Where have all the hunters and trappers gone?

[gypsy2621]

Hunting, Fishing, Trapping are all on the Endangered list.
more and more law are passed by our wonderful Gov/States every day to take away the rights of the people to be self sufficient.

putting an end to hunting and trapping in many states has led to over population, diseases and property damage.
One State stopped nearly all trapping of Muskrat and Beaver. now the good citizens are complaining that their property is being flooded,mosquitoes and black fly are rampant, illnesses caused by the insect population is over whelming.

They put in place severe hunting restrictions on deer, bear and others
Deer and other critters are taking over their beautiful landscaped property, eating their precious trees and shrubs etc etc , awww too bad , yeah I feel so bad for them NOT!
who is to blame? those that voted those stupid laws into existence.
If the laws got on the books its the people who are to blame, the other orgs, have a lot to do with the ban hunting, fishing, trapping era but for the most part its the normal people who want this and then sit there and complain.

 

[willheveland]

Quote:
Lot of people laugh about this but this is how some people think. It sounds funny but it's not.Wait til this person gets elected and creates laws.
We forget about people living in an apartment that have seen far more blacktop and concrete than green grass and trees. They think there is no need for traps,guns and garden tools.They think as long as you have a job and a grocery store that is all we need.
You wonder where the sportman have gone,they've been out voted. If you mention you are looking for a sporting goods store today,someone will think your looking for a pair of golf shoes or a jock strap. Will

 

[chellebyerly]

convienince. its easier and nicer and less messy to get it from the store. no early mornings, no wet hunts, no blood on your hands.

bad rap. you say you hunt just about anywhere on the internet and you are akin to Jeffry Dahmer. Heck, say you belive in the 2nd amendment or are an NRA member and people flame you.

time. my husband works 6 15-18 hour days a week. plus, we are in baseball, 4-H, shooting sports etc. ANd have afew acres under garden.

cost. have you bought a box of shells lately? IF you can find them, they are sky high. a hunting licence would buy you 3 pork loins at sams. hunting leases are astronomical, plus all the gear people think you have to have. I hunt in a t shirt and jeans. or a jacket, if I am lucky enough that its cold.

laws, They are regulating it to death. there is no easy way to hunt.

habitat, its hard to find somewhere sometimes to hunt. There is a house on every patch of land.

lack of tradition, many people just got out of it and dont take the time to take their kids to hunt. They are just letting it go by the wayside. It goes back to getting it at the store. Its so easy to just go and fetch it, then to work for it.

I am guilty of this too. At least until my hogs are old enough to butcher. which will be done BY us. I aint payin nobody 100.00 to shoot it and skin it.

All of this said, My family is guilty of not hunting as much as we used to. Before I had kids, I was in the woods every day that I could be. rain or shine. Now I am sitting here with a 17 month old. Since I have had a kid in diapers or a toddler for the last 10 years, its kinda hard to get out there and do it. BUT, my husband takes my kids. We spend hours and hundreds of dollars in the yard shooting guns, taking archery practice, planting food plots, etc. But its nothing like what we did 10 years ago. 10 years ago, we both would tag out, sometimes giving meat away. Now, we havent cut a tag off one in 3 years (4 licences- deer only.. you dont tag squirrell. )

BUT, I am very heavily involoved in the NWTF and FNRA (not the political branch, the heritage and hunting branch), raising money and keeping the hunting sports going. Plus, shooting sports both gun and archery for the 4-H.



Sorry, this is a soapbox for me. The few who fight for it can only do so much, If everyone who reminiseces (sp) about the old days/ways would speak up, or join up, it would help.

 

[yotetrapper]

You need to go here. 10,000+ trappers. http://www.trapperman.com MI is one of the few states that has A LOT of fur buyers. I was shocked driving through towns in MI to see fur wanted signs even at little convienent stores LOL. If you post in the main section called trappertalk, people there will be more than willing to point you to a fur buyer. Groenwold buys fur out of MI too, they're url is www.gfwco.com/

I trap and hunt, have since I was 7. Not too many women trappers now a days. I went in 2005 to the National Trappers Association annual convention (it was in Indiana that year) and I met my future husband there LOL. We've been married just over 2 years now. We mainly trap coyotes, although we do some coon, rats, and beaver as well.

Trapping is one of my great passions in life. While PETA is certainly no friend of trappers, and while I do believe they played a large part in lowering the value of fur, I think the real enemy of trapping is "progress". Hedgerows are torn out to plant 4 more rows of corn. Video games and the internet replace outdoor activities for kids. It always amazes me to meet a young person raised in even small cities, who know nothing whatsoever about wildlife. Hunting and trapping is a dying breed, being replaced by movies, Xboxes, and Internet. I will trap until they pry the traps out of my cold dead fingers, and if trapping should ever come to be outlawed in this state, I have no doubt we would relocate to a state that allows it. To my knowledge, there is only 4-5 states that don't allow the use of footholds.

 

[yotetrapper]

NWTF and FNRA

National wild turkey federation....and what?? Dont know what FNRA is?

Speaking of organizations... National Trappers Association is a great one for anyone interested in preserving our trapping rights.

 

[The Chicken People]

We always took our children fishing and camping especially in the Oregon National Forest { uninhabited camping only} and the coast line! We raised four children who all enjoy the outdoors! Now that they are grown my husband bought us both bows and we have learned to hunt deer on our property! Our oldest goes out with dad and scares the deer away lol! I wish we had raised them to hunt but at least we know a few of them would not starve left in the wild! We can shoot anything thats destroying our crops or harming the livestock! But we dont use rifles on our property! I would shoot a coon or anything affecting my ladies but not sure about trapping...Now that I read some of these posts we may get into it!!

 

[Boyd]

I use a .22 to dispatch the critters I trap. It is sort of a rifle, but a very low powered one. I'd be too scared to use a shotgun near my traps for fear of ricochet.

 

[Scoop]

I bowhunt and rifle hunt. I got into it about 7 years ago and was hooked immediately, especially bowhunting. I just love the woods, the quiet mornings, the fog, the snowflakes gently falling, the gobble of the turkeys, where do I end? I've seen things others never will. Like a HUGE mama black bear with 3 cubs 10 feet under me! I've seen foxes, skunks, weasles, all kinds of birds just feet away! It's awesome!!!!

I haven't gotten into the trapping yet but would be interested. I've heard that in Pa the licenses are going to soar in price this year. That will mean way less hunters in the woods.

 

[Bard's Rock!]

Eat meat, wear fur, bear arms and salute the flag!

 

[chellebyerly]

Quote:
Its Friends of the NRA. They raise money for various things, including education, and such. This year alone our little chapter was able to raise quite a bit of money, and over 11,000.00 was given to our small shooting sports catagory in the 4-H. We have maybe 15 kids in the group.

They are not the political arm of the NRA. more of a community backer.