Hunters represent!

In the language of my students, that means we stood tall and strong for what we're all about in that story about women hunters in Thursday's Sacramento Bee.

The interesting thing about the 41 comments on that story so far is this: While there were definitely a few shrill anti-hunting comments about the barbarity of our sport, they were not well received. The Bee allows readers to rate the usefulness of comments, and the antis got very low ratings, while the pro-hunting comments were typically rated very useful.

What that tells me is there are probably two things going on: First, you all came out in force. I know you did because I recognized some of your names! Second, while the antis' comments scare the heck out of us because we're afraid the general public will take them seriously, they're really a small minority - and they're not as credible as we think.

Even so, here's one comment that I hated, because I fear it is a widely held belief: "I suppose it is prudent to draw a line between the conscientious hunter and the poacher. I know conscientious responsible hunters exist. I'm just not yet convinced it makes up the majority of hunters."

I am convinced the majority of hunters bend over backwards to follow the rules, if not for moral reasons, than at least for the pocketbook, because breaking hunting laws carries far more serious penalties than breaking most motor vehicle laws.

This is an area where we in the hunting community have a lot of work to do, in terms of getting the word out. And our response to this story was a good start. Thanks, everyone!

© Holly A. Heyser 2008