Hunters need to stay vigilant, politically active

Our problem as hunters is that we hate politics. For the most part we don’t pay attention.

Some of us pay our respective 35 bucks to our favorite organization, and they are supposed to handle the politics for us. But those organizations are 501(c)(3) organizations, which means they are really supposed to be nonpolitical organizations. That is the real problem. It allows the politicians to speak to us out of both sides of their mouths and we tolerate it.

I spoke to this a while back in sorts. How does a politician who says he supports the Second Amendment but wants to sell off every acre of public land he can do us any good? Conversely, why does another say they are for public lands, but still support the anti-hunters? And, of course, there are the ones that tell us they are for “sportsmen” but constantly try to limit or eliminate the Second Amendment.

They get away with this manure because we hate politics and don’t pay attention. We will get what we deserve because we really do hold the key to much of our future.

Whether it be a bill in New Mexico to eliminate trapping, an Illinois bill to end bobcat hunting, a Tennessee bill that attacks small sporting dog breeders, a Nevada bill to eliminate hunting with hounds, or a national bill to ban the sale of certain types of firearms. All are on the dockets right now and all have hearings scheduled soon, if not already next week.

Divide and conquer, overwhelm with legal activity, mislead the public, spread disinformation — all are techniques of the enemies. These and several other of their techniques are in play now, and some of the enemies are elected.

Some of us think that they are involved heavily in the fight. Social media warriors – we see their posts every day, sometimes multiple times per day. They post things like “You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold dead hand,” in this week’s rehashed meme from last week. We might chuckle at it, maybe even affirm it, but all they do is preach to the choir. They sway no one’s opinion — not one. And not enough people see them to make a difference anyway. If even one of the warriors had a following of 5,000 people, tell me what election was won or lost by only 5,000 votes last November. Now spread those 5,000 followers out over 30 states, and well, it doesn’t mean anything. But we do hold the key to victory. The pen can be mightier than the sword in politics. You don’t have to burn down towns to make a statement to politicians. You just have to contact them in force with others from their district and they run scared. Because, if anyone thinks that Tammy or Tom are about serving the public over preserving their own honorable skin, I have a bridge to sell you. If we want to win the fight we have to hold our nose and pay attention to politics and we will have to contact our elected officials. Save their email addresses on your laptop, desktop, phone, or whatever. Use snail mail if you like. But a quick message saying that I support wolf management being left to the states that they live in, and not the federal government, can move mountains when 5,000 other hunters in their district contact them.

If you don’t like their response, that’s when you can have some fun and send the “you can have my guns when you pry it from my cold dead hand” and then it just might actually have an effect.

While we were out in the woods, things changed; we’ve even seen it in Wisconsin politics. We can’t just join an organization, receive their magazine, like some funny memes and head out hunting anymore. The antis are quiet now because their political environment is favorable, but they are busy. This is when they seek to make hay.

By voicing your support or opposition when necessary, we control much of the outcome. We may lose a battle or two, but we must focus on the war. Just speak up in a venue that counts.

Happy St. Paddy’s Day! You know I’ll be having a wee dram of Red Breast. Corned beef not so much; we’re from an island nation, so we’ll be eating much better fare than corned beef.

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CHUCK K OLAR LOCAL OUTDOORSMAN