Comments on: A Rant Against Bear Hunting and Country Music http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/ A blog on nature, science, religion, and just about anything else I want to post on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:28:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: kristin http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1275 kristin Tue, 22 Aug 2006 23:10:32 +0000 http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1275 A pet bear named Cubby, used for photo ops. Makes my blood run cold. Isn't this how human killers start. THe lust to kill an animal easily. THere is a world, no universe, of difference between this jerk and someone that tracks an animal in the wild, uses skill and the game for food. A pet bear named Cubby, used for photo ops. Makes my blood run cold. Isn’t this how human killers start. THe lust to kill an animal easily. THere is a world, no universe, of difference between this jerk and someone that tracks an animal in the wild, uses skill and the game for food.

]]> By: Duncan http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1253 Duncan Sat, 19 Aug 2006 21:54:20 +0000 http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1253 What a pathetic expletive deleted person he must be, What a pathetic expletive deleted person he must be,

]]> By: keiths http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1251 keiths Sat, 19 Aug 2006 04:50:03 +0000 http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1251 Jay, Your "random quote" sidebar displayed this for me, right next to the Troy Gentry post: <blockquote>Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. Abraham Lincoln</blockquote> After reading the story, I felt a strong impulse to see Troy Gentry locked in a cage with a bunch of drunken rednecks shooting arrows at him. Jay,

Your “random quote” sidebar displayed this for me, right next to the Troy Gentry post:

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

Abraham Lincoln

After reading the story, I felt a strong impulse to see Troy Gentry locked in a cage with a bunch of drunken rednecks shooting arrows at him.

]]> By: Jay http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1247 Jay Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:30:17 +0000 http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1247 Mary, I'm not sure about the exact legal and political status of Grizzly bears, but they have basically disappeared from the lower 48 states, with the exception of a small population around the Yellowstone area. This is a tremendous reduction from their historical range. They are still fairly numerous and widespread in western Canada and Alaska. <a href="http://www.sightline.org/maps/animated_maps/Wildlife-Grizzly-CS06anim">Here's an interesting map</a> showing their past and present range. The much smaller black bear (which can be black, brown, or cinnamon in color) on the other hand is more widely distributed, found throughout the Alaska and Canada, the western US, patches in the eastern US, and Mexico. I managed to find this <a href="http://www.americanbear.org/Population%20-%20Distribution.htm">range map</a>. Mary, I’m not sure about the exact legal and political status of Grizzly bears, but they have basically disappeared from the lower 48 states, with the exception of a small population around the Yellowstone area. This is a tremendous reduction from their historical range. They are still fairly numerous and widespread in western Canada and Alaska. Here’s an interesting map showing their past and present range.

The much smaller black bear (which can be black, brown, or cinnamon in color) on the other hand is more widely distributed, found throughout the Alaska and Canada, the western US, patches in the eastern US, and Mexico. I managed to find this range map.

]]> By: Mary Riedel http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1245 Mary Riedel Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:10:22 +0000 http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1245 I guess black bears are not endangered or there would have been even more outcry about this. Is it grizzly bears that are endangered? I forget... I guess black bears are not endangered or there would have been even more outcry about this. Is it grizzly bears that are endangered? I forget…

]]> By: Jay http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1244 Jay Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:05:37 +0000 http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1244 Thanks Butch! For what it's worth, as far as the stereotyping goes, I'm biased against country music, not hunters. I have a great respect for ethical hunters, and groups like <a href="http://www.ducks.org/">Ducks Unlimited</a> have done wonderful things for conservation. Bluntly put, hunters and fisherman have far more power to wield towards conservation than other outdoor groups like birders, though in this sense we're all in it together. Thanks Butch! For what it’s worth, as far as the stereotyping goes, I’m biased against country music, not hunters. I have a great respect for ethical hunters, and groups like Ducks Unlimited have done wonderful things for conservation. Bluntly put, hunters and fisherman have far more power to wield towards conservation than other outdoor groups like birders, though in this sense we’re all in it together.

]]> By: Butch http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1243 Butch Fri, 18 Aug 2006 16:47:51 +0000 http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1243 I’m a hunter so I’ll respond. I blogged about this myself with equal disgust. Every hunter I’ve talked to about it agrees as well. As a rule 90% of hunters are ethical sportsmen that in no way resemble the stereotypical beer-swilling bubbas you see them portrayed as. But you do have turds like this guy, as any group does. As for the “why bow hunt” question, hunters go through a progression that is pretty universal. You start off as a kid in the “killing Stage” where you’re real goal is just to kill something. Then you progress to the “Limit Stage” where you have some proficiency and are trying to do a lot of it. Then you reach the “Trophy Stage” where the killing is easy and you have limited out enough that it has lost it’s excitement. Some hunters never go further than this. But some, I would argue the most mature, reach the forth and final stage known as the “Sportsman Stage.” In this stage the focus isn’t on killing numbers or even big trophies. It’s about the whole experience. Most sportsman hunters leave the woods just as happy on the days they didn’t kill something as the days they did. It’s in this final stage that you most often find bow hunters (with some exceptions). You are spot on in regards to archery hunting being much more difficult than rifle hunting and this is surely is one of the major reasons for its attraction. Another big point to understand is why people hunt. For many (most?) it also has a lot to do with feeling a connection with your ancestors. The less gadgetry you have, or in the words of Aldo Leopold, the less you bring the factory to the woods, the more you feel this connection. I’m a hunter so I’ll respond. I blogged about this myself with equal disgust. Every hunter I’ve talked to about it agrees as well. As a rule 90% of hunters are ethical sportsmen that in no way resemble the stereotypical beer-swilling bubbas you see them portrayed as. But you do have turds like this guy, as any group does.

As for the “why bow hunt” question, hunters go through a progression that is pretty universal. You start off as a kid in the “killing Stage” where you’re real goal is just to kill something. Then you progress to the “Limit Stage” where you have some proficiency and are trying to do a lot of it. Then you reach the “Trophy Stage” where the killing is easy and you have limited out enough that it has lost it’s excitement. Some hunters never go further than this. But some, I would argue the most mature, reach the forth and final stage known as the “Sportsman Stage.” In this stage the focus isn’t on killing numbers or even big trophies. It’s about the whole experience. Most sportsman hunters leave the woods just as happy on the days they didn’t kill something as the days they did.

It’s in this final stage that you most often find bow hunters (with some exceptions). You are spot on in regards to archery hunting being much more difficult than rifle hunting and this is surely is one of the major reasons for its attraction. Another big point to understand is why people hunt. For many (most?) it also has a lot to do with feeling a connection with your ancestors. The less gadgetry you have, or in the words of Aldo Leopold, the less you bring the factory to the woods, the more you feel this connection.

]]> By: Nuthatch http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1242 Nuthatch Fri, 18 Aug 2006 16:21:03 +0000 http://www.ocellated.com/2006/08/18/a-rant-against-bear-hunting-and-country-music/#comment-1242 Complete and utter agreement. Thanks. Complete and utter agreement. Thanks.

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