A couple of weeks ago we released an article here on the blog covering one of the more gruesome poaching cases we have seen in quite a while. This spurred a conversation between Ike and I on why we report incidents like this, which of course will continue. Then we discussed whether or not sharing these articles shaped new opinions and prevented poaching, or are we just preaching to the choir? Ike’s conclusion was that we were preaching to the choir many times and based on the responses on Facebook I have to agree with him.
So naturally the next thought was how do we arm the choir? What can we do to give hunters tools to show what to do for conservation rather than just simply take a beating on social media because of poachers?
With this discussion it was very timely to see a few posts from the RMEF on their Facebook feed.
To go along with this, make sure you are following the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation on Facebook. They have been working to share quality information about conservation efforts that net positive things in our hunting community. Efforts to make sure the non-hunting public sees the good we do for the animals we hunt.
At the end of the day it is our responsibility to create a strong enough message for our friends who don’t hunt to follow along and recognize how much we do for the game we pursue. A short scroll through social media and it doesn’t take long to find anti-hunting comments all over hunting pages.
Arm yourselves with information, tactful and well thought out responses, and don’t be afraid to serve an elk burger or two at your football watching parties this season! You never know, you might just turn your non-hunting friend into a hunting advocate!
1 comment
to call these vermin hunters is a slander to anyone who has practiced fair chase, or even calls themselves sportspeople.But some of the comments on the article shows how generalized we are. Owning hunting hounds is not illegal, it is how we use them. I don’t collect trophies, to me a full freezer to feed my family is more than enough, the memories of each trip, and the time spent in the field are priceless. To those who keep mounts, that is their right and I just don’t agree with it personally. My right to choose and I extend that right to everyone.
It is sad that we are judged by misguided examples that get labeled as hunters, they are not. I don’t blame the public for the outrage, I too am appalled.This is not who I am, nor my fellow hunters are either. Stiffer penalties need to be enforced, The privilege to hunt is not a guaranteed right, and these fellows are making it very difficult to keep the next generation from participating. These savages are also impacting our right to exercise the privilege of hunting when we are run through the grist mill of public comment. We as sportspeople need to act cohesively in defense of our sport, we need to get tough on poaching.