California...world record!

[Liz ODell]

We hit a new record!
I was looking at CADFG's website to see what was decided yesterday at the meeting (you know that one where they were going to vote on the new bear management proposals, they decided to hold off on making a decision until they can answer all the public comments so they won't violate CEQA or APA - if they violate those we will probably not have a season at all).

DFG recieved a total of 127 individual public comments, of those 106 where against the expansion of bear hunting and or wanted to ban bear hunting and the use of dogs. They also recieved 251 chain letters opposing bear hunting. They received a whopping 22 comments in support of bear hunting and the proposals!
Now before anyone gets too personally offended and butt hurt let me say that I have a lot of friends and know a lot of people that have hounds. However I am having a damn hard time finding most of their names on the public comments...so if you think I'm being mean...well no one is getting any special treatment.

I just don't get it, all you had to do was attend a meeting AND SPEAK or send an email (or do both like I did).
It seems like a lot of people have time to come on here and fight, bitch, brag and post photos so why didn't you have time to send an email???????????
Seriously are we really this apathetic...what will happen if it goes to the ballot?????
Are we really so dumbed down sitting at home watching American Idol or Playboy Mansion or whatever the hell else...holy crap...it is the flouride!
Maybe Alex Jones is right, we probably won't even revolt as they're pushing us into the cattle cars.
I'll quit there before I hit full potty mouth mean person syndrome.

Well it turns out you may have a chance to still be heard! Supposedly the public comment period is over, but considering that they pushed the meeting out until May you should probably write the Commission!
THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE MAY 5TH IN STOCKTON!!!!
Location Stockton Rod and Gun Club, 3120 Monte Diablo Avenue, Stockton CA MAY 5TH!

I fully admit that I will probably not be able to attend this meeting, I do plan on sending comments again, at the very least to let CADFG know there are way more people in support of the proposal than the pitiful amount that have already commented.
So, in my admitting I may not make it to this meeting I have to ask is there someone out there who has not attended or commented yet that is big enough to grab their sack and go in my place?
They really want to make us register ALL our recovery collars not just GPS collars. We need to have some say in that, don't you think?
There is also still opportunity for us to get the training areas expanded!
At the very least we need to let them know we support wildlife management based on science not emotion.
You need to get 'educated' on whats going on before you write, email or attend the meeting! So please go to the CADFG Commissions website and find all the info. you need - if you can navigate this site you can navigate that one and find what you need.
My advice at the meeting is to meet with the other houndsmen before the meeting and talk about what you will say when your turn comes up.
It does NO good to be mad at the Commissioners or to bad mouth anyone else in attendence (and yes that even includes those worthless pieces of crap 'AR's you know will be there). Present your facts/argument with intelligence and without emotion unless its called for to recount a story.

I'm sure I might get some nasty gram for this post but let me remind you of 2 things;
1; I could give a rats a#s what you personally think of me.
2; In the time you took to write a response you could have written the Commission!

[Ike]

Welcome to the choir. For years I pounded the keyboard writing articles for magazines and newspapers while attending every meeting the fish and game had as a sportsman's rep.
About all I ever got was blamed for whatever went wrong or whatever hunters lost as far as opportunity goes??????? What I learned was everybody knows more about how the fish and game should regulate wildlife than they do, and each of those people (the public) should have 100 percent of the say...............

Good luck with your efforts.

ike

[M Evertsen]

That is amazing liz!

I sure hope people can get together to defeat this!

Unfortunately, living a state away makes it hard to get into the meetings there, but I do support the CHC and SPVF, and I have just recently started going to California hunting.

I do attend meetings here in NV and speak my word, but we do not have nearly the anti hunting crowd that California does.

Good luck.

Marcial

[RIFLEMAN]

Hi Liz,

I applaud you for sharing your frustrations and hope that it may motivate people into action.

During the course of my work with CHC's lobbying organization, COHA, they have repeatedly indicated how much they enjoy working with us hound hunters because:
1. "We get it." They are impressed by how savvy we are to the threats that hunters face.
2. We are the very definition of grassroots activism. Nobody knows how to fill a room down at the Capitol or rally behind an effort like we do.
3. We don't just talk the talk. We are people of action.

Normally, I can look anyone in the eye and tell them without any hesitancy or apology that hound hunters are by far the most dedicated type of hunter in existence. However, I must say that I am damned ashamed of how California's hound hunting community has responded to the Department's proposals. For once, we are not having to defend ourselves for the survival of our way of life. Rather, we are presented with the chance to go on the offensive and improve the hunting opportunities for us, our dogs, and the lifestyle that we supposedly love. In addition to the opportunity to expand bear hunting into parts of four counties and extend the season or increase the quota, for the first time ever, we are faced with the opportunity to 1) decrease the size of the dog control zones so that we can get our dogs away from the heat, foxtails, and rattlesnakes of the valley and 2) legalize the use GPS, the most efficient means of keeping track of hounds that, to my knowledge, is illegal ONLY in the state in which we live.

Honestly, folks...what's it going to take to get you off of your butts and join the fight.

[birddogz]

liz,

could you let me know the specifics of this commission resolution. i intend to write a letter as i fully support bear hunting and the use of hounds to do so.

are they trying to extend training seasons, training areas, hunt quotas, hunt areas. i went to the commission website and only found meeting dates/agendas.

it is really unfortunate that the anti's have more representation on these matters than us hunters. apathy will be our demise. i fowarded your original post to my hunting buddies and told them to get off their asses and e-mail the commission. first it'll be bears, then deer, then ducks, etc.

thanks for any info on this matter

[cat and bear]

Folks, I know and share your flustrations, a few is trying to get it done, and the rest is just hot air contributing nothing. Here in WI, we were challenged for our bear season. It took joint effort of all wi sportsman. The Wisconsin bear hunters was 30 years in business, had around 30k in the bank, an easy target for the anti's. We pulled together, had the land donated, by my grandfather, I was very involved in building the cabin, and raffled it. We ended up with 30k in the cabin, as most voluntered with their trades, and raffled it for like 280k, the folks that couldnt help on the cabin, living to far away etc. Spent their time on raffle tickets and memberships. I only hunted three times that year, like several others donating all my time to the cabin, and the politics. I usually tree about 50 bear per year. Yea, it hurt, but had to be done. The end result, 3500 members, and money, now polititions see money and votes. We cleaned out the board, which sat on their hands in the good old boys club, got a new write in president, etc. We had buss loads of people including dog people from all walks of life, trappers etc. We showed in numbers at meetings. In the last ten years, the wbha, has gotten new area's opened, that was only for bait sitters, A bill of rights to hunt in WI, among many other things. Only by a great team effort. My opinion is this, follow this because it works, if not find a new state, where hunters will fight for bear hunting, instead of talking about it, Good luck.

[birddogz]

despite your lack of a reply i e-mailed the F&G commission. i expressed my support of bear hunting and the use of dogs to do so. i told them that i supported any expansion of season/quota/boundaries.

for someone who so vehemently chastised the majority of hunters for their apathy when it comes to these commission meetings you could not even respond to my request for the particulars regarding these matters.

what gives?

[007pennpal]

Hey,
I can sure write an email. I'm from Oregon but I might want to be hunting in California some day soon. I'm not overly educated on the subject matter. What can I do to help hound hunter's freedoms?
Sean

[Peter Meyer]

check out youtube "hound hunter speaks out against hsus" and check out www.humanewatch.org. I just watched the May 5 Commission meeting and have a few thoughts. First I printed out and read the entire 171 page report on the bear season proposals. I'm not a trained biologist but the report seemed very cohesive, complete, and clear in its' results. What certification it still lacks I am unclear on. It looks good to me. Let's go. What really got me was Commissioner Sutton. His remarks that the proposals may hurt bear hunters in the long run and that we should think strategically are close but off the mark. We are in a war with the antis. These proposals if passed, while a huge plus for us ( consider it a victory in one battle) would only be a small setback for them. If they pass it will definitely raise the stakes but it won't change their ultimate goal, the elimination of all hunting in America. Sutton's recommendation of keeping the status quo in the bear season gives us another glimpse of where he truly stands. We are fighting a numerically superior,better funded, enemy with a propaganda machine that matches that of the Nazis. Sure if the quota is expanded, hunting allowed in San Luis Obispo County, and the dog control zone expanded it is going to piss off the antis. I can guarantee they will sue. Commissioner Rogers has said that he welcomes the challenge and looks forward to it. I salute him! It doesn't matter what happens with the upcoming season, the antis will never give up. People like Kim Flaherty of In Defense of Animals and Nicole Paquette of the HSUS are our enemies. They hate us, hate what we do, how we do it, and what we stand for. The HSUS has direct ties to the ALF (Animal Liberation Front) that the FBI has classified as a domestic terrorist organization. If any of the millions that the HSUS collects each year from unsuspecting donors who think their money is actually going to help local shelters(less than 1% annually) finds its' way to the ALF what should Homeland Security and Obama do? We have free speech, thank God and the Continental Congress, and antis have the right to spew their lies, misinformation, and hate. But when their motives are to suppress freedom and subvert the Constitution action must be taken. Enough for now.

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds" -Samuel Adams

"We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly we shall all hang separately" -Benjamin Franklin replying to John Hancock's remark that the revolutionaries should be unanimous in their action. July 4, 1776 at the signing of the Declaration of Independece

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." -George Orwell

-Peter J. Meyer westernhoundsmen@hotmail.com

[Liz ODell]

Birddogz...I told you what to do...go to the website...read what you need to know...then write a letter...apparently you were able to figure it out, good job.

[Trueblue]

. We are fighting a numerically superior,better funded, enemy with a propaganda machine that matches that of the Nazis.

I agree, and the groups you mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many organizations that want to eradicate your right to hunt and even be in the woods...period.Just to name a few...Sierra Club,The Nature Conservancy,The International Union for the Conservation of Nature,The National Wildlife Federation,World Wildlife Fund,Worldwide Fund for Nature,World Resources Institute,The National Audobon Society,The Wilderness Society,Friends of the Earth,Environmental Defense Fund,Wildlands Project,The Natural Resources Defense Council and the list goes on and on.Add to that a huge list of people in places of power and influence like Al Gore,the Clintons,the Obama's,the Bush's and the United Nations.All of them want to rob you of your right to be a free people who have the right to life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness.They want government to control the people rather than the people control government like was originally intended by our founding fathers.It boggles my mind how many organizations there are out there both governmental and non-governmental that want to destroy what made this country great...freedom.They will use what ever tools necessary such as Climate Change,the Endangered Species Act,the Clean Water Act,protection of biosphere's etc. etc...what ever public policies they can conjure up to deceive the masses and erode their freedom slowly so they don't even recognize what they have lost until it is too late.Too many people just want to live in their own little bubbles with their head in the sand and that is what these people are counting on.TIME TO WAKE UP !!!!!!!!