Anti hunters win in Australia

W

Worth Mathewson

Active member
This morning I got an email from John Byers, the duck call and decoy maker in the State of Victoria. He was the fellow that I hunted with when I went down from 2002 until 2013. He is also the person that now has the Barnegat that I shipped down in 2006. This report was what was feared. The Committee Into Duck And Quail Hunting In Victoria turned in their report. It calls for a ban on Duck and Quail hunting. John said the State Government will make that official in the next few months. The State of South Australia is expected to follow suit. That leaves only the State of Tasmania and the Northern Territory where duck and quail hunting remains legal. John thinks Tasmania will also ban hunting in the future. The Green political party and anti hunting groups have worked hard for this ban for over 30 years. This ban will likely also be the end of Field & Game, the very productive sportsmen organization. The duck and quail hunters that I have been in contact with over the years for the most part are like those of us in the U.S. Very simply they are good guys. Their loss amounts to more than profound. I keep thinking what if that happened to us? Frankly I can't image it. But I guess they didn't either. All much more than just sad. Best, Worth
 
Worth

Even though this doesn't impact me directly I think it foreshadows possible battles and risks we face here in the US. Sorry to hear this has happened.

Eric
 
No hunting, no cash, government keeps you in your house for years during covid. No thanks. Australia is becoming a very authoritarian administrative state. But the people seem to accept that control. New Zealand seems to be little different.
 
Here's a story from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-31/victorian-inquiry-recommends-duck-hunting-ban/102797318

It's always hard to interpret news from a different country where I have no reference points on reality, but I see a few themes emphasized.

(1) Concerns about high wounding rates.
(2) Concerns about incidental mortality of protected waterfowl species.
(3) Concerns about overall decline in duck numbers.
(4) Concerns that other members of the public can't use public lands during duck season.


I have no idea is any of those are true, and I am sure there are two sides to each of them. But the key to keeping public support for hunting here in the US--which we still enjoy by large majorities in every poll I've seen--is that we as sportsmen address those concerns when they pop up. That's how we keep the anti-hunting minority from finding enough allies to get anything done.
 
Greg, Australia and NZ are under total tyranny. Like you said about the Cash and Firearms and surveillance state where you have to be approved to leave your area and are tracked and accounted for like a cattleman's cattle. George Orwell tried to warn us about it.

Here is his final 2 minute interview on the subject. It is pretty telling.

https://youtu.be/PGuKyBimFvM?si=9NlKYV0j23MeYexU
 
I can't worry about what goes on in foreign countries for hunting. How many hunters are there in Australia overall? I'll bet the number is shockingly low. What they do there in no way foreshadows what we do here. If it did we would have universal healthcare and other benefits we can only dream about. Lets focus on the U.S. and the dropping numbers of hunters and how to recruit new people: black, brown, women so we can continue to enjoy what we have. Let Australia be Australia and we will be us.
 
Todd, I watched how those countries handled covid and the people just stood in line to go along. The end of hunting is no surprise.
 
They were largely disarmed in the 1990s. Made it that much easier for them to be railroaded by tyrants. What are they going to do, band together and write a sternly worded letter?

I've found that What happens in Australia and England (places under the crown) seem to foreshadow what happens in California.

California seems to foreshadow what happens in the US. At this juncture, things look pretty bleak for the future of freedom in USA.
 

Australia is also coming down hard on CATS (rules & laws) for the killing of millions and millions of birds and animals native to the country. Hell would freeze over before that happened here. [wink]
 
I keep saying every chance I get - Voting has consequences. Severe consequences in some instances. I'll provide a couple of examples in regards to the latest in MN. If it offends anyone, too bad.

The Republican candidates took strong stances on abortion. No abortion for any reason at all. All about saving babies. The people of MN said there has to be a compromise and while about half don't like it, they thought it should still be leagl with guidelines placed around it. With the Republican stance, they lost the House, Senate, and the Governorship. What happened next, MN passed the most liberal abortion laws in the Country. We can now abort babies right up to birth and in some instances after birth.

Please note, don't mean to make this a political discussion but what happened in the end is what no one but a very very few wanted iin this State.

Second area is around guns. Dems want to basically ban them or make it so hard, complicated and expensive to own a gun that many will just give up. The Republicans took the exact opposite approach and spread false stories about what the other side wanted to do. The right got the backing of a couple of outlier fringe groups who started advertising. Turned off many pro gun supporters. There were 4 democrats in districts who were vulnerable if they voted and ran on banning guns. Those fringe groups made it easier for the 4 democrats to take a "safety" stance on guns and they got the bill passed and reelected.

Get involved. Get engaged. Get vocal. Complaining about what happens after the fact doesn't do anything. Write leters, call local radio talk shows, go to your local BIPOC meetings and speak up, become a delegate and on and on. Nothing changes if nothing is done to make those changes.

If this is inappropriate, please remove. And the abortion reference is to illustrate what will happen in all ares of concern. This Country is divided into very distinct categories these days. More so than ever. And the sides don't like each other much and tend to not want to learn from each other anymore.

Off the soapbox. For now......

Mark
 
Mark, I think your comments are a fair assessment of things around the country, and while we don't do politics here(amen for that), nothing wrong with what you said.
 
Regarding Mark's comments, since Woth's initial post here I've been trying to find something like a balanced view of what led to the duck closures in Australia. With the exception of a few stories from the Australian press I would characterize as typical "both sides" stories with quotes, most of what pops up on Google searches is spin from various animal rights groups in Australia. I didn't find much support for duck hunting from Australian wildlife, hunting, or duck organizations. Most of the pro-duck hunting stuff I could find came from Safari Club International, which in my experience is always pro-hunting.

I think this might play out very differently here in the US, with organizations like Ducks Unlimited, the National Wildlife Federation, and other similar organizations in the debate. I know nothing about where hunting fits into the local culture in Australia, but in every place I've lived--from rural Maine and Michigan to the most urban part of New Jersey--hunting was well-regulated and had broad support from the public.

We'll continue to have fights over how to manage hunting. Here in Maine, those include two high profile campaigns against hunting bears over bait; annual challenges to Maine's no Sunday hunting rules; and concerns from private landowner about hound hunters wo follow their dogs onto private property that posted against hunting. Nationally, we see fights over lead ammunition--an issue we've settled for waterfowl hunting. As long as we keep resolving those conflicts based on good data and science and reasonable regulation, I don't see anti-hunters getting much traction with broad-scale bans on hunting.
 
I think that in the United States, both the aboriginal peoples and the settlers into the US have traditionally had a culture that celebrated hunting for what it was (a way to put meat on the table and survive.)

Although that is only part of the equation anymore, but it is such an integral part of American culture and heritage... I can not fathom how it would be much different in any place? It is a shame that the countries down under have lost that tie with nature. It is a shame to remove that aspect of how man really is a part of the living ecosystem.

Taking hunting activities off the table just draws that special tie to mother nature farther and thinner until soon that connection could be lost forever. What a terrible loss that would be.
 
My bigger concern is the encroaching police state. As a federal contractor, I was just notified of automatic enrollment into the rap back program, That means continuous monitoring and vetting by the FBI if your fingerprints are taken for any criminal reason. Any DUI, domestic issue. anything. That will trigger an automatic alert to your employer.

It will not be long until we have social scores like China and unpopular views will cost you your job.

Rick
 
this is the bridge from there to here it seems and we've seen it in other circumstances. thats literally how california will model its behavior and they have a proven track record of being successful. examples such as chicken and pig farming regulations are things we dont think a lot about - and now influence a great deal of america in those narrow fields.
 
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