBNG, which has always been a great ambassador for sportsmen, saw a petition with a few thousand signatures condemning them for their liberal reporting, they would take notice. Instead we sit and watch our heritage being eroded by these people with nothing to do but judge others who don't share their point of view.
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Post by walleyed on Jan 20, 2020 16:11:34 GMT -5
Boycotts and Petitions are a waste of time. w That's funny.. an online petition was the driving force behind the contest being cancelled. Like it or not anyone from anywhere can influence our way of life with one click of the mouse. I was referring to Petitions to the DEC, Bureau of Wildlife or to Our Legislator's. Lobbying Our Legislator's, or networking & forming Partnerships with other like minded stakeholders is the only way we will get what we want or keep what we have. Well spoken spokespersons who can intelligently articulate our positions on Managing wildlife who can convince ambivalent non-hunting/trapping citizens what's in it for them to support our cause. w
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Post by walleyed on Jan 20, 2020 16:39:44 GMT -5
If a single trapper goes out and traps 100 canines in a season he is a hero. A weekend long contest yields 100 total canines from 200 participants and that's not a wise use of the resource? Not trying to convince you Bob but you'd have a hard time convincing me that there is a difference. Mac, There is no difference between the two scenarios, But I think you are missing my point. I have nothing against predator hunting & calling or killing of Coyotes. I do some of It my self and have no problem with it as means of managing K-9's. My point was that to the Non-hunting Public, it is hard justify (in Their minds} the killing of warm, fluffy wild animals for the sake of blood sport to see how many can be racked upon a weekend of shooting. It's not the individual killing of each animal that stands out. It's the public perception & image of an organized slaughter for prizes that looks bad. If we aren't more cognizant of how we look to the general public, then we are doomed. Just remember back to the Snapping Turtle Trapping Ban. No matter than managing snapping turtle populations was good, wise use conservation that saved ducklings, muskrats, fish, and swimming children's fingers. We couldn't get that ban over-turned because John-Q-Public didn't support our side, and DEC, Bureau of Wildlife had an Assistant Director who ram-rodded it. Whether or not I think coyote calling contests are a good Idea, or not is immaterial. The citizen on the street has a poor mental image of these contests, and therefore, of us. w
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