“Calls Needed on Virginia Sunday Hunting Bill

On January 26th, the Virginia Senate passed a compromise bill that would allow for Sunday hunting only on private land and public waterways.  This brings sportsmen in Virginia one step closer to being able to hunt on Sundays, but this issue is far from over.

On Wednesday evening, the Natural Resources subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on Sunday hunting.  It is imperative that these members hear from you.  Tell them to support hunter’s rights and property rights by supporting Sunday hunting.

Please call and email each member of the subcommittee, then go to the USSA Legislative Action Center at www.ussportsmen.org/lac to find and email your own Delegate.

The subcommittee members are:

Delegate Lee Ware: 804-698-1065, dellware@house.virginia.gov
Delegate James Edmunds: 804-698-1060, deljedmunds@virgina.gov
Delegate Matt Fariss: 804-698-1059, delmfariss@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Lynwood Lewis: 804-698-1000, delllewis@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Ken Plum: 804-698-1036, delkplum@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Tony Wilt: 804-698-1026, deltwilt@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Tommy Wright: 804-698-1061, deltwright@house.virginia.gov

Hunting license sales in Virginia have been on the decline for decades.  During the past 20 years, license sales have gone from 500,000 to just 300,000 while the state’s population has increased by millions.  Many children and grandchildren today are busy with school, sports and extracurricular activities – and the weekend is their only opportunity to hunt.  Additionally, many parents routinely work six days a week.  Couple those things together and the result is that the love of hunting and the outdoors is simply not being passed on to the next generation in Virginia.  Allowing hunting on Sundays will provide additional opportunity for hardworking sportsmen and women.”

All sportsmen in Virginia please take a few minutes and make the necessary calls. Thanks for all that you do United States Sportsmen’s Alliance. – Hunters Against PETA

For us to protect our hunting, gun and fishing rights it requires that all sportsmen ban together and voice their opinions. We had some great victories last year that proved just that. One great example was when the Obama administration wanted to ban all shooting on public land. Sportsmen stood up and wouldn’t stand for it. And within weeks the idea was pulled from their agenda.

It’s great to see sportsmen ban together and fight for something that we all love, want to keep doing and want our children to enjoy as well.

This is going to be a great year for sportsmen. There are going to be a lot of great changes in favor of sportsmen.

Again fellow hunters and sportsmen, thank you for your support.

Let’s keep up the good fight!

Hunters Against PETA

Folks,

Tomorrow night at 6:45pm (Weds, January 18th) Governor Gary Herbert is holding a town hall meeting in Cache county, Utah.

We would like to have at least 300 sportsmen attend the meeting in hunter orange. What a great way to communicate our support for fixing Utah’s Mule Deer herd. If a picture is worth a thousand words, we want to paint that picture with a room full of hunters wearing orange or camo.

Many sportsmen have offered to attend this meeting from all over the state. We are working to make sure there is a good attendance tomorrow night.

If you are planning to attend, or are available to attend, please send me a quick note at ryandbenson@msn.com. This way we can make sure enough people are able to attend. Attending this meeting is a great way to make our collective voices heard.

The address is:

Wellsville Elementary School

90 East, 100 South, Wellsville, Utah

Thank you for your support of Mule Deer Restoration in Utah.

– Ryan Benson

http://biggameforever.org/

ryandbenson@msn.com
(801)870-5307

All hunters/sportsmen in Utah can agree that our mule deer herds need a lot of help. We’re urging everyone if you can to go to this meeting and show your support. If we all ban together on issues like this, great progress will be made. – Hunters Against PETA

Take Action

Today Folks,

Big Action Alert today. We need your help to return wolves to state management in yet another state. Here is what is happening. US Fish and Wildlife Service’s public comment period for Wyoming’s wolf-delisting closes in two days, January 13, 2012.

Anti-sportsmen from all over America have been working hard to post comments in an attempt to derail the return of wolves to state management. They are working hard to outnumber comments from the good people of Wyoming.

Let’s even the score.

Here is where it gets interesting. Reportedly, less than 2,000 comments have been made so far. This is because automatic comments are not permitted by Fish and Wildlife’s system. Approximately 20,000 Big Game Forever supporters can turn the tide. This one will take 5 minutes to go through the sign-in process for US Fish and Wildlife’s system.It is worth your time to help the good people of Wyoming.

See the message below on how to make a comment. Once you are in the system, you can keep your comments very short. Simply indicate you support the right of Wyoming and all states to manage wolves and other wildlife.

Your comment can make a huge difference. Please take 5 minutes today to protect the future of wildlife in America. We are winning one state at a time.

There is currently two ways in which you may submit comments:

1) – A hard copy can be submitted by U.S. mail to:

Public Comments Processing Attn: FWS-R6-ES-2011-0039 Division of Policy & Directives Management U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 4401 North Fairfax Drive MS 2042-PDM Arlington, VA 22203

2) – Via email:

To submit comments via email, in your search engine enter the following: http://www.regulations.gov. Once the link opens, look for the box which asks for a Keyword or ID. Enter FWS-R6-ES-2011-0039, then click the search button.

The next screen look for the heading “Document Type” and place a check in the box before Proposed Rule (1). You should see below a section which should now read: 1 result for “FWS-R6-ES-2011-0039″. Within the orange box titled “View by Relevance”, you should see to the right Submit a Comment. Click on Submit a Comment and complete the form.

There are three Sections; 1. Enter Information, 2. Type Comment, and 3. Upload File(s).

Any information you enter in Section 1 will be available for all to read so use caution in how much information you provide. You may only want to provide a first name and your state. You may want to mention your affiliation with SFW or Big Game Forever. I would discourage you from providing your email address, phone number, etc as anyone with internet access will be able to view whatever you submit.

Your comments do not need to be lengthy but should clearly state you support the USFWS proposal to remove wolves from the list of Endangered and Threatened Species. Once you have completed your comments click on the orange submit button and you should receive confirmation that your comments have been submitted.

Thanks again for your support and participation in this effort,

Ryan Benson

http://biggameforever.org/

ryandbenson@msn.com

We’re urging all hunters/sportsmen to please take action now to help preserve our big game herds from being wiped out by the non-native Canadian gray wolf. – Hunters Against PETA

Compliments of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance/ussportsmen.org
1/9/12

As 2012 begins, it’s important to take note of groups that are working against your opportunities to hunt, trap, fish and enjoy the outdoors. To that effect, here is what we call The Dirty Dozen:

1)   Humane Society of the United States or HSUS—needs no commentary or introduction to hunters and trappers everywhere, but has been in the news and advertisements recently for sharing only one percent with animal shelters of the $187,515,301.00 the group raked in during 2010. Details are at http://www.ussportsmen.org/page.aspx?pid=2954.

2)   People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA—outrageous, radical and out of touch with mainstream America on issues related to pets, food, hunting, trapping, fishing and many other topics.  PETA also promotes a vegan lifestyle and has many programs to turn children against farming, hunting, trapping, fishing and other mainstream lifestyles.  This group paid legal fees for a convicted animal rights terrorist.

3)   Center for Biological Diversity—the CBD makes a living suing mainly the federal government, and then recouping those fees and more. CBD strives to expand the Endangered Species Act to include hundreds of animals and plants.  The group has also been involved in some seemingly tangential activities such as passing out condoms in a campaign about controlling the human population.

4)   Defenders of Wildlife—works to save and increase the number of wolves, prairie dogs, and other nuisance species roaming America. But there is no doubt Defenders’ main focus is their misguided effort to protect and restore wolves throughout the Lower 48 States and in Alaska.  They do this without regard to the havoc caused by uncontrolled wolf populations to other wildlife such as moose, elk and mule deer.  According the group’s IRS 990, Defenders’ of Wildlife collected more than $29 million in revenue in 2010, spending more than $1.5 million on more fund raising during that period.

5)   American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals— ASPCA thinks hunting and trapping are cruel and should be outlawed everywhere, beginning with wildlife refuges.  It advances its anti-hunting agenda by lobbying legislators, government officials and policy makers to obtain support for anti-sportsmen legislation. The ASPCA encourages grassroots activists to take part in letter writing campaigns to legislators and encourages boycotts of products tested on animals.

6)   Sierra Club—Sierra Club and many of its chapters oppose access by roads to vast tracts of public lands and the group also opposes many scientific wildlife management practices. The Sierra Club’s Legal Defense Fund has frequently sued the federal government over those issues, then sought reimbursement for its legal expenses. Many of its chapters have actively opposed hunting.  For example, a New Jersey Sierra Club chapter has been a leader in opposing that state’s bear hunts. The Sierra Club Grand Canyon chapter worked to end all hunting in Arizona when Proposition 109 was being considered. The Sierra Club in California opposed bear hunting with hounds. Yes, actions speak louder than words – the Sierra Club and many of its chapters are anti-hunting.

7)   Friends of Animals— is opposed to deer, goose, wolf and other types of hunting according to its website information. The group has formed protests against deer management hunts in the Northeast and also formed a protest in Montana opposing wolf hunting.

8)   Wild Earth Guardians—is opposed to trapping and worked to end trapping on all public lands in New Mexico, according to the group’s website. WEG also actively opposes wolf and mountain lion hunting.

9)   Animal Welfare Institute—sued to stop trapping in Maine because of the Canada lynx. The AWI reports that it wants to “end the torture inflicted on furbearing animals by steel jaw leghold traps and wire snares.” The group’s website also reports that it “…wants to end cruel and irresponsible hunting and trapping, capture and killing for profit …” The group, active since 1951,  produces “Trapped Animal” and “Cull of the Wild” brochures filled with sensational mistruths to present its opposition to trapping and the fur industry.

10)  Animal Legal Defense Fund—opposes hunting and trapping and notes that “animals are entitled to basic legal rights in our society.” In other words, they believe a squirrel should be able to sue you for hunting it. This group’s IRS 2010 Form 990 reports revenue of more than $5 million – all to take away your outdoor heritage.

11)  In Defense of Animals—worldwide organization founded in 1983 that would like to see all hunting banned. It also strongly opposes trapping and other forms of animal use based on the opinion that these acts are unduly exploiting animals.

12)  International Fund for Animal Welfare—an international organization that has done considerable work to ban hunting with hounds and seal hunting.  It boasts of approximately two million members worldwide, and believes “all animals and humans are linked in fate.” It first gained notoriety when it campaigned to ban Canada seal hunts.

Keep the Dirty Dozen in mind when talking to other sportsmen and friends and family this year. To help the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance in its efforts to protect hunting, fishing, and trapping, consider a donation by visiting www.ussportsmen.org/donate.

Thanks for compiling that list for all hunters and sportsmen to see. Keep up the good work USSA! You have our support. – Hunters Against PETA

Last year they received more than 5 million dollars in dontations to buy more than 100 “sanctuaries” across 38 states.

If you’re not aware of the HSUS, who and what they are. They’re the biggest anti-hunting organization in the world.

On the new “Wildlife Land Trust” website they boast that “recreational and commercial hunting and trapping will always be prohibited.”

This is 100% true to their goal which is to ban all forms of hunting, trapping and fishing. We’ll keep everyone updated up this group’s movements and keep them in our sights. – Hunters Against PETA

The memo directs BLM Director Bob Abbey to “take no further action to develop or implement” the draft policy on recreational shooting.

“By facilitating access, multiple use and safe activities on public lands, the Bureau of Land Manag ement helps ensure that the vast majority of the 245 million acres it oversees are open and remain open to recreational shooting,” he wrote.

Click here to read the full article.

The fact of the matter is though that they’re starting to introduce bills like this, which means it’s part of their agenda. This certainly isn’t the last bill of this nature that is going to try and get pushed through. This is what happens when hunters/sportsmen voice their opinions. Great to see this. – Hunters Against PETA

If this policy goes through then this would severely limit the areas where hunters are allowed to hunt.

“If the draft policy is finally approved, some public access to Bureau lands to hunters would also be limited, potentially reducing areas deer, elk, and bear hunters can use in the West.”

Click here to read the full article.

There are many shooting and hunting groups that are banning together to fight this ridiculous policy. We urge everyone to get behind the groups who are fighting this and to also let your state’s politicians know that you disagree with this. We have just as much right to shoot and hunt on public land as do the “urbanites” who are complaining about it. – Hunters Against PETA

We hope you all have a great day wherever you are.

Western Great Lake Wolves delisted today!

Folks,

Huge breaking news today. Wolves are now officially delisted in the Western Great Lakes. Interior Secretary Salazar made the announcement this morning. The delisting rule takes affect in 30 days. Wisconsin plans to start managing wolves on February 1, 2012. We are waiting from official announcements from Minnesota and Michigan as well.

Another very important aspect of the delisting is that USFWS has rejected arguments that two species of wolves exist in the Western Great Lakes. What this means is that all wolves can be managed without complications that could result from two different wolf species designations.

The publication of this delisting rule does not stop litigation challenges to the Western Great Lakes delisting. Watch for any legal challenges to the delisting in coming weeks that could stop management actions in Wisconsin, Michigan or Minnesota.

However, this is another important step forward that deserves our support. More importantly it confirms what Big Game Forever and sportsmen all over America have been saying. Wolves are not endangered. It is now time for states to be able to manage their wolf populations.

Ryan Benson

This is definitely great news and a giant step forward for sportsmen in America. These are the results we see when sportsmen ban together and fight for our rights. Let’s continue fighting for our rights! – Hunters Against PETA