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Politically correct bowhunters

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Not really taken serious by the legislatures and the 80% of the regular non hunting public.

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Don't dismiss them completely. Money talks. Try bear hunting in New Jersey, or putting sows in a gestation crate in Arizona, or even taking old Nelly to the slaughter house. Just a few recent victories by HSUS
 
The hunting communities’ “keys to victory”

Basic principles:
1) Don’t take actions that have the potential to negatively effect or impact the NON-hunting community
2) Take every opportunity to educate the NON-hunting community with facts about the importance of hunting/fishing/trapping
3) Don’t underestimate the power and purse size of the anti-hunting, anti-2nd ammendment crowd.

If you want extra credit:
4) Don’t criticize any moral, legal and ethical activity of your peers within the hunting community in a public forum just because you hunt, fish or trap differently than they do!
5) Recruit new hunters, fishermen and trappers into the outdoors

By the way, I use the word “harvest”! I learned to do this about five years ago while giving a hunting related presentation to a middle school class. ½ the kids were turned off by my talk of “killing.” Once I explained to them that humans are located at the top of the food chain and deer are a natural resource, much like berrys and nuts, and harvesting them for food was okay, I won the entire class back over. I’ve even been invited back to give my presentation every year since!

So pick ‘em, harvest ‘em or kill ‘em to your hearts content, just remember who your audience is when you open the pie hole!!
 
Well said WF. As our population gets more urbanized, their ability to sympathize with hunting, trapping and fishing is eroded. We can live with the extreme lunatics,but we must do all we can to keep neutral non-hunters just that- NEUTRAL. With our great democracy, a lot of urban voters can dictate what we may or may not do in the outdoors. This has been proven on both the east and west coasts. I love Ted Nugent, but his in your face style isn't what we need right now.
 
First of all. To get of my chest. Ted was a radical, and had good intentions. HE HAS JUMPED OFF THE DEEP END. I think he is potraying things a lot differently than many of us would choose to do.

on another note, The world is the world. I know lots of people who don't want to see it. For example my mom, hates seeing the blood guts. She could never kill. She loves to see us being happy doing what we love.
I do my best to respect that. not using the kitchen sink to clean up, well sometimes,
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Most people who dont care for hunting and are the people that the mere mention of it they go off are generally just ignorant people all around.

I really appreciate the people who do not like the killing, but will take the time to show interest, listen to stories, etc. If they want to express there opinion, i am willing to listen as long as they give me the same common courtesy. Even though it may go in one ear and out the other
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Fact is though, the people in the middle don't look at this site, watch hunting shows, or watch Teds realty show. You know why? Because they don't care and it doesn't interest them. Just like I don't know what happened last week on Gardening with Becca. Maybe she killed a snake with her garden hoe and threw it in her D&R power chipper. Don't know and don't care.
 
Well said Whitetail Fanatic.

Use some common sense fellows.

90% of the people who do not hunt could care less if you hunt. They are more interested in watching Desperate Housewives or the Golden Glodes.

In an effort to keep these people less concerned about what you do, dont go parading your deer on top of the car or make stupid comments in a public setting that may offend someone who does not hunt.

Also, if the opportunity presents itself, in an intelligent manner, explain how and why you hunt animals (outdoors, wildlife management herd conrtol, escape, family time etc. etc.)

The other 10% who think Huntung is horrible are never going to change their mind so their is no need to do stupid things so that number grows over time.

Hunt hard, be smart and pass on our hunting heritage.
 
WF you didn't specify how you used the word harvest, in terms of the herd or in dividuals, which was my point about how it can be used right and wrong.

Interestingly, I was involved in a deep discussion about these things with a group of other Iowa outdoor writers and editors about 15 years ago, in a cabin on lake Okoboji. We talked late into the night one night about this exact topic, and everything from how much we all hated the words fisherperson and fisher as opposed to fisherman, to the issue of "harvesting a buck". We pretty much all agreed that angler was the best word for a person who fishes, and that harvest should never be used when talking about the taking of an animal, it should be reserved for the thinning of the population as a whole.
 
Iowa,

I use the word harvest for both individuals and when talking about the overall herd. The word harvest works well in either situation.

Please don't take my comments out of context; I ain't got anything against kill'n a deer, and I am not ashamed of my hunting heritage. Blood, guts and killing are a part of that and when I’m with other known hunters we “kill” deer.

I just believe that we look better in the eyes of non-hunters when instead of “kill’n deer” we are “harvesting a renewable, natural resource.” Some will still think substituting “Harvest” for “Kill” is a concession to the PC crowd, or that it is less macho…. I happen to believe it is just doing whatever it takes to win the favor of those all important Non-hunters.


Additionally, since I don’t always know who is in the audience, I now prefer to error on the side of using “harvest” around hunters rather than using “kill” around non-hunters.
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I just believe that we look better in the eyes of non-hunters when instead of “kill’n deer” we are “harvesting a renewable, natural resource.” Some will still think substituting “Harvest” for “Kill” is a concession to the PC crowd, or that it is less macho…. I happen to believe it is just doing whatever it takes to win the favor of those all important Non-hunters.

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You would think for a guy who makes his living communicating I would be able to do a better job of explaining myself. I'm not sure I am getting my point through. Harvesting a renewable natural resource is exactly what hunters in general do. That's the key to making our side of the story known in a way that helps non-hunters accept what we do and why what we do is important.

I am saying that to use the word harvest when talking about an individual animal sounds silly and it sounds to a non-hunter like we are trying to hide the fact that we actually just took a life. I beleive that is counterproductvie to our cause. I do not think that is in the best interstes of "winning the favor of non-hunters" as you put it, I think it is just the opposite. People try to hide something when they know it is wrong, and that is the impression we give when we say that we harvested a deer. I watch thse TV shows and it sounds so silly to me and so obvious that they are using the word harvest to try to soften or hide the fact that they just killed something. The non-hunting public sees right through it.

Do you have to use the word "kill"? Of course not; there are a lot of other words that work, and as I said before, the word bag is my favorite because it has a more benign connotation to it but it doesn't sound like you are hiding something when you say you bagged a deer, bagged a turkey, a duck, pheasant, etc.

If I haven't confused you enough yet, here are some points to poner that might make you think even deeper about the importance of using simple words and their meanings:

Would you feel that you were going to offend someone if you told them that you killed a cockroach in your kitchen? Did you harvest that cockroach? Does the life of a cockroach have more value than that of a deer, other that what we as humans put on it? Does the Orkin Man harvest cockroaches? Isn't population control the reason he killed the cockroaches? Seems like a double standard doesn't it.
 
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Just like I don't know what happened last week on Gardening with Becca. Maybe she killed a snake with her garden hoe and threw it in her D&R power chipper. Don't know and don't care.

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Thanks for the chuckle HCH...
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I am saying that to use the word harvest when talking about an individual animal sounds silly and it sounds to a non-hunter like we are trying to hide the fact that we actually just took a life. I beleive that is counterproductvie to our cause. I do not think that is in the best interstes of "winning the favor of non-hunters" as you put it, I think it is just the opposite. People try to hide something when they know it is wrong, and that is the impression we give when we say that we harvested a deer. I watch thse TV shows and it sounds so silly to me and so obvious that they are using the word harvest to try to soften or hide the fact that they just killed something. The non-hunting public sees right through it.

Do you have to use the word "kill"? Of course not; there are a lot of other words that work, and as I said before, the word bag is my favorite because it has a more benign connotation to it but it doesn't sound like you are hiding something when you say you bagged a deer, bagged a turkey, a duck, pheasant, etc.

If I haven't confused you enough yet, here are some points to poner that might make you think even deeper about the importance of using simple words and their meanings:

Would you feel that you were going to offend someone if you told them that you killed a cockroach in your kitchen? Did you harvest that cockroach? Does the life of a cockroach have more value than that of a deer, other that what we as humans put on it? Does the Orkin Man harvest cockroaches? Isn't population control the reason he killed the cockroaches? Seems like a double standard doesn't it.

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IMO - there is nothing wrong with using the word "harvest" to describe killing a deer. I eat dinner, or I wolf down a burger, mack down some fries, throw back a beer, sip some whiskey, smoke a cig, lite up a fatboy...kill a deer.

What if you truly do not believe you are trying to hide anything, by simply calling it "harvesting" an animal? I won't take offense if you call it killing a deer, baggin a buck, smokin a doe, wasting, dumping, downing, offing... but what if I feel that every time I kill a deer, that I "harvested" one of natures magnificent creatures... perhaps I planted a food plot and helped this animal grow from a button into a bruiser? What have I done to, if not to help grow, an animal by feeding it? Making sure it didn't feel excessively pressured during the off season, by staying out of its bedding area. By making it feel comfortable in its domain, the idea being to let nature achieve its fullest potential before I let the arrow fly...have I not contributed to the success of this resource?

Just because you call it harvesting, doesn't mean you are hiding anything, unless you truly believe that the only way to describe the experience is by using but one word...

I use the word "harvest", not because I am afraid I will offend anyone, but because I respect the animal.

You should be able to use whatever words seem right to you, to describe your own personal hunting experience, regardless of what anyone or any group might think.

JMHO
 
I don't think we need to piss off PETA or any of the other anti-hunting, anti-gun groups. I will not back down from them either. I feel that we as a group need to present our selves as we are. We are not a bunch of redneck, blood thirsty, thrill killers like some of the groups would like the non-hunting public to think we are. Just use some common sense and know your audiance. If you want to tell your hunting buddy how easy it was tracking that doe bacause she was bleeding like crazy, that's fine. Don't tell someone who doesn't even like seeing red in their hambuger about it.
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I use the word "harvest", not because I am afraid I will offend anyone, but because I respect the animal.
Great Point Avidhunter!

Iowa1,
I understand your point, but respectfully disagree with it.

Since we all seem to agree that it is the opinion of the NON-hunter that will likely shape the future of hunting, here’s a challenge for you:

Go find an acquaintance who is a non-hunter and ask him or her if you can do a quick hunting based survey. Then ask which of these two statements is more likely to give them a more favorable impression of hunting:
1) I KILLED a deer
2) I HARVESTED a deer

While doing research for a book I'm considering writing, I’ve personally done this quick survey over 100 times. I’ll let you guess which one the vast majority (97%+) of the respondents will chose.
 
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