Our Hunting Heritage

Protecting our hunting heritage

We should honor hunting as one of our great

traditions, both in Wisconsin and across America

by Congressman Mark Green

By the time you read this, deer season will be well underway – a ritual that goes back to the time man first set foot on the land that would eventually become our great state of Wisconsin.

Hunting has changed a lot since then – buckskins have been replaced by blaze orange, and most folks have traded their muzzle loaders for a 30-06.

One of the things that’s changed most is the reason we go hunting today.

People used to hunt for things to eat – today we hunt for much more. Sure, we still go hunting for food, but we also go hunting for the companionship, we go to spend time outdoors, and we go to stay in touch with a tradition we learned from our fathers and grandfathers.

But hunting is good for more than just the hunter.

Hunting is a crucial part of the responsible management of our natural resources.

By thinning the herd, hunters help create healthier wildlife populations. By reducing the surplus of animals, hunters limit the starvation and disease that accompany the winter months when the animal population is too high.

You may have read a recent study that also shows the economic benefits Wisconsin reaps from hunting. Every year, according to the DNR, deer hunting generates a lot of money for our state economy. In fact, through license fees, taxes on hunting goods, and federal matching funds for those taxes, hunters finance 70 percent of all wildlife programs in Wisconsin.

Hunters Fear They're Caught In The Crosshairs

'Bill of rights' is being pursued in light of efforts to curtail hunting

By LARRY WOODY Staff Writer

Peter Muller doesn't hunt, and he wants to stop everyone else from hunting, too...

"Our position is that it's wrong to kill animals for so-called 'sport'," said Muller, a spokesman for the Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting. 'We oppose hunting in every form and in every way." The New Palta, N.Y.-based organization was formed in 1976 and is just one of several anti-hunting groups that claim to be growing in membership. Some of the more radical members have been arrested for harassing hunters and trying to disrupt hunts. 'We're getting away from that (public protests and confrontation) and focusing more on political opposition," Muller said. "We tried to stop a crow hunt a few years ago, and all we got out of it was two or three of our people arrested. Now we're trying to get the hunts stopped through legal channels. 'We're following the lead of the National Rifle Association. The NRA has shown how effective the political process can be in fighting for a cause."

"The anti's are determined to end hunting in our lifetime."

MIKE BUTLER,

PRESIDENT OF THE TENNESSEE

WILDLIFE FEDERATION

"Our position is that it's wrong to kill animals for so-called 'sport.' We oppose hunting in every form and in every way."

PETER MULLER, SPOKESMAN FOR THE COMMITTEE TO ABOLISH SPORT HUNTING

Hunting: Are rights in the crosshairs

ALABAMA LAW WORKS

There are concerns that a "right-to-hunt amendment” to Tennessee's constitution might be used by anti-hunters to challenge game laws, spark lawsuits and snarl hunting seasons in court. Alabama has had a similar provision in its constitution for years without any problems. "Several years ago we passed a ‘Sportspersons’ bill of Rights," said Fred Harders, assistant director of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Resources. "We think it's a good thing. We haven't had any problems or any challenges." Harders said the language is carefully crafted to protect the right to hunt and fish while at the same time protecting the right of the state to enact and enforce game laws. "Our amendment includes the words, 'in accordance to laws and regulations ... he said. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's official position is "neutral" on the amendment, which will be introduced during the current session. Previous attempts to get the amendment passed have failed, but Mike Butler of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation said he is confident he will eventually succeed. "Hunting is increasingly under fire," he said. "There are well organized, well financed groups out there who are determined to end hunting in our lifetime. We'd better start taking them seriously and get some protections built in the constitution."

LARRY WOODY

Is hunting a right?

Mike Butler, president of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, takes Muller and his fellow anti--hunters seriously. So seriously, in fact, that he is trying to get a "right-to-hunt amendment" added to the Tennessee State Constitution. "It's a protection we're going to need in the future," said Butler, referring to Tennessee's 730,495 licensed hunters. "The anti's are determined to end hunting in our lifetime." The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which oversees hunting and fishing in the state, is "neutral" about the amendment. Recently retired TWRA counsel member, Allen Gebhardt, said care should be taken to make sure such an amendment "doesn't do more harm than good." Gebhardt's worse case scenario: If hunting becomes a right guaranteed under the constitution, might ant hunters file suits challenging the TWRA's authority to regulate how and when animals• are hunted? Gebhardt said the TWRA "might be forced to spend fortunes defending such suits in court." Muller, whose mild manner doesn't fit the stereotype of a shrill anti-hunter activist, responded pleasantly: ''Whatever it takes." The National Shooting Sports Foundation said there are 20.6 million licensed hunters in the U.S., including more than 730,000 in Tennessee, the fourth-highest number in the nation. (Tennessee sells a combination hunting-fishing license, and it is impossible to know what percentage uses it for fishing only.) More than 20 million dedicated hunters sounds like a lot until you consider that leaves some 280 million American's who don't hunt. Anti-hunting members are targeting the mil-lions of "neutrals" - people who don't hunt but are not especially opposed to it. 'We're getting more of those people on our side every day," said Muller, who won't disclose his group's membership. He said only it's in the five digits."

Hunters harassed

One reason why anti--hunters are turning from protests to politics is because more and more states are cracking down on hunter harassment. In the past, anti-hunters were known to stage rallies at game-checking stations in an attempt to harass and intimidate hunters. Sometimes they would disrupt hunts by going into the woods and fields, blowing bugles and beating drums, hoping the noise would frighten away game. In Tennessee, it is illegal to harass someone hunting legally or interfere with their hunt. Not only can the person be charged with harassment, he or she also may be liable for damages. For example, if a deer hunt is disrupted that has cost the hunter thousands of dollars in travel, lodging, licenses, guide fees and other expenses, those who spoiled the hunt can be liable for it. "Getting ourselves arrested doesn't help our cause," Muller said. 'We're moving away from direct confrontation and waging our battles politically."

Hunting for food

Most hunters eat the wild game they harvest, but anti--hunters deny that there is such a thing as "subsistence hunting" in the 21st century. "Maybe a few remote tribes in Alaska or a family in the Appalachians still do a little subsistence hunting, but very little," Muller said. 'We have calculated how much the average deer hunter spends per pound of deer meat he brings home. It comes to about $40 a pound. Clearly, that's not 'subsistence hunting.' "If someone needed to kill an animal to survive, yes, I would condone it. But nobody does that any more." The National Shooting Sports Foundation says hunting is a $30 billion-a-year industry in the U.S and directly provides more than a million jobs. Muller claims "there's a better use for wildlife than killing it. We can get people interested in watching it or photographing it. We don't have to kill animals to reap an economic benefit from them."

PETA weighs in

The most prominent anti--hunting group is PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The Norfolk, Va. -based organization was founded in 1980 and claims 16 million members worldwide. Spokeswoman Stephanie Boyles said PETA member-ship rose by a half-million last year. "As an animal rights group, we believe that killing an animal for 'fun' or 'recreation' is I cruel and unnecessary," said I Boyles, a trained wildlife biologist. 'We don't believe that animals should be eaten, worn or used for entertainment or laboratory experiments." While PETA opposes hunting, Boyles said the group devotes more attention to the "industrialized suffering" of livestock and other domestic animals. PETA is notorious for its extreme positions and radical protests, such as last month's pretended "barbecue" of a "naked human corpse" in downtown Nashville. It was part of PETA's "Meat is Murder" message. Boyles admitted PETA uses shock to get attention. 'We don't try to be popular," she said. 'We don't feel that you can stay on the fence. We like to get people thinking." Boyles is a ''vegetarian'' who shuns not only meat but any type of animal product, including milk and eggs. She said an anti-hunter who eats meat is "a complete hypocrite. “The animal that supplied that steak they're eating probably suffered more than a deer that was killed by a hunter's bullet." Just so she's clear: "That certainly doesn't mean we condone shooting a deer or any other wild animal. But for someone to criticize a hunter for shooting an animal while I they're eating farm-raised meat - they clearly 'don't have any concept about how that animal suffered before it arrived at their table."

What about wildlife population explosions that biologists claim would result if not for hunting? Tennessee for example is overrun with deer, resulting in crop damage and hundreds of automo-bile accidents annually.

"Natural predators, if left alone, would keep the population in balance Boyles said. ''You can't kill the predators and then complain when the population of their prey species grows big. If humans will stop killing animals, all animals, nature will balance things.

Why hunt?

There's no disputing meat is cheaper in the market than in the woods. It's easier to push a shopping cart down an aisle than to rise in the morning, hike for miles into the mountains, sit on a frozen deer stand and hunker in an icy duck blind. So why do hunters hunt "Unless you're a hunter, it’s hard to explain," said Ridings, president of Davidson County Sportsman's Club and a life long hunter. "It's not all about killing animals. Some of the more enjoyable hunts I've gone on, I didn't fire a shot. It’s the challenge. It's about heritage, carrying on a tradition that has been passed down for generations. "It's also about conservation, a love of wildlife, being outdoors. Hunters have done more for conservation and preservation than any other group. A lot of species, including some non-game species, wouldn't be here today if not for hunters, who support the programs that manage wildlife and pro habitat. "Hunting is a great activity for young people, being outdoors, getting exercise learning about nature. How many kids who go hunting get into trouble? Very few." Ridings resents anti-hunters' efforts to end something he cherishes.
"If they don't believe in hunting, that's fine, they don't have to hunt," he says "But they shouldn't force their beliefs on everybody else. When they do that, they are going to have a fight on their hands."

Reach Larry Woody at Iwoody@tennessean.com or 615-259-80190.

Some cite conservation, tradition; others fear for the deer.

Are hunters' rights under siege in Tennessee? Tennessean readers weighed in with their thoughts. Following are excerpts:

We have a family of eight deer that live between our house and the Brentwood Library. One is a rare albino; all are gentle, docile animals whose beauty never ceases to amaze us. Sometimes, since we feed them and show no threatening gestures, they actually nap in our yard on the other side of the fence. The larger males seem to be guarding the doe and her fawns. They ask for nothing more than to exist and I think they have that right. Their habitat is diminishing faster than they can adapt, and with it goes their food supply and cover. Why can't we just enjoy having them as part of God’s world and not destroy them? Children love animals. What happens to them when they become adults and find satisfaction in destroying them? I don't think hunters should be allowed into residential areas for this reason. It is, simply, their last refuge.

M. Grace Wilson, Brentwood wgm8218@bellsouth.net

Of course the rights of hunters are under assault, not only in Tennessee but around the nation. It is only a matter of time before hunters' rights are put in the crosshairs of our state legislature. Already, there is federal legislation in the works to make transporting a rooster across state lines for the purpose of fighting a felony. When the Humane Society of the U.S. is done with other issues like cockfighting and trapping, hunters can only be next. It is a shame that draconian measures are implemented to stop supposed cruelty in our country. Where has common sense gone? In a country were drugs are ram-pant and abortion is a legal form of birth control it seems animals are awarded more rights than humans. Unfortunately I see this trend continuing as more people become urbanized and lose their rural roots. It's a sad day when a chicken has more rights than an unborn child.

Robert Adams, Summitville RAdams@tennessee.zanini.com

I am 82 years old and have hunted since I was big enough to hunt. Back then, hunting was a way of survival. For the past 12 years, I have hunted deer. I enjoy swapping wits with the cunning buck. It bothers me when people make a sad story out of a hunter killing a deer. Some even call the hunters bloodthirsty. Yes, thousands of deer were killed by hunters in America last year. What about the number of humans injured or killed in deer-related crashes? Get a quote from any auto insurance company about how many dollars are spent to repair vehicles involved in deer related crashes. And how many hungry people were fed with deer meat? ...

I would agree with anyone that the deer is a beautiful and graceful animal. I do not agree they should not be hunted. What about the beef, pork, chicken, etc., served at your dinner table tonight? In their own way, are these animals not beautiful? They are actually fattened to be killed and taken to a slaughterhouse with no chance of escape....

With development of woodlands and farmland for residences and businesses, we have taken away from deer habitat used for food. When deer run out of that space, they come into populated areas for food, and hunting is a way of managing the herd's numbers. TWRA keeps watch over the numbers to make sure deer are not over hunted and to make sure a strong viable herd is maintained. If you feel inclined to give hunters a hard time, look at the bigger picture.

Wallace Fussell, Joelton

In my mind, it's the rights of homeowners and right-thinking people that are being trawled through the muck. Gun nuts are insisting on hunting in suburban neighborhoods and distributing firearms to preteens' and trying to cover their sins by offering up sham legislation to protect their rights....

I've worked with animal welfare groups and seen the suffering caused by people who shoot animals and abandon them critically injured. I certainly hope nobody ever treats their pets that way.

Jean Wilson, Forest Hills peanut123@comcast.net

The Quest , 100 bucks in a single season!

By: Big Buck Tom Tann, creator of the Big Buck 4n2 Rattling Antlers

Why would anyone want to rattle in 100 bucks in a single season? Easy! Its fun, we needed to field test modifications made to our 4n2 rattling antlers, (If we're going to sell them we want to know they are good), and in addition, my good friend and hunting buddy for 40 years , Mickey Coker, decided while we were at it we would enter Jim" The Rattlemaster " Carpenter's ,national rattling contest. Mickey would operate the camera and I would rattle the 4n2s. Since we're both retired and had the luxury of spending lots of time in the woods; we thought we had a good chance of producing a good rattling video, and winning the championship.

Game on !!!!! Finding places to rattle here in S Texas is not an easy task. Texas has very little public hunting land and most of the ranches are large, and only allow contract hunting. Not to be dissuaded we decided to go directly to ranch owners and request permission to rattle. We never imagined the warm reception we would receive. All of them opened their ranch to us with the condition that we would not kill anything nor interfere with their hunters. They were so gracious that we never had one uncomfortable moment while on any of the ranches. Each ranch had historical significance making the opportunity before us priceless.

We started Nov 20th at the Dahlstrom Ranch in Buda, TX, 2,252 acres of limestone hills covered in live oak trees with Onion creek running through the middle. The Ranch was founded in 1932 and has remained in the family ever since. Here, Jack Dahlstrom Jr. operates a well managed hunting operation called Flatrock Wildlife offering hunters a wide range of exotics and upland game birds. I am not capable of describing the beauty of this Texas Hill Country, or the excitement I felt seeing the wild game that ranged throughout the ranch. We were there for only two days but the memories will last a lifetime. Fortunately for us the other two ranches "Dos Haches" and "The Devisadero" were much closer to home so we were able to spend many days rattling on each of them. Dos Haches (Spanish for 2 Hs) has 10,000 acres of Brooks Co Texas land, and is owned by Kappy Hopper. The Hopper family has operated this cattle ranch for generations. The terrain is varied with wooded hills and open grassy fields looking more like a wildlife refuge than a cattle ranch. Having raised cattle in my younger years I was curious how it would be possible to round-up 400 head of cattle in this 10,000 acres of wilderness. I asked Amadeo, the ranch manager how long it took, and how many ranch hands were necessary to roundup the cattle. He replied "Hago solo. Hay poco agua." Translation, I do it alone, there is little water. All he did was close off all but one watering hole and wait. Mexican ingenuity!!

The whitetails of Dos Haches are big, aggressive and plentiful. We rattled six days at Dos Haches over a six week period, and successfully rattled in bucks all but one day.

The last of the ranches, "The Devisadero" consists of 2400 + acres of Kennedy Co Texas. It has been in continuous family ownership since 1863 and is now owned and managed by Mike Garcia. Mike is the most hospitable person I know. Never have I met anyone more generous. After taking us on a tour of the ranch and hunting camp accommodations, he gave us the combination to the gates, introduced us to Amando Salinas his ranch manager and hunting guide and said" Mi casa es tu casa". (translation My home is your home.) "Anytime you want to come you are welcome." Needless to say we took him up on it, and the ranch became our home away from home. We even spent Christmas Eve and Christmas there. That may have been the best Christmas of my 66 years. The ranch is a paradise of South Texas brush country, chock full of game. Everyday we went rattling we saw turkeys, javelins, coyotes, whitetail, quail, and Nilgai and everyday we rattled we rattled up buck after buck

The days the hunters were on the ranches we went out to a remote spot along the South Texas coast that was open to the public. In all the times we were there we saw one other person, a hiker out for a stroll. The place teemed with wildlife. Everyday was a new adventure, tracking, exploring and of course rattling. We were there so often it seemed like it was our private property. We were both lost in time, nothing to clutter our minds, just the sounds and sights of the outdoors

Throughout this adventure we kept a mental running total of the bucks we had rattled up. When we started we had no goal, but for some reason the goal of 100 manifested itself, and from then on 100 was the goal. We spent at least thirty days in the woods and rattled most of them. Finally the time came when Mickey needed to return home, so on Jan 19, we decided we had rattled the last one of the season. We both thought that our total was 86 falling short of the 100 goal. Later in the process of reviewing the videos. I decided to make a still image of each buck that appeared in each rattling session video. When I finished going through all the videos I was surprised the count was over 100 and that did not include bucks we failed to capture on video or the ones on the videos we accidentally erased. We had surpassed our goal! This was done without being able to rattle during the 11 days of the peak rut as all of our locations were either closed to the public or full of hunters.

We have submitted our video to Rattlemasters of Texas and are waiting for the results. One thing for sure is that whether we win or not we feel like champs, and have had one of the most amazing adventures of our lives. Topping this will be hard but we are already planning for 2010-2011.

Got a place we can come to rattle?

bigbucktom

www.bigbuckrattlingantlers.com

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