Wednesday, October 21, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
firearms, ammunition, and
hunting-related accoutre-
ment has contributed more
than $14 billion since 1937.
Outside of user fees it9s
estimated that hunters and
sportsmen in the United
States contribute $400 mil-
lion to wildlife conservation
funds through their mem-
bership dues and donations.
And why wouldn9t they?
Funding conservation keeps
wildlife populations within
the balance that allows for
regular seasonal hunting.
Besides wildlife con-
servation, the hunters and I
share another thing: our rage
at those who circumvent the
law to satisfy their bloodlust.
We9re talking poaching here,
people. And Central Oregon
is rife with it. A study some
years back discovered
that 20 percent of Central
Oregon9s mule deer popula-
tion deaths were the result
of poaching. Oftentimes,
poaching is a crime of
opportunity. Someone sees
an animal and acts impul-
sively. Other times poaching
is the direct result of lacking
wildlife education. Poaching
can be either intentional or
unintentional. The former
can be addressed with dili-
gent hunters willing to call
into the ODFW hotline when
they see suspicious or illegal
activity taking place. The
latter can only be quelled by
good education.
I9ve known many a young
person who, now bored with
playing out their gunslinging
fantasies on tin cans at the
SCOUTING
the Northwest
By Scout Arnone
The responsibility
of hunters
Even as a die-hard veg-
etarian I can see the inherent
value in hunting. Whether
hunters realize it or not they
willfully or unwittingly fund
the thing which is near-
est and dearest to my heart:
conservation.
I readily decline all invi-
tations to sample jerky and
elk burgers and I hate to see
a duck go down, but I can
respect the folks in camou-
flage who pay up, hunker
down, shoot and consume
their kill.
Through the Duck Stamp
Act, hunters fund protec-
tions for the habitat of
migratory waterfowl. Since
1934, six million acres of
habitat has been conserved
for migratory waterfowl
as a direct result of funds
from the Duck Stamp
Act. Through the Pittman-
Robertson Act, taxes on
cinder quarry, find it irresist-
ible to shoot a quail or a rab-
bit. It9s just one. They didn9t
see it die because it ran off
and died of its injuries in the
sagebrush.
This is not hunting. Any
animal killed without a per-
mit to do so is poaching, and
the seeds of this crime were
sown at home.
With more than 500
bird species calling Oregon
home, it can be hard to
determine which ones
are protected under the
Migratory Bird Act and
which ones you9re going to
allow your child to shoot
at with a BB gun. Spoiler
alert: it9s never cool to allow
your kids to maim animals
and it can come with a very
hefty fine. A family with
a proud hunting tradition
encourages their kids to be
sharp-eyed and responsible
with their firearm: never
point it at anyone, keep the
safety on till you9re ready to
shoot. But the lesson often
neglected is in animal identi-
fication and in this one small
detail parents fail their chil-
dren and neighbors fail each
other completely.
An 8-year-old proudly
shows off the European star-
ling he killed not realizing
it was actually a Brewer9s
blackbird (a federally pro-
tected bird). Someone posts
pictures of their Eurasian
collared dove, now a bloody
pile of feathers, not aware
that it9s actually a mourn-
ing dove. Further, and more
alarming, there is a trend of
19
PHOTO PROVIDED
Isabel Rickert’s hunting contributes to wildlife conservation in Oregon.
hunters shooting animals
illegally and then claiming
mistaken identity because
law enforcement often gives
them a slap on the wrist and
sends them on their way.
That9s how almost four per-
cent of Oregon9s wolf popu-
lation was poached in 2017.
Any person who intends
to engage with animals,
either in their preservation
or pursuit, has the responsi-
bility to know exactly what
they are interacting with.
The results can be cata-
strophic. It9s the responsi-
bility of anyone who pre-
serves or pursues animals to
alert their neighbor of their
error and seek to educate
them. Only through gentle
education can the hunters
and anti-hunters find the
common ground that gener-
ates more sport on a crisp
autumn morning and more
birds at backyard feeders.
It9s your Oregon and so
it9s your responsibility to
know her.
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