Meet Thy Enemy

Safari Club International Recognizes  Congressman Paul Ryan as 2013 Federal Legislator of the Year

Published on Thursday, January 17,  2013 Tags:Awards|Conservative Politics|Paul Ryan|Safari Club International

Safari Club International Recognizes Congressman Paul  Ryan as 2013 Federal Legislator of the Year

Safari Club International

Washington, DC – -(Ammoland.com)- Safari Club International (SCI) is pleased to  recognize Representative Paul Ryan (Wisc.) as the 2013 SCI Federal Legislator of  the Year.

The award will be presented during the evening banquet on Jan. 25, 2013 at  the world’s greatest convention dedicated to North American and international  hunting, the 41st Annual Safari Club International Hunters’ Convention.

“No other legislator is more deserving of this award after the 2012 election  cycle than Congressman Paul Ryan,” said SCI President John Whipple.

“Being an avid hunter, Congressman Ryan was a champion to our cause, and put  the preservation of hunting heritage in the national spotlight during his 2012  vice-presidential campaign. Be it in a business suit or full field attire,  voters across the country saw the indelible image of him, with his bow at full  draw; showing indisputable evidence of his commitment to being the voice for  sportsmen and women both on the campaign trail and in the 112th Congress. SCI is  proud to honor Representative Ryan as the 2013 SCI Federal Legislator of the  Year.”

“It is an honor to be recognized by Safari Club International and its members  as the 2013 Federal Legislator of the Year. I’m grateful to win this award and  even more excited to be able to pass on to my children the hunting traditions  and values that SCI stands for,” Ryan said. “The values of sportsmen and women  have been a focus throughout my career and I will continue to support the  hunting traditions and rights we cherish.”

Aside from his legislative work in Congress and with Safari Club  International, Ryan is a member of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC),  having previously served as co-chairman for CSC in the U.S. House of  Representatives from 2007 to 2011.

Becoming an SCI Member: Joining Safari Club International  is the best way to be an advocate for continuing our hunting heritage and  supporting worldwide sustainable use conservation, wildlife education and  humanitarian services. JOIN NOW: http://www.safariclub.org/Join.

Safari Club International First For Hunters is the leader  in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation  worldwide. SCI’s approximately 200 Chapters represent all 50 of the United  States as well as 106 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of  cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs,  with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and  government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and  participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page  http://www.safariclub.org

Read more at Ammoland.com: http://www.ammoland.com/2013/01/paul-ryan-as-2013-federal-legislator-of-the-year/#ixzz2ISLTVbhV

A Whole Batch of Bad Eggs

Hunters like to blame their ill-behavior on the “one bad egg” making them all look bad. That one egg must be the busiest hunter in the forest—I see signs of him all over the place.

Like the Easter Bunny, he leaves his calling card wherever he goes: a beer can here, a candy wrapper there, McDonald’s bags, Big Gulps, a pile of shotgun shells—and toxic lead shot and bullets spread everywhere.

I’m not sure I believe there’s only one bad egg responsible—could be they’ve all got some bad egg in them. Maybe it’s just the nature of the “sport.”

That would explain why local police and sheriff’s departments across the country see a marked spike in crimes like theft and vandalism during hunting season. Then of course there are violent crimes, like assault with a deadly weapon and manslaughter. Italy has seen a rash of such crimes since their hunting season began in September. So far, 13 people have been shot dead and 33 others wounded by hunters, leading some folks there to call for an outright ban on the blood sport. According to a survey taken last year, fewer than one in five Italians consider hunting an “acceptable pastime,” while hunter numbers there have dropped from 3 million a few decades ago to about 700,000 today.

There can’t simply be “one bad egg” responsible for all the trash and carnage; more likely the whole batch is spoiled. It’s no use keeping a bunch of rotten eggs around—eventually you have to throw them out.

Text and Photography ©Jim Robertson

Occupy Wildlife!

A new USFWS survey suggests the popularity of hunting has risen from 4% in 2006 to 6% in 2011. Many are in doubt that a growth in hunting participation is actually going on, and suspect that those numbers have been skewed to give the illusion that it’s a growing, rather than a dying sport. Even if a few more people have fallen prey to the lure of the blood-sporting way, 6% of the population is not a very high percentage of the country considering that hunters and their ilk interject themselves into every issue that involves wildlife, while the rest of us who don’t approve of wildlife butchery are barely represented.

Whether hunters make up 4% or 6% of the US population, we are still the 95% (give or take a single measly point). It’s high time we start an Occupy Wildlife movement and give the non-hunting majority—and the animals—a voice!

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

What’s Next, a Murderer’s Heritage Act?

By allowing and encouraging blood sports, society puts itself at risk, for under close examination the line between species is grey and rooted in personal bias.  The serial killer, Zodiak, just one example of a hunter who turned his sights on his own species, called his victims “the most dangerous game.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not for a minute suggesting that since there’s scarcely any genetic difference between humans and non-humans, people should view the human animal just as they would any other prey. No, that would be Zodiak’s argument. What I’m saying is that NO animal should be reduced to the level of mere object to be “harvested” at will. It’s a blatant double-standard that killing people is “murder” while slaying an animal is “sport.” Both are murder. Perhaps society doesn’t want to admit how many murderers, or people capable of murder, are out there. 

Human society is by no means at the apex of its evolution—a fully evolved species would have made peace with their fellow animals. Living the lie that a false dichotomy is valid only encourages rationalizations that won’t hold up under scrutiny; it also encourages people like Zodiak to move laterally across the arbitrary species barrier and turn to hunting humans.

In one of his infamous letters to the press, Zodiak wrote, “School children make nice targets,” and threatened to shoot them “as they come bounding out” of the school bus. Certainly not the kind of behavior we should enshrine with an outlandish act of Congress such as the “Sportsman’s Heritage Act” now before the Senate. What’s next, a Murderer’s Heritage Act?