I am disappointed in the OK vote to hunt the cranes. Effort was made to gain public opinion about the issue and the public voted overwhelmingly to stop the effort to kill sandhills. It seems that general public "citizen" opinion doesn't carry any weight when it comes to opinion vs dollars. If you read the article, you'll see some pretty flimsy statements as to why the hunt should go on. Statements to the effect of "we should be able to hunt and protect the animals at the same time" are contradictory. Hunt and manage is a better way to say it but, the fact is that public sentiment went unheard. Discouraging, to say the least. And, just who is this Tennessee Wildlife Federation? We have Tennessee Fish and Wildlife and we have Tennessee Wildlife Resources and this third player seems to wield a lot of power. Word has it that the hunters in the state weren't really caring one way or the other for a crane hunt but, this TN Fish and Wildlife organization was ramrodding it through. And so a panel of politicians set the fate for this wonderful bird that represents all that is wild and beautiful. Not good to eat and easy to kill. No skill required. Probably there isn't one of those political wildlife representatives who ever even saw a sandhill crane. The term politician brings up visions of a refuse dump in my mind and that's just where the carcasses of the cranes will end up.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/aug/23/panel-oks-hunting-cranes-season-to-start-nov-28/?print=1
I understand the Sandhill Crane shooting will be on a draw for permit basis,not sure if this is true or not,but if so it would reduce the number of shooters and make it more controlable.
ReplyDeleteYou're right Dick. It is a draw. The link is on the entry to get the details. I don't care what they use to kill cranes. It ain't right, unnecessary and the cranes are no more than a different shaped target than hunters are used to seeing. I guess it's more interesting to see the feathers blown off a large, slow flying colorful bird. Put those fellas in the mountains and let em try to hit grouse. Wonder how many could even get the gun to their shoulders in time for the shot....Cranes can be hit with a single shot .22 shooting shorts. Nothing sportsman about it....
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