If it’s the American flag, then every day, but for this week we are going to discuss another type of “flag.”
As 2020 comes to a close, most will go back on the past 11 months and say, ‘Boy am I glad it’s over,” because of the pandemic that spread across the world and invaded our great country, to the wildfires, and to the election that will make history (as of this writing a winner still hasn’t been announced for the highest office in the nation).
While I have attempted to stay out of the political arena on these pages, sometimes it’s hard to ignore. With what is going on in today’s America, it’s all but impossible to not be concerned. As we all have witnessed what has been unfolding right in front of us — oftentimes leaving us shaking our head in disbelief — it can be easy to see that our Great Country is filled with passionate folk.
Like all things in life, folks change. To move ahead to get better we all make adjustments. Today sportsmen aren’t the same as they were 20 years ago. We all adjust and change. What doesn’t change as quickly is how folks view us.
Back in the day, on opening day, one could see deer in vehicles. It was something of pride, I believe. Hunters wanted others to know they got their deer. It was very common for businesses in town to host deer contests and have a deer weigh-in station right out front of their business. Heck, The Post-Journal would host its own big-deer contest with pictures, names and weights each day throughout the season. While I miss those days, we all understand that is not necessarily the must-have to promote our sport.
So, when is the right time to fly your flag as a sportsman? When is the proper time to let others know you hunt and/or fish? How do we as sportsmen deal with questions about why we do what we do — hunt and fish? This has been a difficult question and is more so in recent years.
Having grown up with a meat cutter as a dad, a grandfather as a farmer and hunters in our family, hunting has always been a part of my family culture. Thanksgiving Day dinner would always start after all the guys returned from the woods. As a young man, I would listen to and take in all the stories of the day’s hunt. It was just part of what we did.
I have shared this story before, but I think it bears repeating in these times.
As someone who grew up in a rural area, if you didn’t hunt you knew folks who did. I remember hearing stories of folks who don’t agree with our way of life, but it wasn’t until I was able to travel and see reactions of other folks that I would truly understand.
I was working at a sports show many years ago. This was our average show — lots of hunting and fishing items and outfitters with mounts and camo.
On day two of the show, as vendors were filing in to get ready for a day’s business, we were met with local and state law enforcement officers. We all spent some time answering questions. It wasn’t until I was allowed on the show floor that I realized that sometime overnight somebody or bodies had broken into the building and destroyed all the mounts. They were either cut up or painted with anti-hunting words (I’m attempting to be polite with the words that were painted on the mounts and few booths). This act was the first time I had witnessed first hand this type of behavior.
A couple years after that I was fortunate enough to be invited as a media guest to the BASSMASTER Classic. There were different events held up to the actual fishing tournament. One such event was held at a local park with a series of ponds. It was a fishing party for local children, where they would be able to fish with some professionals and media, like myself. This event was designed to help introduce children in the inner city to outdoors and fishing.
As I remember it, it was a hot day . Media members were not only there to cover the event, but also to help with children. All was going as planned until a couple folks showed up, one dressed in a life-size fish outfit, including an over-sized head. The second person carried a sign saying, “Let fish swim free, don’t eat them.” These two folks walked around the park, in the heat of the day sharing their message with all those who would listen. It was an interesting sight, to say the least, one that was funny for most of us, but after I realized what they were trying to do, I was a little upset.
During one of their many walks around the park in the heat of the day, the “fish” went down, the combination of the heat and the outfit proving to be too much. As soon as the “fish” hit the ground, the folks who ran to his side were the same ones who were helping him in his time of need were sportsmen. After we got the suit off and began to cool him down, medical personnel took over. There is doubt this group of anglers and hunters that they were protesting against were the folks that saved his life.
Now this is something that doesn’t happen every day, but it just goes to show sportsmen are not just out to kill stuff, but are human and are generally there to help no matter what the situation. There are many examples of how sportsmen help those who are in need. Hunters help the hungry, donate thousands of pounds of venison each year, and national and local sportsmen clubs have been donating money to the needy for years.
Here is a little history lesson: In the mid-1800s, as the U.S. population was expanding westward, wildlife took a serious hit from unregulated hunting and rapid development. Some species, like the passenger pigeon, disappeared for good. Other species, including whitetail deer, wild turkeys, bison and elk, were driven to the edge of extinction. Concerned sportsmen, Teddy Roosevelt among them, banded together and demanded laws and regulations that would protect wildlife while still allowing for hunting and sustainable harvest.
Those efforts led to the passing of laws that formed the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and became the primary mission of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. At that time, they put together a few basic ideas that ring true today.
Wildlife is held in a public trust. In North America, natural resources and wildlife on public lands are managed by government agencies to ensure that current and future generations always have wildlife and wild places to enjoy. Below are some of the ways they are managed.
¯ Prohibition on the commerce of dead wildlife. Commercial hunting and the sale of wildlife is prohibited to ensure the sustainability of wildlife populations.
¯ Democratic rule of law. Hunting and fishing laws are created through the public process where everyone has the opportunity and responsibility to develop systems of wildlife conservation and use.
¯ Hunting and fishing is for everybody under the law. Every citizen has an opportunity, under the law, to hunt and fish in the United States and Canada.
¯ The use of scientific management in wildlife management. Sound science is essential to managing and sustaining North America’s wildlife and habitats.
The last one mentioned was the beginning of what we all know as conservation. Today, wildlife conservation has taken on many forms and spawned many well-meaning organizations, but remember it all is based around sportsmen
We all have jumped all over local, state and national wildlife agencies on some of their ways of handling particular decisions. One of the things that we all have to remember is that without wildlife agencies, we wouldn’t have wildlife, and without the wildlife there wouldn’t be wildlife agencies, hence jobs. The one excellent job they have done is with our conservation model. It has been a roaring success. Anyone whose backyard is overrun with deer or wild turkeys can attest to the tremendous rebound those species have made, thanks to conservation efforts and sustainable hunting.
In addition to all this, hunters began to realize that it takes money to fund conservation, and in the early 1900s they actually demanded to be taxed in order to provide the necessary funds. Sportsmen successfully lobbied Congress to pass the Pittman-Robertson Act in 1937, which levied an 11 percent tax on the sale of all sporting arms and ammunition. Over the years, the act was amended to include the tax on handguns, bows, arrows and other associated equipment. The tax money is distributed to the states on a formula basis and provides about 75 percent of each state’s game and fish department’s budget. Funds are used to acquire and improve wildlife habitat, introduce wildlife into sustainable habitat, research problems and take surveys of wildlife, acquire and develop public land, and fund hunter education programs.
Through these self-imposed taxes, hunters (and anglers, via the 1950 Dingell-Johnson act) have contributed more than $17.5 billion since 1937. Ask a mountain biker, bird-watcher or hiker sometime how much money they have contributed to pay for that public land they’re enjoying.
In light of all this, it’s clear that hunters and anglers are the ultimate conservationists. We care all about wildlife and the land in a way the anti-hunters will not and do not want to understand. But if you can share the facts about all we do for wildlife, you can educate your non hunting friends about how hunting is a vital cog in the wheel of conservation.
Sportsmen have been taking care of our natural resources for decades. Not just so we can go out and enjoy the outdoors, but so that everybody can enjoy the sight of deer and land to walk on in our state and national parks. What sportsmen give back every year is well documented. When asked why I hunt, I stick to the facts and then the decisions are over pretty quickly.
How do we fly the flag of sportsmen? Well, there are many ways to do it, but to me it starts with how we treat each other. As big game season is in full swing, take a minute to think about how we are treating each other, not only in the field but on the street. Always remember basic rules of firearm safety and treat one another with the respect they deserve.
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