JE- We all know you and other hunters have every right to go out and hunt waterfowl legally (and be in this facebook group), but let’s face it, you are not being smart on here, and with regards to the group you are straddling the line a bit. As a hunter, if you are responding on here with a comment that a white goose was harvested by hunters near Beaver Island, and then thought that was not going to elicit some heated responses then you are either A. being dumb, B. being naïve, or C. being an ass. I would certainly hope it’s mostly B, but for future reference if a similar situation comes up, then the solution is simple….just don’t comment. People will eventually get the idea that the bird is no longer there and it will fizzle away with time. If you argue that “well I thought it would be worthy of letting people know so they don’t go up there and waste their time” then my response would be that birding is a lot like hunting and fishing—whether you see (or shoot) a target bird (or catch a big fish) or not, a lot of people do it for the experience and it’s their way of getting outside and appreciating what’s out there. For the record I agree 100% with your views on conservation, and no doubt you have a lot of good suggestions, but based on your one comment its apparent this has become a bit of a personal vendetta for you. You could have easily accomplished sharing all these great suggestions without starting a discussion with the idea that the Ross’s Goose was shot/harvested (and no doubt you would have gotten your point thru a little better). To everyone else, I am quite confident that whether or not this Ross’s Goose had been discussed widely in the birding community (online or otherwise), it had just as much of a chance as being harvested by hunters as if it wasn’t being discussed—Beaver Island is a traditional hunting location along the river, so the bird was not in a “safe” place to begin with; it’s entirely unfortunate but it is what it is. In the meantime, as it was hinted at in the discussion, everyone should go out and buy a duck stamp, support local conservation groups, and sign Gerry Rising’s petition (if you haven’t already, or share it) regarding the development of the Buffalo Outer Harbor which can be viewed here: https://change.org/p/preserve-the-buffalo-outer-harbor
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 03:04:19 +0000
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