bowhunting commite

[horshur]

Compromise?

People have been talking about unity. It may end up to be divisive having separate committees, due to weapon choice.

The question I've raised is a valid one.

yes it is but....will they take down the whole church over the color of the curtains in the manse????

this issue is obviously very divisive. Is is worth it to stand there ground??

Imagine how it looks from the outside???

[mntbowhunter]

No threedhunter I am not a member of the bcwf but perhaps I should be. I am a member of a local archery club as well as the wild sheep society though. I will not coment on the decision of the BCWF because I dont know much about it and therefore feel my comment is not valid. As long as bow hunters are being represented I am happy. I dont nessessarily think we need our own comittee but it does seem like there are not enough archery seasons like I see in our two neighbor provinces to the east. The only thing I feel is it doesnt make sense to speak of "unity" and fighting against the anti hunting movement while slamming eachother because we hunt in a certain way or for different reasons. I put up a post in regards to trophy hunting and people come on there and tell me how trophy hunting is stupid and only for people with little dinks. That is un-called for. If someone puts up a post regarding guns should I go on there and reply " gun hunting is stupid use a bow"? NO! Because all hunters should support eachother. Does it matter if we meat hunt, trophy hunt or hunt with a bow or gun. I dont feel that archery seasons will take anything away from gun hunters. I just feel it will add more support and strengthen the whole by having more hunters period.

[Mr. Dean]

Listen to how it looks from the outside. It ain't pretty and that needs to be dealt with from the advocates of the bow committee. The concept needs to be sold and not force fed (lack of better words...). As obstacles rise, deal with them instead of slapping faces/placing blame.

Not so long ago I asked 2 pages of the same questions in a similar thread before someone started replying with integrity - Whom I may add was not in the 'immediate' conversations. This member actually got me *thinking* of some of the concepts simply because he took some time.


Just because a person doesn't understand a position taken, doesn't automatically make them an enemy. Supporters of this need alliances and for that to happen, proponents need to remain calm and level-headed, dig a little deeper and get more creative if something isn't working.


Just my observations.

[Tuffcity]

should these committees compete with one another for hunting opportunities for hunters using that particular weapon?

It shouldn’t be, and doesn’t have to be, about competing for or taking away season time to feed one group over the other. There are enough potential opportunities now that the two (firearms & bows) can run concurrently in many areas.

There is already a precedent for this type of co-operation (if we can call it that). Example: a couple of years ago I hunted a “any bull” moose bow season south of Vanderhoof that ran at the same time as the LEH any bull firearms season.

There are over 1200 antlerless LEH permits available in 5-14 yet no bow only doe season. I’d hazard a guess that not all 1200+ permits will be filled so what would be wrong with running an antlerless bow season along with the GOS buck only?

Those are just 2 examples of what could be done. With a dedicated committee within the BCWF opportunities could be explored more efficiently then just trying to bring these issues up as regional proposals to be filtered through to the wildlife committee.

From what I read in the BCWF reasons for not going ahead with a Bow hunting committee is that they still largely view it as an “us or them” position instead of a chance to actually work towards more opportunity for hunters. Telling bowhunters to work it through the system is a weak and convenient way out and doesn’t require actually disturbing the status quo.

People need to get their heads around the idea that one group doesn’t have to loose ground to expand opportunities. Once that happens maybe we can progressively move forward, increase hunting opportunities and actually stand as a united front.

RC

[Gateholio]

[

quote=Tuffcity;299020]

It shouldn’t be, and doesn’t have to be, about competing for or taking away season time to feed one group over the other. There are enough potential opportunities now that the two (firearms & bows) can run concurrently in many areas.

There is already a precedent for this type of co-operation (if we can call it that). Example: a couple of years ago I hunted a “any bull” moose bow season south of Vanderhoof that ran at the same time as the LEH any bull firearms season.

There are over 1200 antlerless LEH permits available in 5-14 yet no bow only doe season. I’d hazard a guess that not all 1200+ permits will be filled so what would be wrong with running an antlerless bow season along with the GOS buck only?

Those are just 2 examples of what could be done. With a dedicated committee within the BCWF opportunities could be explored more efficiently then just trying to bring these issues up as regional proposals to be filtered through to the wildlife committee.

Hypothetically- What happens when the flintlock committee of the BCWF says "Well, us flintlockers don't have any higher harvest than bow hunters, and there are more bow hunters, anyway, so why can't we have those seasons?

From what I read in the BCWF reasons for not going ahead with a Bow hunting committee is that they still largely view it as an “us or them” position instead of a chance to actually work towards more opportunity for hunters. Telling bowhunters to work it through the system is a weak and convenient way out and doesn’t require actually disturbing the status quo.

Shouldn't the playing field be level for everyone?

[Tuffcity]

Hypothetically- What happens when the flintlock committee of the BCWF says "Well, us flintlockers don't have any higher harvest than bow hunters, and there are more bow hunters, anyway, so why can't we have those seasons?

Realistically it's two groups. One's equipment goes "bang" and the other goes "twang". You can nit pick it to death and that's a large part of the unproductive rhetoric. Get this part figured out first.

Shouldn't the playing field be level for everyone?

Nice idea, but again the realism of gunpowder vs shaft is that one is far more efficient at reducing game populations than the other. The idea is to expand opportunity without adversely affecting game populations.

[Gateholio]

Realistically it's two groups. One's equipment goes "bang" and the other goes "twang". You can nit pick it to death and that's a large part of the unproductive rhetoric. Get this part figured out first.

That is an oversimplification. There are some out there that woudl like to have traditional ML seasons in areas that bowhunters would also like to have bow seasons, citing similar reasons (low harvest %, extra opportunity, etc)

And I can see these people saying "There is a bow committee, why not a ML committee" ....and they probably have a point.

Nice idea, but again the realism of gunpowder vs shaft is that one is far more efficient at reducing game populations than the other. The idea is to expand opportunity without adversely affecting game populations

The "level playing field" I reffered to was not to do with hunting, but forming of committees, in response to your post:

From what I read in the BCWF reasons for not going ahead with a Bow hunting committee is that they still largely view it as an “us or them” position instead of a chance to actually work towards more opportunity for hunters. Telling bowhunters to work it through the system is a weak and convenient way out and doesn’t require actually disturbing the status quo

[horshur]

Nice idea, but again the realism of gunpowder vs shaft is that one is far more efficient at reducing game populations than the other. The idea is to expand opportunity without adversely affecting game populations.

My good friend told me this year that he was just going to use the bowhunting opportunities in region 8 cause he has such poor luck with LEH.

least it's hunting.

[willyqbc]

Bowhunting has the unique ability to fill many niche opportunities where GOS opportunities CANNOT AND WILL NOT EVER EXIST due to concerns of overharvest and/or safety. The easiest examples of these niche hunts are mule deer on winter range and urban areas. Mule deer on winter range cannot withstand a GOS, the harvest would be too high. Urban areas cannot have a GOS due to obvious safety concerns. In my opinion, by not exploring these opportunities which are a natural fit for for archery tackle the BCWF is failing in its mandate to seek new hunting opportunity. Now i know there are many on here who will say that the BCWF supports hunting opportunity for "ALL" hunters not just a special interest group like bowhunters.....BUT....the fact of the matter is that each and every hunter in the province has the CHOICE to pick up a bow and learn how to use it so that they too can participate in the new opportunities. I am getting sick and tired of hearing about how new bow opportunities are "exclusionary"...they are only exclusionary if you CHOOSE not to do the work required to take advantage of them. Are areas that have "NO Vehicle access" exclusionary?? No, of course not...they just take a little work to take advantage of the opportunity.
If the BCWF were really working in the best interest of ALL hunters in the province they would be exploring every avenue for increasing hunter opportunity, not automatically excluding initiatives because they have the phrase "bow only" in them.

Just my opinion
Chris

[bighornbob]

If the bowhunters get a committee then I want a committee for hunters that dont have a 4X4 or ATV.

With all the deactivated roads and roads not being kept up there is less and less places to go. Also after the first snowfall its is real tough to get out and about. Also with the price of gas going up, more hunters will be getting rid of their 4X4's and getting smaller 2 wheel drive trucks. I would like to see more seasons or areas specifiaclly set aside for guys that dont have a 4X4 or ATV.

BHB