Hunter Vs Hunter Is the North Carolina Bow Hunters Association Targeting Dog Hunters In Orange County?

December 7, 2009

Hunting as a sport has enough outside opposition that we don’t need to attack each other from within our ranks. So the Dog Hunting fight in Orange County and the North Carolina Bow Hunters Association certainly got my attention the last few days.

To: NCBA Members living in Orange County

REF: County Ordinance to prohibit (Deer) dog hunting in Northern Orange County

I am writing to you to ask you to lend support to one of our NCBA Life Members, Mr. Steve Graf, who also lives in Orange County.

Steve is trying to get listed on the agenda for a meeting that will be held on December 8th at this location. The informational meeting will be held December 8th from 4pm to 6pm in the Government Services Center at 200 S Cameron Street in Hillsborough in the Large Conference Room.

Please call/contact Steve immediately if you can attend this meeting and help support this cause. They had a meeting a month or so ago, and no one attended except a couple groups of dog hunters, some of whom didn’t even live in Orange County. It is very important that a good number of people show up at the meeting to voice support for this ordinance. “NUMBERS” is what gets the attention of local lawmakers at meetings like this. This is how the “antis” often defeat us at this level on pro-hunting issues.. They take time to “show up” and be seen and heard. PLEASE try to attend this meeting, and call or email Steve to let him know he can count on your support.

NOTE: Feel free to pass this infomation onto your hunting friends and relatives who live in Orange County, or elsewhere closeby.

Thanks,
Ramon Bell
President, NCBA

I contacted Mr. Bell and he assures me that this is not an official position of the NCBA but just an opportunity to support one of their members. I’ll let my readers’ judge for themselves and that is why I put the email in its entirety up here.

On the issue of including crossbows as approved archery equipment while I disagreed I could see where their opposition was coming from because it would directly affect the bow season. The use of hounds is already prohibited during the archery season so I’m not sure why they feel the need to go after the use of hounds during the firearm season.

Hunting deer with hounds is a southern traditional hunting method that is certainly in decline and like trapping is one that antis often target on their agenda to eliminate hunting all together. While there is often conflict in the hunting ranks over various methods I see little to gain by fighting amongst ourselves especially at a County Level meeting attempting to have one hunting method eliminated. If individual hunters want to engage in that behavior that’s one thing but when a state wide organization weighs in on it, like I believe the NCBA has done, that’s a shameful act.

I would remind the bow hunters that on the national agenda of the animal rights groups they are the number two target after trapping when it comes to eliminating our sport. We got to stand together or we are done.