- The recent post, "Bull Fight Ends in Death" gained national exposure when it was shared on the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Facebook Page. The person who shared the post introduced it with the tag, "Nature is not a Disney movie. Here's another real life --and deadly-- example of what can happen in the wild when bulls spar."
- The reader comments on the blog post seemed to draw the most attention. The one that drew the most ire was "It is a shame to see beautiful wildlife of any kind dead. However, I would much rather see a dead elk caused by an elk-to-elk fight than a dead elk killed by a hunter". This was followed by a comment in agreement with that sentiment and then two comments that expressed sadness that the bull died.
- The reaction to these comments was all out of proportion to what was actually said. First of all I will say that I have only personally met one of those that originally commented, but I follow the others blogs and Facebook pagse and and have read their thoughts on many things. Some if not most have either hunted in the past and may still hunt at present, or have family members that do-- I do not know and I do not care. The lady who drew the most negative attention did not say that hunting was wrong and did not personally attack any hunter, she simply would rather that the animal died doing what bull elk ordinarily do and not be killed by a hunter. That statement is not pro-hunting, but neither is it an attack on hunting or hunters. I repeat she did not personally attack any hunter, but some of those that commented later did not return the courtesy and did personally attack her while hiding behind a cloak of anonymity in some cases.
- I will post the comments here and follow with a brief bit of commentary about each.
- Paul Griffin said...
- "Sure hate to see that meat go to waste. Would have loved to have tagged that beautiful creature and filled my freezer! Roasts, steaks, jerky, salami and back straps galore! MmmmMmm mmm Good!"
- November 5, 2013 at 11:23 AM
- My Take: Griffin has been on Blogger since January 2012 and has had four profile views in that time. He shares no personal information. His comment seems designed to draw a reaction from someone who does not approve of hunting, but is not an attack.
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| Goring Victim: Photo Courtesy of Ronald J. Saffer- Used by permission |
And for you anti-hunting types, shall I remind you that the only reason these elk are in PA is BECAUSE of modern hunters and the value they place on the conservation of natural resources? The Eastern Elk was "hunted" to extinction in the 1800's, not for sport but out of necessity by the farmers whose crops they decimated. As the conservation movement grew at the turn of the century, the herd was reintroduced to the state using stock from western states. All the money used to originally transport them here, to acquire land to support them, to educate the public on their welfare, and to maintain the herd comes directly from the PA Game Commission and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. For you to say that elk shouldn't be hunted is as naive as it is unfair to those who have footed the bill for their very existence.
Oh, and to those of you who have "pet" deer, remember... a fed deer is a dead deer.
November 5, 2013 at 11:28 AM
My thoughts: This comment is somewhat of a turn off because the author again hides their identity behind what appears to be an AOL account number. It is mostly accurate once one gets past the condescending "Okay, you people make me laugh" and his attack on feeling sadness at the loss of a bull. The writer states, " It's not "sad", it's the way the world works. There are no second place trophies in nature". By the same logic you could say that it was not sad that someone died from cancer or was killed in an auto accident as that is the way the world works.
Now lets look at this part; "The Eastern Elk was "hunted" to extinction in the 1800's, not for sport but out of necessity by the farmers whose crops they decimated."
My Take: It is hard to tell if this is accurate. I have always read that it was because of unregulated hunting and market hunting in particular, but I never heard it blamed on "farmers" Of course some farmers would have participated, but so would persons from other vocations such as loggers, etc.
This commentator says in reference to the re-introduction "All the money used to originally transport them here, to acquire land to support them, to educate the public on their welfare, and to maintain the herd comes directly from the PA Game Commission and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation"
My Take:First a bit of historical background. The PGC established a elk hunting season in in 1923 with only bulls of 4 or more points being legal. Twenty -three bulls were killed the first year, but by 1925 the kill was only 6. In 1931, only one animal was killed and the season was closed the following year. (Harrison: The Elk of Pennsylvania) After that the PGC lost interest in the elk herd and it was not until the 1970s that another state agency now known as DCNR began elk habitat management work on their lands. It was only after the herd began to rebound and interest to grow in it that the PGC devoted their attention to the elk herd again. This is no bad reflection on many of the PGC field personnel at that time or the agency at present, but the PGC was not always supportive of the elk at upper management levels and not all funding for elk work has come from the PGC or RMEF. Even to this day the majority of the public lands in elk country are administered by DCNR , which is not funded by hunting license dollars
"Oh, and to those of you who have "pet" deer, remember... a fed deer is a dead deer."
My Take: This is a bit of propaganda that has gained widespread acceptance and has a nice ring to it. Like most propaganda it does contain a kernel of truth , but one only needs look around a field of corn left standing to see that to a large extent it is not so or else the field would be ringed by the carcasses of dead deer, etc. It can contribute to the spread of disease, but so can a food plot.
As to his closing statement, "You should educate yourself on a subject matter before speaking to it"--I couldn't agree with him more on that one.
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Adam Prusinowski said...
"Linda is a very ignorant or naive person to leave that comment
November 5, 2013 at 11:44 AM
My Take: A personal attack with no constructive value.
