Protect Your Hunting Privileges – Support Pro-Hunting Organizations Sponsored by: WOL In the wake of the recent historic day on July 22nd whereby the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), hunting advocates and enthusiasts can now benefit from the single greatest commitment on record for increasing public land access and advancing conservation. In addition to providing $900 million annually to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the bill aids in completing deferred maintenance on public lands and waterways. However, in an effort to ensure historic events such as this perhaps continue to occur and flourish, sustainable numbers of hunters must support pro-hunting organizations and actively participate in the sport. “I feel that most people take hunting for granted,” explains Daniel Thomas, President of Whitetails of Louisiana. “And there is nowhere in our constitution protecting us and saying that we have a right to hunt. The late Supreme Court Judge Antonin Scalia upheld our right to bear arms. But if we don’t support larger hunting groups (SCI, NADeFA, NRA) and recruit more hunters, I feel like extreme animal rights groups will have the votes to change our way of life.” Professionals within the whitetail industry and hunters alike should share a collective concern about preserving and protecting the privilege to hunt, Thomas emphasized. By standing together and supporting local chapters of Safari Club International (SCI) and other well-known influential groups, hunting advocates have a larger voice in the outcome of defeating legislation aimed at severely curtailing hunting rights as well as curtailing the accessibility of hunting habitat. Working to continuously protect hunters, counter false claims and misinformation about hunting while striving to educate those groups opposed to it is SCI, whose national headquarters are located in Washington, D.C. Known as the “hunter’s embassy” on capital hill, SCI employs fulltime lawyers and lobbyists that speak directly with congressmen on a regular basis in regards to advancing and protecting a hunter’s rights. “No matter where, what or how you hunt, SCI protects your freedom to do so,” said Chip Hunnicutt, Director of Marketing and Communications for SCI. “We are not region or species specific. We defend hunting in all parts of the world. We are the only (hunting advocate group) based in Washington, D.C. and in many cases have been the only representation for hunters in a courtroom for legal cases.”
18 SETDA FALL 2020
With the understanding that hunters are the oldest drivers of conservation, balance is restored in natural areas if both predator and prey numbers remain at manageable levels, Hunnicutt said. Hunters play a necessary role in this aspect while adhering to the guiding principles comprising The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. These guidelines state, among other things, that fish and wildlife are public property and as such must be taken by legal and ethical means, used for food or fur and never slaughtered for commercial use. Standing behind the North American Model for Wildlife Conservation are groups such as the Council to Advance Hunting and Shooting Sports, whose presence and action has prompted a national movement to aggressively recruit and retain hunters, Hunnicutt said. Supported by SCI, perhaps a more thorough understanding of the benefits of this movement would help hunting opponents ease their stance. When animals outgrow their habitat and encroach into areas where they may not be welcome, new problems and situations can occur. By allowing hunters to manage the population of certain species in the first place, perhaps these unwelcome situations might not ever occur. And as hunters contribute to the balance of an ecosystem, any ethical participant respects and reveres any animal they harvest, always being careful not to waste any of it. At the Tensas National Wildlife Refuge located in Tallulah, Louisiana, where both the Louisiana black bear and whitetail deer exist, hunters avoid harming the black bear while playing significant seasonal roles in other areas to maintain a natural and healthy predator-prey balance. “When you ask a hunter how their hunt went, they don’t talk about the kill,” Hunnicutt said. “They are going to tell you about their experience, and what they saw, the food they ate and the people they met. They are also willing to go into areas where others would not, to facilitate conservation.” With 180 SCI chapters located throughout the world (140 of those being within the U.S.) finding and supporting a chapter in your state is easy to do by going on-line. Contributions to the SCI Political Action Committees (PAC) go directly towards efforts to help elect state and federal pro-hunting, pro-Second Amendment candidates. “As a hunter, being a member of SCI is one of the most important things you could ever do,” Thomas said. “Be involved and support these organizations that help protect our livelihood.” By: Gail Veley
