(NF) Hunting related - Politicians and their families still have no idea what they are talking about

[Acountdeleted]

Art or one of the Admins, if this post breaks the rules because its hunting and not fishing, please let me know and I'll take it down.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/alberta-hunter-cougar-death-social-media-controversy-laureen-harper-prairies-canada/92226/

 

Try not to rage too much while reading this article. The uneducated stupidity of some just boggles my mind. 

 

[OhioFisherman]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/alberta-has-2-500-cougars-biologist-says-hunting-popular-in-the-province-1.3731525

 

LOL! Some only stalk celery?

[Acountdeleted]

I think the biggest problem that I have with this is that she had almost 10 years that her husband was in office for, that she could have been talking about and discussing environmental legislation if she had such a problem with this. Or at least could have brought it forward and then had environmental biologists tell her that she was wrong. 

Now, she is a law abiding citizen just like the rest of us with zero power or influence. What she is angry about is perfectly legal and yet she is still upset about this. 

Spend your time chasing after the real criminals. The poachers and the thieves rather then going on a crusade because you don't like what someone did. 

[BillM]

I can't stand idiots that comment on things like hunting photos.  They really have no clue.   All they see is a cute kitty cat and get their panties in a big twist.  

[irishfield]

Now, if that cat had of killed someones little pet dog, let alone a child, they'd be up in arms that the MNR hadn't killed the cat themselves to protect fluffy!

[bigugli]

12 minutes ago, jerpears1 said:

I think the biggest problem that I have with this is that she had almost 10 years that her husband was in office for, that she could have been talking about and discussing environmental legislation if she had such a problem with this. Or at least could have brought it forward and then had environmental biologists tell her that she was wrong. 

Now, she is a law abiding citizen just like the rest of us with zero power or influence. What she is angry about is perfectly legal and yet she is still upset about this. 

Spend your time chasing after the real criminals. The poachers and the thieves rather then going on a crusade because you don't like what someone did. 

First rule of membership in a political family. Family members are merely eye candy subordinate to the politician and his/her party. There are rules of behaviour for family. Breaching the rules can sink a career as quickly as a politician's indiscretions in bed.. A classmate of mine was stuck in that trap as the son of a politician, and having to behave perfectly, without an opinion of his own for 15 years. Of course there are rewards for such submission, such as a well paid internship in the PMO for a summer.   But you do not own your life. The party does.

So now this lady is free to flap her gums any way she wants.

[turtle]

If the hunt was legal, it was legal.  Anything else is opinion based on personal ethics.  I hunt deer because I like to hunt and to eat venison.  I am OK with someone killing a big cat in a legal hunt even though it doesn't really interest me.  Social media gives the opportunity to express opinion without having any personal knowledge.   

 

[farsider]

As hunters it also behooves us to recognize that most of the country doesn't hunt. 

To act responsibly and with respect for the animal's life we have taken. 

 Educate those ignorant of our families traditions in a respectful way.

 

The days of driving around town with your freshly killed animal rack on the hood of your car is mostly a thing of the past.

 

While legal, I have never understood the appeal for someone to shoot a big cat out of a tree that some dogs have scared it up into.  Not for me I guess.

 

One of the interesting paradoxes about hunting that I still wrestle with is the argument for killing many top predators (Wolves, Coyotes, Cougars, etc.).

And then in the next breath, arguing that a certain species (Deer, Elk, Moose, etc.) is over populated and needs more human management.

I know our encroachment on their habitat has further exacerbated negative human/animal interactions, (livestock loss, car collisions, etc.) that then demands management of some sort.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[grimsbylander]

The bottom line in all this is simply, was it legal. There are educated people out there getting paid a lot of money to govern and control our resources. Until such time as regulations change, nobody has the right to cast judgement on someone that is acting within the confines of the law. This is just as relevant with fishing as it is hunting. If someone has issue with what he did, they are well within their rights to pursuit getting regulations changed because that is the root cause, not the hunter.

And I agree with some of the other sentiments, I hunted most of my life and have no interest in shooting a treed cat, BUT, that has nothing to do with whether HE wants to do it. Again, there are tremendous  amounts of fluctuation in the regulations across N. America and because of that, what is normal for one area is strange or even taboo in another. Take spring bass fishing for instance.

 

[Pigeontroller]

Nothing says "sportsman" like shooting a Cougar out of a tree after your hounds have chased it there!

[aplumma]

I have been coon hunting down south and it is really an experience. The group of hunters waiting by the truck as the hounds voices cut thru the night. The passing of a bottle and the lies spun as you wait for the hounds to tree a coon. The walk thru the woods in the dark to where the hounds are sounding off and jumping up the tree are all part of the heritage. The final shot and the collecting of the coon destine for the pot and the fur to be cured and sold all have a place in the part of growing up down South. For some it is barbaric for others it is a rights of passage. I personally have never shot a cat or a bear because they are rare here and I will not tan or eat them. The foxes are allowed to live in the woods of my house as long as they leave the chickens alone. They get trapped and the tail gets a spot of orange if they get trapped and they still have an orange tail they are dispatched with ether and buried.  Hunting is a choice that i am glad I have with a deer in the freezer we have venison to eat along with lots of other tasty meats.  

 

Art

[kickingfrog]

The silence from the known is the most amusing. If only she had had access to someone in a position to do something about this.

[Jds63]

4 hours ago, Pigeontroller said:

Nothing says "sportsman" like shooting a Cougar out of a tree after your hounds have chased it there!

Exactly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess we need to see more muskies taken and cooked up in a stir fry like he did with cougar meat .

[dave524]

Somewhat shocked at this as pretty much everyone involved in the shooting sports , to the man votes PC. If Harper was still PM there would be a backlash from core PC supporters. 

[John Bacon]

9 hours ago, jerpears1 said:

I think the biggest problem that I have with this is that she had almost 10 years that her husband was in office for, that she could have been talking about and discussing environmental legislation if she had such a problem with this. Or at least could have brought it forward and then had environmental biologists tell her that she was wrong. 

 

4 hours ago, kickingfrog said:

The silence from the known is the most amusing. If only she had had access to someone in a position to do something about this.

Actually, most hunting and fishing regulations are provincial; not federal.  So her husband really didn't have that much influence on hunting regulations.

[scuro2]

Give Mrs. Harper a break, at least she expressed an original opinion. It was a magnificent animal. While legal, we are destroying our earth and the loss of the biggest beasts is symbolic of the systematic destruction of every natural thing on this earth. I shake my head at seeing that pic also, as I do pics of dozens of dead fish in a cooler. It may be legal but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

While there is opening of off topic political discussion what say you about these great hunters eh? They want to kill elephants again!

Edited December 23, 2017 by scuro2

[Joeytier]

Legal does not necessarily equate to ethical, I think everyone can agree on that.  But sustainable hunting is sustainable hunting, and it won't be a small amount of cougar hunters sounding the death knell for the large mammals of the world.  Plenty of them to go around yet.  Attacking other outdoorsman for participating in a legal, sustainable, and not to mention economically beneficial hunt will get you exactly nowhere, folks.  Ignorant reactionaries are given far too high of a platform, why on earth would you possibly care what the wife of a scumbag ex-PM thinks about anything, much less big game hunting?

[scuro2]

It's a free world buddy, if she has an opinion why get your knickers in a knot? Hunting has it's place but if people don't want our most magnificent animals killed who are you to judge that as inappropriate?

[Joeytier]

Because I doubt she was outraged when her husband was encouraging oil companies to steamroll every last bit of their habitat in that province for oil

[Acountdeleted]

2 hours ago, Joeytier said:

Because I doubt she was outraged when her husband was encouraging oil companies to steamroll every last bit of their habitat in that province for oil

Winner winner chicken dinner. 

[Fish Farmer]

The only wrong doing in this whole article is Miss Harper's comment. makes me think what she has on her mind,

a small organ, she only likes ?? .

The hunter didn't slam anybody in his legal doing.

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2017 by Fish Farmer

[John]

Most who know me well are aware of my political views so I won't elaborate here. I am not a hunter, nor do I understand the excitement of the hunt. Having said that, I have many friends (Canadian, American and those across the pond), who are and I respect their rights and desires. Most hunt deer. moose, fowl or other game where the meat is consumed. This, in my humble opinion, honours and respects the life of the animal. I have had some quite heated but civilized "discussion" with those that hunt for the rush of the kill and of course the trophy that (sometimes) is displayed for all to see. We live in a country where hunting is and has been a way of life for generations as a means of survival. I guess I question our detour from hunter gatherer to those that kill for the rush. These are strictly my comments and opinion and not in any way intended to invoke argument or criticize.

Edited December 23, 2017 by John
spelling

[SirCranksalot]

I'm not a hunter but my bro's are and I'm obviously a fisherman, so I have no ground to stand on and be self-righteous about this. I guess everyone has their own line as to what's ethical/acceptable and what is not. Personally, I can understand hunting when the prey is to be eaten. But I don't see the sport of trophy hunting. Where's the sport, for e.g, in waiting in a tree for a bear to show up for lunch as it has done for the past week or so, then shoot it? Ms Harper has the right to her opinion, but others have the right to bash her for it---free speech!! 

[Acountdeleted]

The guy did mention he made a stir fry out of the Cougar. I don't know if that was because of the backlash he received or if he had planned to do it all along. 

If it was just trophy hunting I don't fully agree with it. But I always say, attack the law / arguement. Not the person.