otis

I was at the meeting. I saw a lot of animosity. I saw lots of people trying to win arguments. I saw old wounds being opened. It was pretty sad.. Let's start planning forward like we do for the next hunting season. That being said, I misread the purpose of this meeting. I did not know we were going to argue about how to raise money. So when you folks are done arguing, call me. I am interested in educating non-hunters.

Nasty anti-hunting article in the Republic this morning. I posted it in the Mountain Lion forum. thought it might get more views.

Arizona Republic Article.pdfThis Article was in the Opinion section. The Republic says articles in this section can be distributed.

Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation. I follow them on facebook. Found another facebook page I like. Arizonans for Wildlife Accuracy.

Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation. I follow them on facebook.

There is additional discussion in the forum called "Political Discussions Related To Hunting". I found it under the Coues Whitetail Community. Good stuff. DECLINE TO SIGN!!!!!!

I found this on the Arizona Cattlemen's Association Website. It looks like it was reprinted from the Sept-Oct Wildlife Views. DECLINE TO SIGN!!!! mountainLionFactSheet.pdf

There is some great information on this forum relating to the proposed Cougar and Bobcat hunting ban. I found it under the Coues Whitetail Community section.

This initiative to ban cougar and bobcat hunting makes me angry. We will get to this in a minute. The world is a big place. In order to get my head around it. I need to make it a smaller place. Just like hunting, I try to take my unit and pick and choose where I will scout. There are only so many hours in the day. So, I had to downsize this issue in my brain. This decision comes down to three types of people. Hunters, Anti-Hunters and Non-Hunters. Anti-hunters will never change their minds. They are a waste of time. Hunters need to know about this initiative and we need to share the word. Then it occurred to me that every one I talked to about the ban on cougar and bobcat hunting agreed with me. How could this be? You know the answer. I was talking to other hunters. This issue will be decided by Non-Hunters. They are the biggest of the three groups. So the first thing I did was to start following Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife conservation on Facebook. The more ideas we have the better we can communicate with Non-Hunters. Then I realized the challenge "URBANIZATION". This is a different Arizona then I grew up in. I don't think that people living in Tempe or Paradise Valley are worried about Cougars killing their pets or Bobcats raiding their chicken coop. Don't make the mistake of thinking the Humane Society of the United States is stupid. Rebranding themselves as Arizonans for Wildlife is genius. They have the money and emotion on their side. We have facts and common sense. That might not be enough for us. So I was talking to the wife, a Non-Hunter. We live in Mesa so I know she is not losing sleep over cougars eating Sammy the wonder dog. I asked her what bothered her about this initiative. She said it was a matter of choice. If she decided she wanted to hunt she did not want people taking that choice away from her. A light bulb went on. This why I am angry. Anti-Hunters are messing with my choice to hunt. We need to communicate with as many Non-Hunters as we can. We never think about it but we support their choice to not hunt. We need to let them know this. We need to get them to respect our choice just like we respect theirs. Talk to your Non-Hunting friends. Let them know we are in a historic drought and need to protect and manage all wildlife. I even talked to one person that thought Cougars are endangered. Don't get mad at their lack of knowledge. Have a discussion. You will learn a lot believe me. DECLINE TO SIGN!!!!!