So I'm just putting this out there for people to think about. I don't want this to turn into a BCWF bashing thread. If you do that, it'll be locked up, which will kill the conversation. And that's what needs to happen, so bare with me.
The BCWF has become irrelevant with a lot of hunters. I think that's pretty uncontroversial. I've often wondered what percentage of members actually are members because it was automatic with their membership in a local gun range. Hunters generally are not drawn to the organization. Why? It's my opinion, because we don't really see them doing anything when it counts. Let me give you an example;
The Grizzly hunt was closed down because of a supposed poll that indicated 90% of British Columbians didn't support the hunt. I disagreed with that for a number of reasons. First, the poll was designed, (from my understanding) to make a decision on meat retention. Secondly, the methodology behind the poll was flawed. You could vote if you weren't even from BC, (perhaps Europe or Asia) and you could vote as many times as you liked. The poll was also sponsored by three Anti-hunting or Eco-tourist organizations. This made me phuking furious.
Now I believe the BCWF responded to this in the usual way. They wrote a letter(s) to Horgan and perhaps others.....and here we are. I'm wondering if it wouldn't have been better to take out a quarter to half page ad in the Sun and Province basically saying "We disagree with this and here's the reasons why". In my mind, this closure was based on clear fraud. And yes, the BCWF articulated some of that to the politicians, but not the public. I say, whatever our concern, whether low mule deer habitat, the Grizzly closure, dwindling Caribou numbers, we take the argument to the voter. And we do that not by writing letters to communicate with the politicians, but by using the media. Making our case to the people. And we're going to have to pay because when they call and interview the BCWF, it's not the same as advertising.
I realize advertising in a major paper is expensive. But I just wonder how many of us would dig into our pockets over and above the membership fee and pay for well done advertisment that addressed our concerns directly; no political double speak or fear of offending, just an honest foot forward. For a well articulated position outlining the fraud that took place to close the Grizzly hunt, I would have donated......and I'm a cheap phuker. And if the major papers are too expensive. There are literally hundreds of smaller local new outlets.
I'm just trying to start a conversation. I don't have all the answers.
To the BCWF. We have dwindling Caribou herds. We're concerned about Mule deer numbers. We're concerned about how the Grizzly bear hunt was cut. We're concerned about predation. We're concerned about a whole host of things. Pick one. Any one. Develop an advertisement articulating our concerns. Tell us how much.......and ask for it. And put our concerns in front of the people......and not the politicians. Politicians have gotten us no where. All they are concerned about is votes. Well, the people are the votes. Those are the people we need to talk too.
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