GOALS AND SUCCESSES	UBC NEWS	JOIN THE UBC	HOME
	CT CONFERENCE	HUNT TO FEED	CT 3D SHOOTS	BANQUET
	MESSAGE TO NON HUNTERS

Welcome non-hunters to the UBC home page. We hope that by viewing this page you will learn more about what the UBC believes in and realize that we are not what we are portrayed as by those who do not believe in hunting. We are your friends, neighbors, relatives, and co-workers. We could be your doctor, lawyer, accountant or your employer. Bowhunting is not about the indiscriminate killing of animals, nor is it about acting out some macho fantasy. Bowhunting is about sharing memories and experiences with your friends and family while enjoying the outdoors. It is the glow on a youngster's face as they see their first whitetail slinking through the forest. It is about teaching our youth to respect and appreciate all wildlife, and mange it as a renewable resource so it can be enjoyed by future generations. Most importantly, bowhunting is about honesty. It's honesty about what we do and why we do it.

But these days much of our time, energy and resources are spent defending the sport of bowhunting. The anti hunting movement would like to see an end to all hunting and bowhunters are their prime target. We have had our cars vandalized and our equipment destroyed or booby-trapped. We have been harassed, prodded, and threatened - yet we have never retaliated or resorted to such behaviors. We are not trying to force people to participate in the sport that we love. We respect a person's decision not to hunt. Our concern is when people try to infringe their beliefs on us, and attempt to force their lifestyle on us. In general, demanding that your lifestyle be imposed on others should be offensive to anyone regardless of the issue. We simply want to continue bowhunting with our families and friends and enjoy nature in peace.

However, this is not the way the anti-hunting/animal rights extremists are portraying us. These groups feel that humans have no superiority in any way to animals. The great majority put animals on a higher plane of existence than people. Take for instance this quote from Ingrid Newkirk, founder of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): "We'd be against animal research even if it resulted in a cure for AIDS." Or Fund for Animals Director of Campaigns Mike Markarian, commenting on the documented fact that hunters donate over 2 million pounds of venison annually to soup kitchens, women's shelters and family food pantries: " We believe it is more of a public relations gimmick on the part of the hunting industry". The fact remains that the animal extremist groups give little, if anything, of their own resources to help mankind. They do not use their funds to directly help animals, but use their vast financial resources to pay for the high salaries of their upper management, or use the money for fundraising, or use it for dishonest, inaccurate and distorted reporting against hunting or other animal use issues.

It is time we got the message to the non-hunting public of what they are about. But more importantly, what we are all about. We will no longer sit idly by while they misrepresent bowhunters and hunters alike. In fact, if you weigh the benefits that hunters provide to all people - non-hunters and anti-hunters included, it is pretty hard to argue with the facts:

Fact: Wildlife is thriving: There are more Deer, Elk, Turkey, Pronghorn, Sheep, etc... now than there were at the turn of the century due to the efforts of sports people.

Fact: Hunters pay for wildlife: Since 1923 hunters have paid over $3 billion dollars in hunting license fees alone. On top of that, we pay an excise tax which has distributed nearly $2 billion dollars to purchase wildlife management areas which benefit both game and non-game species. Dollars derived from hunting and fishing license sales pays 75% of the cost of game and fish agencies. For those non-hunters who use our state parks and enjoy hiking, camping, bird watching or photography, boating or going to the beach, please remember that hunting and fishing licenses paid for the upkeep and maintenance of these services. In most cases the general public has free access to these resources, except for an occasional entrance fee. Hunters are happy to fund these for the public, but most people are not aware of this. This is merely another example of many benefits that hunting provides to EVERYONE.

Fact: Hunting is safe: the odds of being killed while hunting (by another hunter) is .0015-.00425%. For non-hunters, the odds of being killed by a hunter is 1 fatality for every 12 million recreation days of hunting. You are 20 times more likely to die from an insect sting than even be wounded by a hunter.

Fact: There are no feasible alternatives to hunting. While many anti-groups like to talk about token transplants and deer contraceptive, the reality is these programs are extremely expensive and are marginally successful in even small, controlled settings. The harsh reality that many anti-hunting groups don't like to admit is that if not properly managed, many animal populations will grow out of control to a point where nature will balance them back. This is done through disease and starvation. Starvation is a long, slow, painful, undignified and inhumane way for any animal to die but unfortunately, this happens all too frequently. However, this is the preferred choice of the animal extremists.

I can not understand how a well placed arrow or bullet (either of which will dispatch the animal quickly) is so horrible while 4 months of being so weak that wild dogs eat your legs alive is somehow better? When our game populations are not hunted, they outgrow our forests' carrying capacity doing years of damage to seedling growth and woodlot habitat. We have seen this happen in many places in Connecticut and across the nation.

Fact: Poachers are NOT Hunters: It seems fashionable these days for the media to get hold of a news story about a cow or some other animal that was shot illegally, and say it was shot by a hunter. The reality is that these violations are not done by hunters, but rather poachers and slobs i.e. criminals. The animal rights fanatics love these stories because they label the poachers as a "hunter" and start manipulating your perception of us. The reality is that hunters run out these individuals by supporting license revocations, stiff fines and confiscation. Bowhunter Magazine, for example, publishes the names and deeds of violators to prove that we will not stand for that behavior. If you don't believe this, look at the statistics of who turns in these violators: Hunters are responsible for 95% of the calls turned into TIP (Turn in Poacher) lines across the country.

Fact: Hunters love and protect animals and the environment. The anti-hunters are trying to manipulate you by stereotyping hunters as "bloodthirsty and sadistic". In reality, the opposite is true. Hunters have shouldered the cost of conservation for the good of all animals. Hunting clubs protect deer and other game with feeding programs, habitat improvement, and stocking programs. Hunters willingly accept and support decisions made by wildlife management agencies for the good of all animals. Hunters fervently protect our wild lands to keep them free from development, pollution and misuse.

Fact: Significant numbers of people hunt and the numbers of hunters remain steady. In Connecticut over 66,000 hunting licenses were bought in 1996 and nationally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that 15.23 million hunters bought licenses in 1995. Interestingly, the number of women hunters has been increasing recently and continues to rise.

Fact: The majority of Americans support legal hunting. A study conducted for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by Responsive Management, a research and polling organization, reports that 40 percent strongly approve of hunting, 33 percent moderately approve, 5 percent do not have an opinion, 11 percent moderately disapprove and 11 percent strongly disapprove. This means 73 percent of those polled approve of hunting on some level. Responsive Management reports that this was the largest, most comprehensive study ever conducted on factors relating to hunting and fishing.

Fact Wildlife management a scientific, biological and environmental science based on fact and evidence. Wildlife policy can not be managed by emotion, distortion, lies or hysteria.

We hope that when it all comes down to it, facts and logic will overcome the emotional manipulation that the animal rights fanatics use as a tool to mislead the general public. We hope you at least understand and will at least support our right and duty to hunt as a necessary, ethical, and humane wildlife management tool and for those who have no opinion on hunting, you weigh ALL of the relevant FACTS before coming to a conclusion. Thank you.

Anti-Hunters Read This If you wish to communicate with us you should know that while we respect everyone's right to state their opinion, we will not tolerate any threatening or abusive e-mail. We reserve the right to forward any harassing or threatening e-mail that was sent via a corporate/educational/government/municipal domain back to the personnel departments of said domain. If we choose to, we are able to trace the originators of all e-mail and we will also forward any threatening e-mails to authorities, where appropriate.

	GOALS AND SUCCESSES	UBC NEWS	JOIN THE UBC	HOME
	CT CONFERENCE	HUNTERS 4 HUNGRY	CT 3D SHOOTS	LINKS