Mouthful of Feathers Essay
Trapped: What Is Found and Not Forgotten on the Hunt
A day below the rimrock and beyond the pavement.By Bruce Smithhammer, 1-28-11
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It wasn’t a conscious decision; we had merely started moving in slightly different trajectories, and in this sort of country that means that before long we were almost a mile, and a deep gorge, away from each other. I look across the rim at the small figures, the even smaller brown and white dots that represented the dogs. Even at this distance, it is obvious that they are covering 10 times the amount of ground the humans are.
I find reasonably stable footing amidst the slippery skateboards of sandstone talus piled atop each other and look over the rim. Even in February, the creek flows assertively. Yes, people would have lived here, and probably would have done pretty well at it, considering the harshness that lay to the horizon beyond.
In the distance, the rooftops and glass reflections of a border gambling town can be seen. I am less than an hour hike from the road, but I know no one has likely stood where I am in a long time. They come in vehicles of sealed, conditioned air, never leaving pavement, and head straight to the dim cacophony of casinos where it could be any time of night or day. Indeed, this lack of any reference to time of day is the deliberate strategy from the casino’s point of view. And then, broke, satiated, guilty, elated, hungover or maybe even lucky, they get back in their cars and move on, their feet likely never touching real soil, their menthol-pickled lungs taking in as little fresh air as possible throughout the entire endeavor.
I drop below the band of rimrock and continue to parallel the ridge, the creek now audible below. Here and there are concentrations of tiny obsidian flakes on the ground, doubtless in the very same spot where they initially fell, as someone ages before fashioned a tool or killing instrument of some sort. I continue on, lost in various thoughts of the people who used to live here, losing recollection of the quarry I came here to find, not even sure exactly where my dog is. It feels good to be alone in this place, walking, consumed by the moment, surrounded by scatterings of human evidence, reminded that I am but one in a long chain that stretches way back. Something incongruous catches my eye and I bend down. A tiny chert arrowhead, perfectly formed.
I move on, still deep in thought, looking down as I pick my way along, only half-heartedly still in the hunt. Hank pops over the rim above to check on me and then disappears again.
And then suddenly, there it is.
I stand there stunned as everything around me slows and focuses in the middle, on what lies in front of me, blurred around the edges, like an old tintype. Despite the mid-day temps hovering around freezing, it is clear that the cat hasn’t been dead for long. It is also clear that this had not been a quick death, that nothing dies quickly this way. There would have been hours, if not days, of struggle, of life slowly ebbing, of creeping cold, until this. Wind moves the soft fur, and I can’t resist – I kneel down and run my fingers through it. There is this brief, purely sensory moment where my thinking, judgmental mind is as numb as the carcass before me. This incredibly soft coat. I want to continue running my hand through it and not think about anything, but thoughts begin to creep back. I stand up and wonder if the trapper is watching me from somewhere in the distance. This is easy country to remain undetected in.
I try to get it back, but the rest of the day is not the same. The usual burning desire to continue hunting and covering country has been dimmed to a flicker and all I want to do is put the gun and the rest of it all away and go sit somewhere with a flask of whiskey and a good view and not think about anything but the biting February wind chafing my face and the little chert arrowhead, smooth between my fingers.
Bruce Smithhammer is a freelance writer and editor, a columnist for the Teton Valley News and a contributing editor for The Drake magazine. He is also among a group of hunting writers who contribute to the blog Mouthful of Feathers, where this essay originally appeared.
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Comments
I think that if any human who wishes to trap for trophy or food had to endure a few hours or days trapped without food and water himself of herself, that might change the desire to continue trapping.
A cat's heart, a bear's heart , a wolverine's heart beat the same way ours does. Are we going to continue trapping wild animals because it has been done in the past? Lots of activities that were taken in the past have been left behind. Many, including beheading, beating, mutilating of other people should have been stopped.
Why as humans is it so necessary to kill in our time for bragging? for trophy?
Is trapping the only solution to a family looking for food?
If you are going to kill , do it fast. Do not make another being suffer. Ever.
My heart beats with sadness at the knowledge that anything suffers as it dies.
The killing and suffering caused was senseless. The person who set the trap might not have done so had he or she known himself or herself what it is like to be trapped.
How humans have come so far away from our understanding that everything is connected and everything we do affects everything else saddens me every day.
We've moved on. Humanity has moved on. Hop on the evolution bus.
The author should come to grips with reality and admit what he already knows but refuses to admit - hunters inflict unneeded suffering in a world that has too much of it.
May this valuable lesson not be lost on you, Bruce. May you see these blood sports for what they are, and may you not be corrupted by the deformed culture that surrounds you as the truth tries to envelop you AND your actions in the future.
The truth is insecure, “grown” men mask their love of the outdoors by having to "kill something". They can't go out and just enjoy it for the sake of it. There has to be a "manly" aspect attached because of a long promoted culture of death and peer pressure from folks who don't know any better.
I wish you luck in your transformation. This was a brutally painful wake up call.
Trapping is garbage. It was needed when we pioneered this country. It's pointless now.
Unfortunately, the woods are filled with pieces of garbage like this trapper who failed to check his line as required by law.
Writers like you who value our natural world and speak to us in sympathetic appreciation of it are thanked for not being reticent in expressing opinions that could effect attitude and consequently actions. So while I understand such "preaching" did not fit into your piece, I wonder about your answer to real mike. But thanks anyway for a beautifully written story.
Sunny
I hope you did more than drink whiskey, which is a convenient elixer for pushing back the truth and numbing reality.
It appears that most of you don't like the sight of an animal in a trap. Somewhat gruesome, for sure. Funny how the sight of an elk hamstrung by wolves and dying three or four days later does not illicit the same response.
Was it a legal or illegial catch? Was the trap tagged as is required by law? Was is set properly by a licensed trapper? Almost all cases of trapping problems are caused by people unlicensed and unethical about what they are doing.
Would you feel the same if that bobcat was stealing chickens from the neighbor down the road?
What of the fella (or lady) who was trapping? Does that little bit of income that person makes from trapping help to raise their family or pay the bills?
Bobcats are found in all 48 states. Some are crossbred with feral cats and cause alot of damage to bird populations to boot.
What about other forms of trapping? Lets say coyotes? How about beavers? Do we need to start another state agency to pay for beaver removal where they build dams that flood roads or farmers fields? What about muskrats? The cute little furry guys that increase in number until disease hits them and then they die off for awhile? I know many a farm kid who makes spending money catching muskrats.
The point being that there are more than a few people who suppliment their incomes with trapping. Granted there are some bad examples out there also, but it is a way for local people to earn some income and keep a few predators in check, and keep our roads from being flooded.
With that said, I am sure a flood of good hearted people will fill the inbox with emotional stories of how bad trapping is, how much animals suffer, etc. without any consideration of how much wildlife benefits from trappers doing what they do.
My experience is that most trappers are very ethical and follow game laws to the limit.
The argument of being "civilized" is ridiculous. You will find that most of the trappers are tax payers and actually own houses and raise families.
If you want the hamburger you have to shoot the cow. Cows are renewable, so are bobcats.
Just another article (attempt) to allow a small group of narrow minded people to control the rest of us.
Now when a lone nut shoots off his gun in Arizona, we are horrified by this action, yet when our government kills 100,000, or one million foreign people, who happen to be standing on their own land in their own nation, we shrug and call that foreign policy, and we look the other way.
Sure Mike, you and your righteous clap trap about being evolved, you bet buddy. When you convince those foreigners you are not a barbarian, when you convince this government to put down its guns and stop with the serial genocide you help to fund, I'll stop trapping, hunting, and I'll beat my rifles into plowshares and farm the ground. Hunting trapping and many things man does will someday end for good, it will not be by the hand of man that brings that about, nor by the evil lie called evolution-evilution.
And as for this innocent article, spare me. This is just more clap trap anti trapping anti hunting garbage propaganda. You knocked the arrow and sent it off into the target yet you deny the bulls eye was trapping.. BS
In 1870 it was those damn loin cloth wearing evil savages, today it's hunting and trapping, cowboying, farming ranching.. Anything the leftist righteous liberal dogma deems evil..
if you had an experience of finding an animal in a trap--dead or alive--would you please contact me at
and share your story with us?
Footloose Montana works to end recreational trapping of wildlife on public lands... We welcome everyone who wants to help us in our efforts to promote trap-free public lands for people, pets and wildlife... Thanks, Anja Heister
would you allow me to use your photo (credited to you of course), and your story to send to our members and others?
Please contact me at
Best,
Anja, Executive Director of Footloose Montana
Footloose Montana-another bunch of people who want to force their views on others,all because someones dog got caught in a trap,a legally set trap,and the owner did not know how to release the trap,which could have been done in less that 15 seconds.
How about keeping dogs leashed,and not letting them run loose to find a trap to get caught in?
Many people earn income from trapping,and have for many generations,once again,outsiders want to change things to how they think it should be,never mind the families who earn the majority of their winter income from trapping.
If you are going to be in the outdoors in areas where trapping is legal,then you need to realize that there will be traps,and keep your dogs away from them. Also-learn how to release a trap,it's easy to learn,and anyone can do it.
Because a dog got caught in a trap is a poor reason to try to ban trapping,as for those who set illegal traps-punish them-if as much effort was spent on catching those who set illegal traps as has been spent on trying to ban trapping-there would be no more people setting illegal traps by now.
If those who know nothing about trapping would take 5 minutes to learn how to release a trap-no dogs would be injured by getting caught in traps because their owners didn't keep them on a leash,or have them trained well enough to stay closeby.
Wildlife belongs to us all, it is a fact that many of our beautiful non-game animals are reaching an endangered tipping point. It has been so seldom that I have seen a pine marten, ermine...I saw a river otter years ago along a river where I was XC skiing. There was a wavy ribbon of ice extending from the 2' bank down to the rushing water. I saw a shadow and then it came into focus, a river otter was running behind this lovely curtain of ice. Beautiful! Yes I resent the men who trap our fur bearing animals -for their pleasure- because the dollar rewards are insigneficant in payment for the sacrifice.
I just would like to add, friends of mine were hiking last month and discovered 5 Clark's Nucrackers hanging from branches of a group of trees from bated traps. How's that for fun?!!!
Its not just about dogs getting caught and how if their owners, were more aware of their surroundings and knew how to spring a trap.... its about the suffering a trapped animal has to go thru, whether its for a day or two (or longer) because I seriously doubt many of these trappers bother to check their traps every two days and why should they? An animal that is close to death, from stress and the struggle to free themselves, isn't going anywhere unless they end up chewing their foot off (which many have done)
And I would imagine many trappers don't bother shooting the ones still alive in their traps, struggling at the end of that chain, why waste a bullet, right? (might mess up the fur) Clubbing or strangulation are the other methods available, when you lack anything remotely resembling a conscience.
Its interesting how wildlife seems to have gotten along just fine (regulated their own populations depending on the availibility of food and territories) until mandkind exploded, all over what use to be their habitat.
Yeah, sure you've guessed, I do care deeply about other species and their right to exist and I question why some feel the need to manage them, when we've fail so miserably, when it comes to managing our own species.
No sense of reason or ability to comprehend how others make a living....
Anita, still at it? Are you still peddling that sour tasting wine? Montana vineyards? Good luck with that. As soon as we get one of those beetle killing winters, your vines will be gone.
Where do we start....
Ricky, what about the "public problem with trapping?" Just how often is a dog caught in a trap? Did you know that the fish and game has made many areas around habitated areas off limits to trapping? I guess you could say they are trying to work with some of these folks like ol anita and her buds....what about beavers and muskrats? Dogs don't get into those traps, so whats your take on that?
Nanc, not everyone has the luxury of a good paying job (or a vineyard). I just don't see what the problem is with removing a few coyotes or bobcats with traps as long as it is done correctly. Yes, the animal is caught in the trap. Yes, they must be checked regularly. You eat meat, don"t you? (or do you?) How do you think the hamburger gets to the plate? Nanc, I don't know much about the seal clubbing stuff, but I do know that the people who do it earn a living doing it, and thats why they do it. Not much work up there that far north......
Sunny, there are martin and ermine (weasels) galore out there and always will be. You say it makes no economic sense to trap...then why do they trap? Ever think of it as another outdoor activity, like cross country sking? I know a few trappers who earn about 1/2 their income on trapping alone. So why do you have the right to say they can't do it? It would be like me saying you can't ski in the forest, you are putting tracks in my fresh snow. Trapping is regulated and most trappers are ethical. I have also seen unethicl cross country skies leaving beer cans along trails so all activities have bad apples, for sure. Why is it that the forest is yours alone?
Ol Anita likes to point out the negatives of trapping. The grewsome pics of dogs in traps, etc. In every case that I know of that she has shown, the trapping method was illegial and who ever set those traps should have been prosecuted. I can also point out negatives to cross country sking (garbage and loud mouthed youngen swearing up a storm), hunting (poor shooters wounding animals), fishing (those nasty barbed hooks), montana wine (bitter nasty stuff), the list goes on....
What I really don't understand is how some of you folks think you have a right to tell others how to live. In particular, the transplants who seem to want to turn our state into another California.....
I do agree with you mike (god, I am getting soft). Who ever set that did not follow the rules and should be prosecuted, if he broke the law. People like you mikey, will never rule people like me (old story for those who are wondering). Thanks for the compliment....(once again)...old rat trapper, I like that! I have not set a trap in 20.....30 years, but it paid for a couple of years of college!
You need to quit eating your hamburger, Nanc, and go veg with the mikes of the world. Be humane as possible, yes, but the animal still has to be killed. No different than putting a bullet in a cows head. When done properly, it is a legimitate way to put income into some folks pockets, and nanc, it is a RENEWABLE RESOURCE. Ya know, that stuff you earth folks are always spewing about......in another way, it is a regulated industry, just like hunting or fishing. If the number of animals goes down, it is stopped or curtailed. Consider the wolf problem as an example. The number of elk hunters can be cut back if the elk numbers decline. Of course, with wolves, hunting occurs all year, with the result of very few elk left alive as we are witnessing in several places in Idaho and Montana now. Trapping is regulated just like hunting. So I take it you are another Anita or Timmy? Transplants from Germany or California trying to remake our state?
You're wrong stating that trapping is regulated just like hunting... A trapper (many of the good 'ol boys trappers, who claim to be real MT mountain men, are originally from... oh my, should I really go that far to say that they are from... OUT OF STATE...?) Where was I... oh yes... a trapper buys a license for a total of $29 and then off he goes, and traps as many animals as he wants... No check point stations as for hunters and hardly any oversight (unless people complain to FWP). Are we really to believe that trappers, who are after a wolverine or a tiny SWIFT FOX (yep, they're being trapped while still being reintroduced!), will stop trapping just because the season is officially closed when the quota is met? Also, there is no art or much efforts in modern trapping as trappers know exactly where the animals are whose pelts they rip off their backs to sell them to... oh my goodness, there it is again... OUT of STATERS! Has anyone seen a Montanan wearing fur lately? Here, BS is complaining about folks from outside of the state or country, trying to impose their own way of life onto Montanans, and YET, the fur from Montana's wildlife ends up in EUROPE, ASIA, RUSSIA, CHINA, and the East Coast... MT trappers seem to have no problem selling out our wildlife to the world outside of MT when it comes to $$...
FWP offers fur trapping as a recreational activity... The modern trapper traps for fun and nothing else. And like Nancy said, few of us here in MT have the option of a good paying job (I wished I did), however, it is a personal choice to torture and kill animals for their fur.
Yes, the fur is sold outside the state...hmmm, its called ECONOMICS. Much of it goes to russia and china no doubt. Just like much of our grain goes to china, our lentils go to indonesia, etc.
Out of state trappers do come here, and some of them make their entire living from trapping, no doubt. Fur buyers also come from out of state. Don't like out of state trappers? ok. Then lobby to get them removed, but don't lobby to stop an economic method for people to make a few bucks and get out in the outdoors.
I would take your 20 count for dog problems as being a fact....for the whole nation, but not for the state. Much less how many are true? How many are reported to the fish and game? How many are done by ethical trappers? For the record, my dog got caught in a trap twice. I pulled him out, no big deal.
As I stated, a trained, ethical trapper does not set where people roam. Kids do that, and thats what aninta platform is about. If indeed you had a no trapping ban you would still have kids setting traps for animals around suburbs, etc.
I also should take into account the ban on trapping in Colorado where 53% of the population voted for it (it won big in Denver, the urban center). Now they have coyotes in the suburbs and no way to get rid of them. Can't shoot em in the suburbs. Domestic cats are nonexistant, coyotes love em, eat em like popcorn. People can't keep the coyotes out of their garbage, and small dogs are having a tough go of it (weanie on a leesh, anyone?) I have been told that some ranchers there have lost enough sheep and calves that they just set out poisons on the sly. Coyotes eat em and go off and die. nobody knows or cares to know. An overabundance of beavers build dams that flood roadways. You have to find a government fella to deal with it. No fur is used for anything, all is wasted. The government trappers (colorade style, oh boy) cannot keep up with the problem. Another waste of taxpayer dollars.
yes anita, its called economics. Fur is sold to russians and chinese. I am sure some of it ends up in your old country also, anita. That money is used to feed MONTANA families. Its not quite as nice as trying to grow grapes on the tundra, but it is away to make a few bucks and is a RENEWABLE RESOURCE.
Ethical trappers follow the law. They have to. Seasons and regulations are set to be followed. To state that no trappers follow regulations is absurb anita. You don't get out enough to know, anyway, so why pretend? If someone has a problem with illegial traps, then call it in. People like me pay for enforcement for people like you through hunting licenses and permits. What do you pay for?
Funny you mention people wearing fur. I remember my aunt bragging about her mink coat. Cost about 4 grand. She was so proud that her hubby bought it for her. Just think, she was wearing a coat produced in montana by montanans! I should wear my coyotes trimmed coat to missoula. Probably get orange paint thrown on it, but thats ok. I can just go harvest a few more coyotes with my rifle or buy some from an ethical trapper.
After all it is a RENEWABLE RESOURCE. Something your earthy folks are up in arms about.
Love that "ripping off their backs" anita. Nice and gruesome. To bad its not true. Keep in mind they are dead when they are skinned. This is not china. Ya know, like the cows that get skinned before burger is made? How about ripping those grapes off the trees?
I hate them because they can't stand that other people are not veggies.
Veggies, nazis, fascists, etc, the same thing
Its all about controlling other people, and thats what you folks are all about......move back to california with your friends....
We are still free in Montana.
Gee, and all those taxes I payed over the years went to waste, much less all those hunting licenses I did not get but had to pay for anyway.
You are right on the spelling, however. I don't use the spell check much. I know its hard to reason with reasonable answers so you have to resort of checking my spelling....my bad, sorry.
Nope. We have people in Montana also with common sense. You don't have to go to Appalachia (yep, you spelled it right...you got through 6th grade ok, huh?) Ha Ha
The whiskey? The uncomfortable comments around campfires with hunting buddies that are followed by awkward silence and doubt? That's denial.
It's no longer needed, folks. The U.S. is mostly strip malls. The roads go everywhere. The motors go everywhere. There's no escape for the wild critters. This isn't 1850. There's no expansion of the frontier.
Now it's like shooting fish in a barrel. And that isn't sport. It's lazy. It's demented.
Not all things were meant to be acted upon forever. Calling something a "heritage" or "tradition" doesn't mean it’s worthy of pursuit, or even ethical. The truth is most traditions were created when the world was far different.
It was not needed 200 years ago either. It was a way to manage wildlife as it is used today.
The nice thing is that it can be done by LOCAL PEOPLE and not by some government run tax bearing ring of liberals.
So we all know this trapping is on the wane and that is why he is fighting like a cornered rat trapper. So let it be folks. Someone told me "you should never wrestle with a pig, you get dirty, and besides the pig likes it."
Just what do you do for a living sunshine? Pick flowers and sell them to the sun people?
There are more than a few folks that make at least part of a living trapping. Regarless, trapping will be here long after you are gone. Whether it be govt trappers or the sheep rancher who is losing sheep due to predation.
Glad you like the comments. I know that reality is a hard thing for people to take who have never really lived.......
Your nothing more than a woman Hitler, you want to impose your Will on the rest of us, just as your fearless leader did over 65 years ago. Why is it, you, and your ancestry knows what's best for the rest of us?
We ran your Fuhrer out of Europe, and we'll run you out of Montana.
Modern people commonly view the natural process through their own social order with it's innocence, guilt, cruelty, pity, notions of defenselessness, etc. But, none of this exists in the natural process. Many people think it does because they're so comfortable. But, being alienated from the natural process, they don't understand that the natural process doesn't know cruelty, for example. A mountain lion crushing a deer's neck is certainly not cruel. And a deer is not defenseless.
Humans owe their lives to the natural process. All the living, dying, eating, and crapping, made you, and it goes on and on with or without you. Being a part of the natural process gives humans the right to not only passively observe nature, but to participate as well. Someday, while hiking along, observing nature, slip off the trail and pursue those deer you see. Try to get really close to them. You'll find yourself strategizing, listening, observing with far more intensity. If your butt isn't the shape of a recliner, you'll find yourself doing what comes quite naturally: hunting. Practice this enough, and you'll grow to at least understand the intent to kill your prey as millions of people across the globe, connected to the natural process, still do, and always should.
Because... for example, today we can take abundant wildlife for granted because one hundred years ago, visionary humans stood up to the destruction of wildlife and began implementing what is known as the North American conservation model, a heroic set of laws. Basically, connected humans, seeing the awesomeness of what was about to be lost, saved it, largely, before it became the type of unrecognizable mush you find in Europe. Alienated humans recognize this mush as nature, but connected humans recognize it as a pity, compared to the relative majesty we presently enjoy in North America. This reality is quite the opposite from the troubling notion out there that things we're always rosy, but those darn "outdoorsmen" just keep chipping away at it and we flower huggers (the only people who truly love flowers) need to join forces and stop them before it's gone. Good grief! Montana's department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks MANAGES wildlife and they do an incredible job. We really a're the envy of the world.
So, once you understand all of this, a dead bobcat in a trap might still turn your stomach, mine too, but you see the notion of "trap-free public lands" as silly, and extreme, even ignorant, and certainly "alienated from the natural process." Meanwhile, a few compromises that could help keep pets reasonably safe on public lands are delayed.
(Thanks AMJ)
MontanaOutside.com
Conibears? I have seen these thing used before. Kills animals in about 1 minute when set correctly. Very humaine. Not good if some idiot kid sets them where domestic dogs are found, however. Ever see a bullet shot into an elk? Often takes more than a few minutes do die. How about a mouse in a mousetrap? All common things hard working MONTANANS do.
So what you say ricky is that only you can use public lands? kinda selfish of you isn"t it?"
Bwhahahahahahahahahahahah!
Pot meet kettle.
Most of the anti trapping people do not pick out the cutest or cuddliest animals to defend from the fate of a steel trap or a snare. It considered a cruel inhumane occupation in this day an age. It is not a viable means for population control or a justifiable means of income. It is just Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett mind set. An attempt for the romance and freedom of the old days. These are not the old days and you're right, it is also habitat destruction and encroachment for our wildlife and in a that way also for your preferred way of enjoying a "natural" outing.
Some may see it as a romanace of the old days...the walking of many miles to check sets, the cold and the toil, the measure of what you can take, no doubt. I had a friend who was in dire need of college money and trapped martin along a 20 mile route. All done with snowshoes during christmas break. He made enough to pay for another semester of college. By the way, he is an engineer now. Ya know, the college degree that requires WORK to get?
It is very justifiable for an income. I know of more than a few people who earn money trapping a renewable resource in ponds, lakes and forests of montana. They don't bother anyone, mostly because they avoid people and are in places where most would never go in the winter. They do a service by removing beavers that flood roads, keep the coyote population in check, and may play a roll in keeping the wolves our of your backyard, before long.
The topic has nothing to do with ol Dan Boone or Dave Crockett, except the history is interesting.
II still don't get your "cruel and inhumane" stuff you keep spewing. You could apply that to gopher hunting, to hunting for meat like many of us who live here do, to slaughtering cows, to killing chickens. SO WHAT? We eat meat. If you don't, good for you. Not for me.
Trapping is a viable industry in Montana that is regulated and well managed. It is a RENEWABLE RESOURCE.
Just another attempt to run other peoples lives. Same ol story.
Good ethical interplay that any hunter or trapper can understand fully. I'm sorry to see the emotional hissy fit explode -- but I hope it helps you understand that making nice with the trap haters is a dangerous thing to do. They'll come after YOU next.
As an addendum, it is my understanding that this was a legal trap, in season.
Funny how public land is suppose to belong to the few......
I love how the one poster talks as if modern day science books are 100% credible and the gospel. Makes me think of that neat stained glass window at the U.N. in New York, the people of the world are all gathered around, representing world peace, and in the center of them all is a serpent.
Some people will believe anything, that U.N. influenced science.
Figure a way to a quick kill and I have no problem with your...."hobby"
Continue leg hold trapping and you are simply freaks who torture animals.
Fakey Mike (not a cut down), I agree with you. The problem is that we have so many college profs who are just that, college proffs. The old style college prof is gone. Ya know, the guy who had to shovel manure or do the dirty work for the forest service to get through college. Now we have this "new age" professors who are spewing all this garbage to the "new age" kids. The even forget who pays for it all. No tax base, the economy falters. BUT, as you are alluding to, in a free market, people survive. Of course, if the tax base is shut down, your colleges, BLM, Forest Service, etc. suffer. What we are doing to sustain these endeavors now is printing money on borrowed money. How much longer? Who knows. Its all about confidence. Standing on your own two feet is tough these days, for sure.
We have seen prices for gas jump before. We will adjust. We always have. Soooo, how about a few deer steaks with those pinto beans? The dog can curl up next to the fire on that wolf rug.....
I admit I would kind of feel the same as you, maybe.
I like bobcats When I was little my dad was stationed at 5thFIS, the Spitten Kittens. Tom and Kitten were the squadron kitty cats, they were feisty felines but quite tame and friendly. Give them a hunk or two of raw meat, and once that was out of the way and they were sated, have a nice scratch fest. But don't peeve them off....
I've gotten a few over the years, but I've let far more pass just out of sentiment.
There are no wild animals out there who are plotting to eat you on purpose, no matter how anyone talks about those animals with hatred or out of fear.
If an elk is killed by a wolf - that is part of the earth's animal cycle - there are many killings by predators on prey. It's not pretty. And, I find it interesting that the example of a wolf killing an elk was the only one used. However, willfully trapping a wild animal and not watching the trap and immediately killing the animal trapped so that it does not suffer, I feel is wrong. If as a person you don't want to be trapped, and have part of your body severely hurt, then don't do it to another. Why cause suffering intentionally? Legally or otherwise.
Trapping may be part of our western history - But haven't we moved beyond some malicious acts by now? At least in this country? While misogynists do still exist, most people do not beat their wives, imprison women because some fear them, mutilate daughters who are abused by others. We are not supposed to abuse pets. It is considered wrong to abuse livestock.
So why is is OK to abuse and mutilate wildlife?
So while many of the above commentors enjoy calling someone else a name that is not respectful, perhaps we can all learn from the story - which was well written. While I do not agree with the concept of trapping - as I said above, I can attempt to show respect for the writer while I disagree with the idea that trapping is OK.
We do not own the natural world around us. Whoever said that above was wrong. Our government set us that idea a long time ago and was misguided. A way to get money. A way to figure out what to do with everything that was given to us for FREE.
We should be acting with respect toward animals and not believeing that all wild animals are our slaves to do with as we want. Wasn't a war fought over slavery?
If there is not a lesson here, why in God's name write the article and present the image? The comments on this piece are much more eloquent than the article, and reach much deeper into the soul that still remains in humanity
There very well may be a lesson here, but far be it for me to presume, or proselytize, that my lesson should also be yours. To have simply set out to write a narrative (this is not a piece of journalism, mind you) with as transparent and simplistic an agenda as "anti-trapping" would be 1) a boringly easy subject to tackle, free from nuance or freedom of interpretation, and b) it would also require assuming that the readers of New West would generally care for such dogma. I don't assume that.
A personal measurement of success for me is if I've caused a diverse group of readers to examine their closely-held assumptions and to exchange thoughts and ideas (hopefully in a constructive and open-minded manner) that they might not have otherwise. If your looking for a piece that tells people what to think, or that merely reaffirms what you already believe, then I'm happy to disappoint on both counts.
Public land dows not belogn to a select group of people, although some posters on here may think so.
It appears that trapping is just part of the issue. Just one liberty we can take away and call it cruel regardless of what form it takes. Be it a bobcat in a leg hold trap, or a bobcat in a live trap. If you knew a bit more about leg traps, you might decide that the leg hold set properly was more humaine.
Of course, there are those who want no trapping of any sort....be it a muskrat or beaver in a drowing set or a mouse in the house. So be it. I don't like vegetarians either.
It is wonder to see pulic lands untilized by all, not just the cross country skiers or the bird watchers alone as some would like to see.
Why do you believe it's hateful?
Do you believe you have to hate something in order to kill it? Do you hate cows or flies or mosquitoes? Why do liberals always think we have to hate everything we kill and kill everything we hate? We can have compassioin and respect for things we kill. Where does hate enter in to it?
The coyote was not missing a foot, and there is no trapping in the area I was in, none.
I have no doubt my indepth studies of 30+ years concerning political, legal, and agenda driven sciences, including the very roots of your own environmentalist beliefs, far surpass any of your own accomplishments. You're not operating on a belief system of your own design, you're a tool.
I also have 40 years of backcountry experience with thousands of miles on horseback with packhorses. And not just in the fall. As well as backpacking the Sawtooths in winter on skis.
I'll pass on the chemically altered beer.
What are you eating that is chemically altering you? Chemically altered food, and bevarage ? How many psychtropic legal drugs do you use?
Back to your bong now brother.
Only Jesus can, the real Jesus, not one of the many fakes. The U.N. is a fake Mike, and most of their science is fake.
" And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Isaiah 2:4 KJV
We want the same thing Mike, See Isaiah 65:25, But this thousand years of peace, inwhich we all want, is the next age, not this age.. In this age we have permssion to use the animals, lands, via Dominion, no domination, proper hands on stewardship. The hands off philosophy is U.N. agenda driven science. No free will..
" The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD. " Isaiah 65:25 KJV
The global elite want to force their will onto us.
The real King gives us freedom to choose, his coming New Kingdom, or you can go with this one which is failing.
It's your choice dude. If you had real depth you would not need to toss out your insults Mike..
We are not screaming at you to go kill and skin a coon and wear it on your heads. We are not trying to force our beliefs onto you. YOU have forced us to defend our FREE WILL..
Now if you loathe hunting and trapping, thats your right, and God bless you and your rights. But, you will in the future change your mind about the Divine Conspiracy that is very real. I promise you Mike, you will.
I laid down my pride, and so will you.
It will never be by the hand of man that repairs this world, never. You can force us all to stop living, but you will never ever repair whats been done in this age, era.
Have a grand laugh, but you will change to the truth eventually, the Bible tells us so.
Once again, Why are the global elite counter-feiting their own copy cat global New World Order right out of the Bible, only it's their version, not the real Biblical version? Who wants to be like god?
You need to rethink your depth.
Peace Dude.
My favorite quote by the prince of peace is
Luke 19:27...Oh and Hosea 13:16, dont forget Exodus 21:1-11 and finally Mathew 19:12...such nice people...
It was stolen from the original people. None of us has a moral high ground...
The public lands are not "your" lands-they are for the use of ALL of the public,which includes trappers,if you don't want your dog caught in a trap,don't let it run around off of a leash in areas where traps are LEGALLY set.
All of your kind who hate hunters and trappers are trying to force YOUR personal views on those of us who do NOT AGREE with you-we have the right to trap,and you have the right to disagree with it,but you do NOT have the right to tell us how we should live.
The point being, what is next with some of these folks? My winter coyote calling? Shooting carp with the bow? Using only barbless hooks? No camping in bear country? The list goes on an on....until the only thing we can enjoy in the outdoors is a look from the front yard.