Originally Posted By: IannuzziWhat is their reasoning for wanting to prohibit this?
These are comments from the Commission:
"To the extent, these contests reflect on the overall hunting community, public outrage with these events has the potential to threaten hunting as a legitimate wildlife management function,'' the agency says, in a notice of the proposed rule change.
They are worried about the "image" and "reflection" that contests have that "could" mobilize the anti's to go after other hunting.
I have written multiple times to the Commission and to the Governor, but the push back that I have been getting from the Commission and their staff seems to indicate that they see no problem banning these contests. These Commissioners are sell outs, they are anti's in hunters clothing. There is NOTHING that guarantees that if they ban hunting contests that hunting will be safe... it won't. The anti's will come after ALL forms of hunting.
This is the same fallacious arguments that have caused citizens to lose their rights to keep and bear arms. This is a slow, methodical erosion of our sport. They have succeeded in dividing hunters, with those who don't like contests supporting the ban.
There is NO science behind their consideration, only politics.
This is the most recent letter that I sent to the Governor on this matter:
Governor Ducey,
My name is Jason Mosler and I am a citizen of Arizona, a Hunter's Ed instructor, a hunter and a small business owner.
I am writing to you today to express my concerns about the Arizona Game and Fish Commissions consideration of banning hunting contests in Arizona. In the past, I have supported the Commission and many of it's decisions. This one, I cannot get behind. In the past their decisions were science based and were made to enhance the hunting experience in Arizona. I have lived in other states where the game and fish departments were not hunter friendly so I was relieved to find that the AZGFD seemed to be very pro hunter. But this consideration to ban predator hunting contests is NOT based in ANY way on science. The Commission has come out in recent comments to the media and signaled that they are considering this ban because of the "image" that these contests have created. The Commission claims that they are concerned that anti-hunters would attack hunting in general if the Commission does not concede on this point. This is a COWARDLY position to take. There is NOTHING that will guarantee that hunting will be left alone by these liberal anti-hunters if hunting contests are banned. In fact, if history is a lesson, these anti-hunting groups will just continue their anti-hunting campaigns emboldened by victories like this.
Governor, I know that these Commissioners are appointed by you. I would hope that you would remind these Commissioners that they are here to enhance hunting in Arizona and NOT to cater to the anti-hunting liberal left. Please do not allow Arizona to join the likes of Commiefornia and other liberal states where hunters have to beg and plead for the opportunity to enjoy their sports. Hunting represents a sizeable portion of funding for things like the AZGFD and to ban this kind of hunting based SOLELY off of emotion and NO science is going to cut funds and send a message that the AZGFD and the Governor of Arizona do not support hunters and sportsmen and women.
Please do not let this happen.
Sincerely,
Jason Mosler