I fully support PETA - “People Eating Tasty Animals.”
I grew up in northcentral Pennsylvania, still live here, and was raised by a father who taught me how to hunt & fish. Can’t remember when I was not fishing in my life. Can’t remember not being with my dad when he was hunting. Started carrying a gun and hunting at age 12.
One year before that, I learned the technique of two-man squirrel hunting when I was in the 5th grade. Legally I was not old enough to hunt.
Hunting small game in the woods one day,
my dad turned around and quickly whispered, “Here take the gun. He saw me.” (Meaning the squirrel). I took the gun, which I was familiar with operating because I was already shooting at clay pigeons. The squirrel was high up in a big beech tree, with no hole or nest to hide in. A squirrel will flatten itself against the tree and just barely peek over at you, making itself nearly invisible.
Dad told me, “Stay here, don’t move. I’m going to walk around the tree, when you see the squirrel, shoot.”
Worked like a charm. Dad backed off about fifty feet from the base of the tree, and the squirrel, keeping its eyes on him, backed around hiding from my dad until it was in full view of me. Bang! My first kill. I was proud of that.
I haven’t shot a grey squirrel in over 25 years, at least. Now red squirrels, on the other hand, I’ll shoot whenever I need a tail because a Red Squirrel Picket Pin with a silver tinsel body is a great fly.
You know what though?
THERE IS NOT A SINGLE THING WRONG WITH THIS TYPE OF OUTDOOR SPORT. I still hunt AND fish and will take on anyone who thinks I should not have the right to do it.
PETA, Humane Society People, Friends of Animals, etc., are all filled with people who I first like to say even though it is not a characterization of the truth, "have too much time on their hands.
This reality has occurred over time with the gradual move from the farms and rural areas into the cities and suburbs.
The fact is in my view, any animal lover who is not a “vegan” has no ground on which to stand to oppose hunting & fishing.
The rest of them are way out of touch with reality and the laws of nature. They try to “Bambi-ize” every living creature with feelings, emotions, and a “life.”
Montgomery - Gentry recently released the title song from their CD, “You Do Your Thing.” Opening lyrics:
Put me on a mountain, way back in the backwoods,
Put me on a lake - with a big ‘n’ on the line;
Put me by a campfire - cookin’ somethin’ I just cleaned -
You do your thing, I’ll do mine.
The video is great because it opens with a man driving in the city with a nice buck on the hood of his car, getting cold stares and looks of disgust from people dining at a sidewalk restaurant as close ups show them tearing into a King size cut of prime rib or a big ol’ ham hock.
You do your thing, (don’t mess with me) and I’ll do mine.
I belong to the NRA, Trout Unlimited, The North American Hunting Club, & Catskill Fly Tyers Guild. I will support whenever I possibly can - the truth. Hunting, fishing, sport shooting MUST remain as part of our society. Too many people these days want to bow and kiss the butts of every little fringe organization or ethnic group.
It is just plain wrong for a society and culture to abandon its roots, whatever they may be.
Where we’ve been is how we got here.
“Feed the good wolf.”