This is off Bowsite. This is how I see it.
AS I get older (56 in a few days) I'm starting to see things differently. My interest in "all things hunting" and how I now perceive them and how they affect us, is the result of watching and listening to Randy Newberg of On Your Own Adventures. He is an advocate for all hunters and is well versed on the inner workings of the Wolf Issue. He is also a strong advocate for RMEF and has done some PR work for them.
He is currently at the sports show In SLC. The "money maker" for SFW. The following are his comments. I don't think he will mind my posting them here. I doubt he would do it himself unless there was a topic already in place, he doesn't seek publicity.
It's a very good read, well written and since I'm posting it here, obviously made an impact on me.
A link to the thread:
http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk ... p?t=249798 ============
Quote: Originally Posted by Dinkshooter View Post
Anyone else thinking Lawnboy, Fin and SFW are having dinner tonight?
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Well, Fin was there. Was kindly treated to the dinner by the MDF folks. Left once the music started.
Wonder if I was the only person laughing at the irony of Shane Mahoney making one of his finest presentations. In that presentation, he bragged about the US, our history and how the principles that made our country so admired by others (Mahoney being Canadian) was achieved by keeping true to the ideals of the commoner. Then bringing that forward to how conservation in this country was founded by involving all citizens as equal participants and equal beneficiaries.
Following his long, but very eloquent speech was an auction where Denny Austad paid $150K+ for the Antelope Island mule deer tag, along with many other tags selling for over $40K. The usual suspects bidding on behalf of their clients who have found a way to not have to wait in the line, and by continuing to buy these tags, finance the operations that continue to provide them a path to the front of the line, any time they want to buy it.
Just seemed weird to see the commoners cheering as their wildlife bounty was once again, sold time and again, to the same people, year after year, all under the guise of conservation. I wondered how many, among the hundreds in that room, noticed the irony of that.
Maybe I have become too jaded in my views. Following the auction, I thanked my hosts and walked across the street, on up to my room. On my way, I wondered what the state of hunting will look like if those of us who have a platform to speak out about what we are seeing happen in this western states, fail to do so. If we sit on our hands, worried about pressure placed on our sponsors by those who we might challenge in their actions and motives.
Tomorrow night will be more of the same. If anything, they save the best of the best for the Saturday night auction. They will sell another Henry's rifle deer tag. One sold tonight. I am not sure how many total rifle tags are issued for the Henrys, but a good percentage of them were sold today.
Yesterday I watched the former Director of AK Fish and Game, an SFW plant who resigned when accused of 12 hunting violations, walk the show floor. Then watch the AK Bison Governors tag get sold this weekend, along with the AK Governors Koyokuk moose tag. I wonder how much of that money will do any good for AK bison or moose, or if the funds will get siphoned off in selling commissions of 10% and allowed administrative fees of who knows how much? Yet, we can rest well, knowing that another "savior of conservation" broke out his check book to make sure he would not be taking up any space in the waiting line with the rest of us.
Went and brushed my teeth an extra time tonight, but still have a strange taste in my mouth. Probably best that I declined my invitation to a private cocktail party where all winning bidders and other VIPs from this evening would be invited to attend and socialize. Decided to save my socializing for those folks who stop by the booth tomorrow to will tell me how many years they have applied in UT, and have yet to draw their resident elk tag.
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I am at the awards dinner. The food is great, but I think I will puke if this continues. I just learned that BGF/SFW introduced legislation that resulted in wolf delisting. Thankfully, most are not clapping as many know the truth.
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Following dinner, I left. I left disappointed by so many who sat silent while this ridiculous circus act transpired. Who went on stage and participated in a partisan pile of deceit beyond what most minds could even conjure.
I spent the last hour and a half writing my thoughts on the debacle, but figured I better sleep on this one before I post it. Too disgusted right now to post something so critical of those who were accomplices to this assault on conservation.
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As I stated previously, following dinner, I left. Not sure if I was more disappointed or disgusted. Disappointed in those who did nothing when the opportunity was presented, or disgusted by the counterfeit statements provided by Ryan Benson of Big Game Forever.
Benson's mash was a frontal assault on the history of what hunting and conservation have always been. A craft of partisanship that drags hunting and conservation even further into the ugly abyss of politics. Truly disgusting for anyone who separates their politics from the more important topics of hunting and conservation.
He carefully selected words to give everyone the impression that it was H.R 509, a bill sponsored by the handpicked pals of BGF/SFW, as being the reason for MT and ID getting delisting. That bill, the SFW/BGF silver bullet, was "Dead on Arrival." It was introduced in January 2011 and has not even had a committee vote, let alone a floor vote or a full Congressional vote. A bill that was dead before the ink dried on the first draft. A bill that is dead in a committee was provided as the reason we have delisting. Laughable by any standard.
He thanked all 60 sponsors of that empty piece of legislation. Then Benson went on to say that without these brave members of Congress who sponsored their bill, the delisting in MT and ID could not have happened. And that the recent delisting in MN, WI, and MI would not have been possible.
What? Someone please tell me I heard him incorrectly. Nope, he connected the dots in that manner.
All of this, while he failed to tell the audience that Big Game Forever and Sportsman For Wildlife were doing everything in their power to kill the real bill that got delisting in Montana and Idaho - the Simpson-Tester rider attached to the budget bill of April, 2011. He never used the words Simpson or Tester.
The groups Benson is associated with worked to kill that rider from the budget bill. They got caught red handed and have been in defense mode ever since. If they had succeeded in killing that bill, we would not be hunting wolves in MT and ID. We would not have delisting in MN, WI, and MI.
BGF/SFW claimed Simpson-Tester would sabotage the delisting possibility in MN. WI, MI. Yet, even though they worked to kill MT and ID delisting, and they were 100% wrong about the outcome in the Great Lakes states, Benson rambled on that BGF/SFW and their friends were the reason we have this delisted status.
He used his Harvard pedigree wordsmithing to make a mockery of the real work that got delisting in all of these states. And as always is the case with SFW/BGF, he took credit for things they did not do, and in this case, took credit for the results of a delisting bill they tried to stop.
He thanked a long list of people who have done nothing for the average hunter or for conservation. And he purposefully omitted those who did the heavy lifting. No big surprise there.
Benson did not mention the two people who stuck their necks out and actually got us delisting and started the momentum for the Great Lakes states. Representative Mike Simpson, a Republican from Idaho, who is the "Simpson" part of the Simpson-Tester bill that gave us delisting. Benson made no mention of Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana, the other sponsor of that rider.
It was that rider that ticked off all the wolf wingnuts, putting them at each other’s throat. It was that rider that gave MT and ID our wolf seasons, and set the path where the enviros would fold up the tent in MN, WI, MI.
Yet, he thanked Representative Denny Rehberg, a Montana Republican opposing Senator Tester in the November election. Benson failed to mention that Rehberg did nothing, absolutely nothing, to help the process of wolf delisting in Montana. A guy they look to as their plant in the Senate, if they can get him elected, the same way they viewed Corey Rossi as their plant in Alaska hunting politics. Rossi is now the FORMER AK G&F director, currently facing at last count, 12 hunting violations.
Rehberg is a Congressional member with a track record that is not very kind to resident Montana hunters. A guy who only now in an election year is trying to look the part of a hunter by hanging out with MT SFW and Montana Shooting Sport Association extremists.
Yesterday, SFW had a big fund raiser down here in Utah for Denny. Ryan Benson invited me to join him and the Congressman. I was busy. Rehberg was then walked around the building, being introduced to “Friends of SFW and BGF.”
And we wonder why hunting and conservation has become so politicized. Spiels such as Benson provided is why.
Benson's work last night was amateur hour when compared to the stirring appeal by Shane Mahoney the previous evening; a dissertation on the history of that got us to this point in conservation history. A true reflection on history, honesty, and commitment to what is right. The two presentations and their presenters seemed in stark contrast in terms of knowledge, sincerity, and expertise on the topic at hand. And, it showed.
We expect as much from SFW and BGF. They are without a doubt the most self-congratulatory group to ever hit the landscape of the west, disguised as hunting and conservation groups. Willing to use all tactics and deceit to spin the truth or to shower credit away from those deserving of accolades
To have others stand silent, paraded up on that stage, participating in the theatrics, all the while knowing this kind of fairy tale would be presented tonight, is my greatest source of disappointment. Those who let their good names be drawn through the mud by some backhanded political rant, is beyond disappointing. At least to those of us who had hope for the potential and promise that could have been. Silence while this kind of fable is pawned off as truth, results in accomplice that is unbecoming of the voice and platform some have.
Some were on that stage, blissfully ignorant of the facts. So removed from the battlefield, that they know not what team wears which uniform. Happy to be there and thinking they were helping the cause.
Others are fully aware of the facts. They were involved in many of the same discussions. They were included on emails, phone calls, and were asked to lobby on the issue.
It is the behavior of those knowledgeable of the truth that is so disappointing. Those who were aware of the deceit being spewed, yet stood on the stage, looking almost to be in pain, knowing in their hearts and minds, what was unfolding while they posed there.
Truth is truth. It cannot be changed. It can be spun, and such is the manner by which politics handles the truth. Some being far more talented at spinning the truth than telling the truth.
And as much as truth is truth; leaders lead, and lemmings follow. It became very clear today that some would prefer to be lemmings while following those who will lead them to them further away from the historical values that got us here.
Anyone; politician, conservation group, or business, that is tying their boat to the SFW/BGF ship, might want to take a look around at the wreckage now drifting up on the beach. Wreckage sanctioned and sponsored by BGF/SFW. And hopefully, followed by even more wreckage than can be salvaged by the leaders of that crew.