Originally Posted By: iowayotehunter76I can't believe the crap in this thread:
"I don't like contests, ban them"
"Contests hunters are a bunch of cheaters so ban the contests"
"The reason coyote hunting gets so much attention from the anti's is they post pictures of their kills on social media, so contests have got to go"
So true. Pretty sad. Like I have said, if you don't like a particular style/type of hunting, then don't participate. But you don't bash others for their choice to participate. Just agree to disagree and move on.
I once read a statement from anti-gun nutjob astronut Mark Kelley, who began his anti-gun rant with the statement that he was a hunter and he didn't use AR-15's so he thought they should be banned, that there was no "legitimate" use for them. He showed his TRUE colors of being a gun controller and NOT a supporter of the 2A but he tried to hide himself among us claiming to be a hunter. That is a classic fallacy, appeal to authority. Just because he is supposed to be a hunter, doesn't mean he is an expert on the AR-15 and what it can/cannot/should/should not be used for.
Just because someone chooses to not participate in a hunting contest doesn't make them less a hunter or less ethical. I hunt...a LOT. I also occasionally participate in hunting contests. Sometimes I do it because it would benefit a local group, like when the FFA sponsors one as a fund raiser. Sometimes I do it because it simply sounds like fun to really push myself, like we did for a local fox hunting contest we participated in this year. I personally could take or leave contests. But allowing them to be banned is setting up a dangerous precedent. Gun control is a great example of what can happen when dangerous precedents are allowed to snowball.
The 2A says "The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Yet there are laws, infringements to the 2A. We gun owners accepted those infringements, on the premise that they really didn't hurt us too much, so why fight them. Gun controllers took that acceptance of tacit approval and to this day they continue to try and add more and more stricter gun control laws. We are victims of the law of unintended consequences.
Right now, the anti-hunting establishment has found a chink in our armor. They have tried, unsuccessfully, for years to ban various types of hunting. Deer hunting, coyote hunting, bobcat hunting, mountain lion hunting, hunting with dogs, etc. They continue to probe our defenses looking for a way in so that they can divide and conquer. For example, many states began the assault on mountain lion hunting by first proposing bans on mountain lion hunting with hounds. Those hunters who hunted with hounds objected but many other hunters who did not hunt with hounds stood idly by because they did not think that passing such measures would effect them. Today, in many of those states, mountain lion hunting is now entirely banned.
Anti hunting groups prey upon emotions. They have tried to get predator hunting banned as being nothing more than "trophy hunting" because many hunters do not use "all" of the animal. They point out the plight of these beautiful, wondrous creatures, while ignoring science completely. IF there is science that points to contest hunting as a serious threat to the coyote population, then by all means, we should look at banning it. But that is not the case. I see some hunters placing the blame for their lack of ability to hang fur on these contests. Funny, I don't think that there are contests each and every weekend in every place that people hunt. Sure, it's frustrating to put in time and effort and get skunked, but it happens, to all of us at some time. I have been out hunting and found out that a contest was happening in that area and I have still called in coyotes.
I think that what New Mex is proposing is ludicrous, as are the attacks on other hunters.
I surrender the soap box...