Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Backcountry hunters and anglers. ......???

Love it!

I haven't seen it personally, but heard a very honest report that Ravens are tough on Sage Grouse chicks.

I don't begrudge people that pay to hunt land. I also never needed to do that where I live, so why would I want to start doing it now?

We all have access to public lands now, both wilderness and the forest service lands with roads. There's something for everyone - for people in wheelchairs and for people that hike miles in. There's really no interest in seeing public access eliminated by making federal lands private, or by putting them off-limits to hunting by making them state-controlled or national parks.

GreenDecoys.com is one of the Berman & Co.'s phony front organizations designed to further his clients corporate aims. That includes attacking a group that opposes the client. Berman is a DC attorney who runs a not so ethical PR and lobbyist company.
Green Decoys is not a real organization. Its purpose is to persuade you that some conservation organizations which oppose his clients corporate goals are supposedly frauds and fronts for anti hunters, Communists etc.
They are paid to spin the facts as he wishes you to see them. Sometimes a donor is just a strange bedfellow, but he turns it into a sinister plot. Green Decoys claims Izaac Walton League as an organization supports population control and planned parenthood. HUH? Since when? Oh, since Berman & Co said so via a front org.

Fences can get a lot of them, but proper siting of them is an easy way to mitigate that. Ravens and magpies are hard on the birds as they are big nest predators. At least one relocation of sage grouse I'm aware of they used poison eggs to thin the ravens/magpies/foxes to help give the new birds a better chance of nesting success.

That's internet gold advice...

Proof?

There are so many things wrong with that statement its hard to know where to begin....

Whoever said it knows Jack about hunting, bag limits, population dynamics, natural mortality, habitat... etc.... etc.... etc.....

Support this group at your own peril.

Those from a distance that want to pontificate about the subject only need to look at the organization's leader, L Tawney, to really know what they are supporting.

What I find interesting about these threads is it seems to be a Western thing as where I live I'm about 10 minutes from a large expanse of National Forest and close to TVA facilities which are all open to the public for hunting fishing hiking ,camping, biking, etc.there are also timber leases going on . Never hear of any problems to speak of. I'm sure there is some vandalism but it doesn't seem to be a big issue. Biggest issue is probably drug related.

Well, here is a link to Hamilton College where both the Izaac Walton League and the Sierra Club discussed that very thing among other items that have nothing to do with conservation.
When they start preaching about unfair distribution of wealth I think it is safe to say they have gone far left.

https://my.hamilton.edu/news/story/population-control-and-sustainability

Population Control and Sustainability
Pat Dunn '12
October 29, 2009
Overpopulation is inextricably tied to countless environmental issues: Poverty, water shortages, pollution and waste management, famine, and resource consumption, to name a few. It was this topic, with a focus on family planning and sex education, that was the focus of a discussion on Wednesday in the Kirner-Johnson Red Pit led by Izaak Walton League representative Rebecca Wadler Lase ’00 and Sierra Club representative Cassie Gardener.

Lase opened the lecture with a few frightening statistics. There are currently 6.9 billion people in the world. It took us a mere 12 years to get from five to six million, whereas it took humanity until the middle of the 1800s before the global population hit one billion. Exponential growth becomes even more frightening because, already, 23 percent of the world’s population lives on less than one U.S. dollar per day. This number is expected to grow, as the developing world has the greatest trouble curbing population growth.

Cassie Gardener is the national campus organizer for the Sierra Club’s Global Population and Environment Program, which aims to foster healthy communities by advancing sustainable development programs. Sierra Club has joined with women’s health and rights organizations to teach about sexual and reproductive health, because education of sexual health and contraception has shown to be most effective in lowering birth rates in impoverished countries where population growth is spiraling out of control.

Gardener used a series of interactive visual aids to help to accurately portray the unfair distribution of wealth and resource consumption globally. There are eight Asians for every one American, yet for every dollar in per capita GDP in America, an Asian receives less than one cent. The root of this problem is in overpopulation, and the cyclical nature of poverty requires that we take action now to change the world.

The solution lies in family planning. The two main organizations that head the movement for family planning and education are the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Population Fund. Although together these organizations provide services in more than 140 countries, it still isn’t enough. Family planning education has shown a direct correlation with population growth, and it’s urgent, Gardener said, that the U.S. government take a more active role in a problem that will soon become a global crisis.

Gardener urged the audience to try to make a difference. As the wealthiest country in the world, she said, it’s our obligation to take the initiative in solving this problem. Her organization has set a goal for $1 billion in federal aid for international voluntary family planning, and she thinks that with enough support and action on a grass roots level, we can curb population growth and make progress toward creating a sustainable future.

Well, here is a link to Hamilton College where both the Izaac Walton League and the Sierra Club discussed that very thing among other items that have nothing to do with conservation.
When they start preaching about unfair distribution of wealth I think it is safe to say they have gone far left.

https://my.hamilton.edu/news/story/population-control-and-sustainability
[/quote]

Man! I had no idea. We just shoot, hunt, and clean up lakes in our chapter.
I'll bring it up with the members.

We hung about a billion tags on the fence wires. If they'd let us thin the hawks and ravens....I'd be game.

Those tags work. The latter would work very well also.

Man! I had no idea. We just shoot, hunt, and clean up lakes in our chapter.
I'll bring it up with the members. [/quote]


I would be willing to bet that if those same speakers showed up at your local rod & gun club or your local chapter you would hear a totally different speech.
They do not want you to know they hold those views.
They want your money and if they let their true colors show you might stop giving.
Your local chapter may not support those views but your membership dues do.

From what I have been able to find so far, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is an organisation which is worth supporting if one likes wild country. While I support multiple use, all too often multi-use is heavily biased toward resource extraction and degradation of wildlife habitat.
Promoting responsible OHV use, promoting fair chase, preserving wild country, guaranteeing access; these are all things I can get behind.
On the other hand, I can understand those who have some reservations as the organisation does come off as being a little bit elitist. Overall, I see more good than bad. GD,

Lots of pure BS being spouted on this thread, so thought I'd clear up a few things.

First off, I'm the Chairman for the Wyoming Chapter of BHA and we have an awesome board, and members in general here in Wyoming.

I don't consider any of the board as elitist, nor any other members that I have ever been around since my involvement with the group.

Some of the questions asked, does BHA support multiple use? Absolutely we do. What BHA does not support is abuse of public lands. We support the continued federal management of federal public lands, and that they continue to be managed via existing laws, acts, and regulations.

WYBHA also strongly encourages all user groups to engage the various State and Federal agencies, legislatures, and let your voices be heard...whether you agree or disagree with any position BHA may take, doesn't matter. We all should be active participants in the various processes that impact our public lands, public waters, and public wildlife...period.

As to the whole "greed decoy" crap...its just that, crap. The WYBHA board is comprised 100% of hard-core hunters and public land advocates. In the last few years our board members have shot pronghorn, elk, deer, shiras moose, bighorn sheep, bison, mule deer, whitetail, turkeys, etc. etc. You name it, they've hunted it.

Finally, at the recent BHA rendezvous in Missoula, the Wyoming chapter was awarded the George Bird Grinnell award that recognizes the Chapter of the year. It was humbling to accept that award on behalf of the great work the Chapter has done.

Some of the things the Chapter has done in the last few years:

1. Successfully stopped a State land exchange (Bonander exchange) that would have been a loss of about 10K acres of publically accessible elk/mule deer hunting in one of the premier elk areas in SE Wyoming.

2. Passed the most restrictive aircraft/drone regulations regarding scouting from the air in the lower-48, while also maintaining aircraft usage to access landlocked BLM and State lands.

3. Adopted the Alpine lakes trail system in the Medicine Bow National Forest and conduct a yearly clean-up of garbage, check signage, etc.

4. Wyoming BHA holds an annual "taste of the wild" event, where hunters/anglers bring a wild game dish for others to sample. ALL proceeds from the event go the WYGF departments AccessYes program. The AccessYes program opens about 4 acres for every dollar spent for public access to private lands that participate in the program. In the last few years, we've donated over $1600 to this program.

5. Conduct a yearly clean-up of a piece of BLM land north of Laramie where people find it fun to shoot computer screens, couches, bottles, and everything else you can think of. This BLM land was going to be closed to "multiple use", until we agreed to clean it up annually. Last year, BHA members picked up 11 pickup loads of trash from the site.

6. We are very active at the State Legislature, and have worked to kill some very bad bills that would have been horrific for DIY NR hunters of average means. The most heinous was one sponsored by the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association that would have moved 60% of all available elk, deer, and pronghorn tags into the "special fee" pool, from the current 40%.

7. Helped kill a State constitutional amendment that would have paved the way for transfer of federal public lands to the States.

8. We are also a member of the Wyoming Sportsmans Alliance, which is an alliance of 8 NGO's that support science based management of wildlife, public lands, and public access. This alliance holds an annual Sportsmen's reception during the State legislative session to connect with the Legislature on issues.

9. We attend almost all GF commission meetings, season setting meetings, and legislative interim meetings that are important to hunters, anglers, wildlife, and public lands.

10. Have a great working relationship with the legislature, Governor of Wyoming, as well as the other top 5 elected officials, county commissioners, and other NGO's.

Its impossible to list all the things that we do, but the above should be sufficient that we flat get it done...oh, and I almost forgot, the entire BHA board is comprised of volunteers...none of our board members are paid a single cent from BHA.

If anyone can find a group that supports the hunter of average means, science based management of our public lands and wildlife, more than BHA in Wyoming, I'd like to know of it and join.

Buzz H,
Thank you for the info.
There's so much misinformation poured out these days I can't tell who's the good guys and who's the bad guys anymore.
I'm guilty of assuming guilt by association myself here.
Keep up the good work. My IWLA Chapter will continue to clean streams and protect our resources in our county. And host Trap events, and Hunter's Education, etc.
D

Yep, thanks buzz. People believe what they want to believe. Any Trump fans here? Don Jr. Is a life member of BHA. Friggin greenie.

Thanks, Buzz. I have all but quit posting on these threads because the same old bullshit just keeps getting rolled out by the usual suspects. About all that I can add is, "idiots abound."

I don't mind if they abound. I just wish they wouldn't expound.