people who just don't get it.

[kevin.303]

i now firmly believe that outdoorsman have a much better under standing of the ways of nature and the ecosystem then most anti's ever will. for example...

        i was fishing earlier today just south of town at a dam on a small river. i'd caught a jackfish that was no trophy but big enough to have for supper. i filleted it right there by the river. there was a number of people fishing and canoeing in the area, including one woman who probably wasn't more than ten years older then me. her 5 year old son was trying to cast one of those cheap zebco reels that i'm sure a good many of use started our fishing addiction with. i had been talking with her earlier and explaining some things about fishing. after i had cleaned my fish i chucked the head, guts and skin over the dam. she gave me a dirty look and said" you shouldn't do that" "oh, it'll just rot if the raccoons don't get it by morning" i replied. "that's why you shouldn't do that. polluting our water ways, there should be a fine for that, couldn't you just chuck it in the garbage..." on and on and on. i just shook my head in disbelief and walked away. i could have argued with her and enjoyed it, but i had to get home. i didn't say anything when i left but i made sure she saw me dump my tub of shiners ( i threw the plastic tub in the trash) and i got the same dirty look. some people just can't make the connection between what's on their plate and how it got there.

any other interesting stories like this out there? hunting or fishing there must be some.

[aulrich]

It has nothing to do with getting, it she saw you fish guts as garbage. And she may also have been in the right as to the regulations, you would have to check you local regs but most places your not allowed to discard guts into and/or along the water way.  

I know that the guts would just re-enter the food chain but if you and the 9 other people did that there would be 10 carcasses floating around and seeing we just passed a long weekend that probably means there are 40 seeing the higher activity friday to monday.  And how many of those 40 need to wash-up and not be eaten by skunk to make that fishing hole a skinking mess. Then we have the upside of lots of skunks in the area.

One question if you caught your limit would you have dumped all of the guts into the water? Probably not. In the scheme of things your one fish was not a big deal and if you were the only one using the place who cares, but your not. It's like pissing in the pool if everyone did it the water would be yellow even though any one person only did it once.

For the record I don't think she was the one that doesn't get it. Your story is not a story of how "city folk" don't understand the circle of life, it's a story on how not handle yourself in a high use area.

[kevin.303]

well you do have a few valid points. it depends on where i am as to how i clean my catch. middle of a lake, everything over the side. and yesterday i made sure to move a good distance from where anyone was actively fishing before tossing the carcass into fast moving water. i could have just left it on the bank or chucked it in to the bushes. i didn't wait till i got home because they are easier to fillet before they get too stiff and too slimey. a number of people fish there, but very few keep there catch. i know it doesn't "justify" it but the banks wher littered with rotting carp.

    also i'm not against city folk, i'm a city dweller. this person had the idea that a fish carcass would poison the water and that it would be the same as dropping it into drinking water tank.


i may not entirely agree with your view, but i respect it none the less and will take it in to consideration next time.

[aulrich]

I know it is nit picking, and besides how may fish live and die in the river that we don't see. Bottom line it is reallyjust PR and plain old neatness. So it is almost all about image and hunting and fishing are loosing ground. Her perception may have been founded on an invalid assuption but you still have to take them into account.

[kevin.303]

yes on that point you are entirely correct. i was thinking about this at work today(making pizza leaves ones mind free to wander) and i couldn't help but think that to an uninformed observer that would look bad. kinda like a dressed and bloody deer hanging out the back of a pickup parked in front of restaurant. also instead of just walking away i could have taken the time to explain it doesn't harm the river, it re enters the food chain, and that if there where a garbage can i could have thrown it in it would have created a horrible stink in a day or 2 and finally that i did make an effort to dispose of it where it was away from the main fishing spots.

aw well i can admit when i'm wrong and i was partially wrong,THIS TIME!!

[ratherbefishin]

I;ve got a better one than that-speaking of chucking it in the garbage[where does she think the garbage ends up?]
 Some time ago we had a ferry that went from here to Seattle- one of the old ''Princess boats''They discharged their tanks out in the straits- and after  much political pressure they installed at great expense holding tanks to they could discharge the waste into the sewer system-which- you guesses it- discharged right back into the straits, except rather than dumping far from land, the sewer outflow pipe only went about a few hundred yards offshore.But- at least there was no more ''dumping raw sewage'' from the boat......

[kevin.303]

i just realized the city dump is a mile and a half up the road from wher i was fishing