Wow since I started this let me chime in with one more angle.

I think that there is a big difference between people that

1. Are simply non hunters
2. Don't like hunting
3. Are anti hunters

What I see here at pond boss other then those that hunt themselves seem to be #1 and #2. I have yet to see a true Anti Hunter. To me and Anti is someone who actually has an objective to outlaw hunting and is actively engaged in promoting it.

Anti's are generally very poorly informed about wild life and management of it. They don't understand hard facts like starvation. They don't get that any deer that grows old enough starves in the wild no matter how much food there is.

Anti's can't grasp the fact that Pennsylvania is the most heavily hunted deer state in the US and yet it has a deer heard that grew from 900,000 animals in the mid 80s to more then 1.6 Million today.

Like I said we don't seem to have any of them here which makes a LOT of sense. Land managers tend to understand to much reality to not grasp logic.

Many non hunters or people that really don't like hunting don't want to hunt and they don't want to see it. They won't allow it on their land but they make NO EFFORT to try to outlaw hunting and would not VOTE for someone with the goal to take away all guns and all hunting.

I don't think most hunters have much of an issue with these people personally. What hunters are is hyper sensitive as a group taking many non hunters to be anti hunters. There is good reason for it.

Go back and read my orginal post. That is what hunting is to many of us. It is a way of life and a tradition we dearly love. No one loves the wild life more the the hunter.

Spare me the stories about the yahoos cutting off horns and being jerks. They are less then 1/10 of 1% of people that call themselves hunters. Trust me such jerks have far more to fear from real hunters then from anti hunters if we happen to see them. A call to the warden is the minimum result a good old fashioned butt kicking may be the other option.

We are hypersensitive as a group because there is a REAL THREAT to our way of life out there. Our fear with people who are just non hunters and don't like hunting is they may stand by and allow us to loose our fight because they do not understand it.

Money is what fuels this fight. We (hunters) put our money into wild life management and preservation. Anti's put their money into stopping us from hunting. They are fueled by clueless celebrities who back groups like PETA (who kills thousands of dogs each year by the way).

My post was an attempt to let those who are non hunters or just don't like it possibly understand it better. Not a call for you to pick up a gun or a bow and join me in the woods. Hunters like solitude trust me we don't need more company especially on public land.

We seek

1. To be understood
2. For our rights to be protected

If you look at the success of any animal in the US over the last 100 years (game and non game) it is a direct result of hunters, their money and their efforts. We love the land, we love our nation and above all we love knowing our place in nature.

Hunting vs. Non Hunting debates are never about converting people and getting them to hunt too. It is simply about the fact that we don't want to loose something that means so much to us. We are dedicated people that have more love for the wild then anyone in a group like PETA ever could.

We in short simply seek to be understood and allowed to retain the rights to the land and the game that are part of the foundation of our nation,

Jack Spirko
www.jackspirko.com