I hope to see fewer and fewer of these events as criminals realize that they won't get a free ride in WA committing their crimes. We're armed and will protect oursleves and our families. The homeowner should upgrade to buckshot.
(con't) Now to this issue. According to the Thruston Country Sherfiff and to the WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, there are absolutely no safety issues with waterfowl hunting in Thurston County; none ever. The board of commissioners says this is a safety issue. It clearly is not. When hunters hunt ducks they shoot from shore towards the open water. As a matter of fact, in this proposed No shooting/no hunting ordinance, the board of commissioners, in their infinate wisdom, have said that waterfolw hunters could shoot no closer to shore than 300 yards. This creates a saftey issue. Most seaducks fly along next to the shore. So, if this proposal were adopted, hunters would be firing from 300 yards offshore SHOOTING IN TOWARDS SHORE AND THE HOMES THERE! It's idiotic and it makes no sense. It makes no sense because people who know little or nothing about hunting won't take the advice of the people who do - the sheriff and the WDFW - and scrap this stupid bill. The Thurston County Commissioners are out of control on this and need to be stopped.
Without duck hunters, we'd have no ducks. It's true. Almost all conservation and habitat restoration performed in the US is by hunters and with hunter volunteer hours and billions of hunters' dollars - just for conservation. No other group of people contributes so much to conservation. Animal rights groups like PETA and HSUS contribute nothing to conservation. Same for the Defenders of Wildlife - nothing to conservation. In addition, it was duck hunters who passed the Lacey Act in 1900 and then the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918, both of which stopped the interstate transportation and sale of migratory fowl, such as geese and ducks, and saved many species from extinction by doing so. Today duck populations in and around Thurston County thrive as a result and those dukss are there for all to enjoy, not just hunters. If you're not a hunter, I ask you this. How many hows of conservation work have you done for wildlife? Usually, unless someone's a hunter, the answer is zero. We're not bitter about it. We hunters enjoy doing all of the work. And you beach combers, bird watchers, and naturalists reap the benefits of our labors and dollars. Glad to do it!
(to be cont.)
Herds or gaggles of hunters are the correct terms. :-)
(cont.) There are irresponsible people taking part in all kinds of activities including hunting. I believe in lawful, safe, and ethical hunting practices as do most licensed hunters in this state. We believe in it for many reasons. We want the public at large to understand the contributions that we and generations of ethical sportsmen and women before us have made which have restored wildlife to abundance everywhere in the US, so that even the non-hunting public will understand the good that most hunters do and benefit from those efforts by seeing wildlife. We want to hunt in such a way as to cooperate with the general public and address concerns of public safety in a knowledgable and respectful manner. And, we want to be aware of the sensativities of non-hunters to what we do in the ways that we display our game, our harvested animals so as not to offend.
There are jerks everywhere. There are jerks who are animal rights activists and who are hunters alike. But, I know for a fact that most hunters are ethical and are concerned for our heritage and our future, and act accordingly.
ConCommon, there are a few points that you made which need to be addressed. First of all, hunters are both democrat and republican. Politics really has little bearing on whether someone shoots or hunts.
If people are unsafely shooting behind your house, report them because they're breaking existing laws. Unsafe dischharge of a firearm is illegal everywhere in our state.
If a shooter is leaving trash behind, including shotgun shells or rifle casings, report them because littering is against the law everywhere in this state.
Wasting of animals by dumping is illegal all over WA and if you witness someone doing it, you should report them. Dumping dead animals in populated areas is a health violation and if you witness someone doing it, you should report them.
How many hours have you spent improving wetlands and wildlife habitat? I would guess none. The sea ducks of Thurston County are abundant ONLY due to the efforts of our state's sportsmen and women over the last 80 years or more. Duck hunters, through their waterfowl stamp purchases, their license purchases, excise tax on their ammunition and gun purchases, tens of thousands of hours volunteer conservation work, and their membership and donations to conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited have returned the threatened waterfowl populations of the 1930s to the abundant populations of today. All other groups combined haven't done 1/10th of the work to restore our wildlife to today's numbers, and for all of our citizens to enjoy. The result of these conservation efforts benefit bird watchers, beach combers, naturalists, and anyone else who is out to enjoy nature.
Donate to PETA or the Defenders of Wildlife or the HSUS all you want, but none of those organizations do anything to improve wildlife habitat and populations, none. They only litigate and spread false information. Hunters do the real work. If you care as much about ducks as your post would indicate, I invite you to join Ducks Unlimited to actually help wildlife. Otherwise, you're just complaining and not doing.
Yeah, he probably should've talked to the guy to try and find out the underlying problems behind his criminal actions. Not! I guarantee that neighborhood is substantially safer today than it was yesterday. Get a pair.
He's not in trouble unless the bad guy doesn't get away. They'd have to have a "victim" to prosecute. The bad guy will hopefully think twice about launching another burglary attempt. He wouldn't want to come here, I guarantee that.
And Republicans can't understand why we can't get back in the White House even with a buffoon like President Obama. Wonder no more. As long as Republicans pander to the religious right and support discrimination, large numbers of moderates will be forced to vote for an independent or for a D. When will the party figure it out?
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Ruckus