It doesn't matter which side of the fence your on...some folks hate anything modern...others have to have the latest gizmo to make their hunts easier...but...if your going to make a primative anything season...then we all should be using hand napped flint spears...and leave the modern weapons at home...not to mention all of the other modern things...like gortex thisulate rubber...steel...ect...ect...ect...see where this can go...if we let it..
Mac, you infered a number of things into my statements that just weren't there!
It's not about being on any side of a fence. I'm not dragging up the old mod vs trad argument. I'm not speaking as a re-enactor or buckskinner. I'm neither of those things. And there is no mention of gore-tex or spears either.
What I'm adressing is the spirit of the hunt and the spirit of the regulations. They were established to allow certain types of weapons and were never about the other things you mentioned. The spirit of these seasons and the use of the weapons they were originally intended for never needed to be defended until the purveyors of the "easy way" convinced some hunters that they were necessary in order for them to
take advantage of the timing or less crowding of the special seasons. That makes the purveyors and the makers of the modern stuff nothing but opportunists. So who is doing the "dividing" in that regard?
Ultimately, when these special seasons go away because the spirit of the season is degraded to the point of not being recognizable, then we'll just be back to square one and the guys like myself who like to hunt with historical type of bp guns will still be out there using them. The plastic in-line ml guns will collect dust in closets.
It's not about being a "purist" either. I hunt with modern rifles quite often and have more of them than my CEO can ever know about.
It's just about being "in the spirit" as far as I'm concerned.
because this is exactly what some nearsighted holier than thou purist would have you do...fight each other...and that my friends is something none of us can afford to do..
There will always be differences among the hunting community. I for one will
not simply and automatically stand together with some of our compatriots. There
are things that can be justly criticised between us as a group and on occasion I've found myself siding against some members of the community and even voting against them. I'll do it again if it's appropriate.
The two biggest threats to, and compromisers of, our hunting traditions today are outfitters and equipment manufacturers. In some western states, Wyoming comes to mind, a non-resident hunter is not permitted to hunt on public land if it is a designated "wilderness area" without engaging a licensed guide/outfitter. The supposed rationale for that is to "protect" those hunters from harm that might befall them if they hunted in those places themselves. The real agenda of course is to force them into the hands of greedy outfitters who are responsible for the regulation being implemented.
In Arizona we see a large outfitter trying to force the sale of more non-resident licenses by the state in order to force more clients into there camps. The rationale being that public land should allow any number of US citizens to hunt on it just because it's federally administered land. That's the rationale of course, but it ignores the reality that first off, not all hunting takes place on public land and also that the wildlife that is being hunted is managed (at great expense) by the state. So, it's not the land that is off limits, it's the wildlife that the feds do not manage. Who wins with this twisted thinking? The outfitters who brought the suit against the state of AZ. How divisive is that?? Would you like to see the feds managing wildlife exclusively? Who will manage the wildlife on the private lands? The anti hunting groups would love to have hunting and wildlife management centralized in DC. One point of attack and a much softer target!! Do the outfitters who are counting their fees in advance give a dang? Nope! Should we all stand together with them? Do so if you wish, but not me and luckily not a many other sportsmen as well.
Hanging together and working together toward
common recognized goods is what we need to do in order to protect the hunting tradition in this country. But standing together blindly without consideration for higher values than commonality just takes away our integrity both as individuals and a group.
So, ya see, I agree with Quick too when he says "...it's not good for hunters/shooters to pit the traditional against the modern in a squabble over what's right and what's wrong." But, I'm not pitting trad vs modern against each other. Nor am I comparing them in terms of good and bad. If I was, I'd never pick up my Tikka or Savage, or Mossberg or......(gotta slow down here. Who knows who might be reading
) and go forth to gather meat.
What I'm saying is that these ml seasons have a history and intent in their establishment and they should be limited to that in terms of the weaponry allowed. Respecting that is part of respecting a part of our mutual hunting tradition as well as your fellow hunters. Does that just maybe sound a little bit like sticking together??
