Hunters Vs. Shooters

[Neon Knight Anubis]

I put both and while I haven't been hunting in a long time I'm going to start again when I get back because of one primary reason: I really don't like beef. I wish I enjoyed deer hunting as much as my dad does but in my case its more out of necessity than enjoyment; varmint hunting on the other hand can be a blast.

[JohnJacobH]

14 % do both

14 % huh? Fudds to the left of me, "tacticians" to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle again!!!

[Rastus]

14 % huh? Fudds to the left of me, "tacticians" to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle again!!!

Swipe a clip from Stealers Wheel, eh?  Besides being "stuck in the middle again"...being in that 14% heralds you as being a person who is ambidangerous.  Skills that compliment each other would be most valueable in a TEOTWAWKI (spelling?) situation.  Cunning plus technical training.....

[ccd]

  I used to hunt but just shoot now. Most of that is because as MB points out nonhunters pay 75% of the taxes for hunters. Here in Texas the legislature "borrows" probably 60% of these "wildlife" funds and diverts it into the general revenue fund. It is doing nothing but creating a smaller and smaller pool of people who hunt and fish or shoot. Our population has more than doubled(almost tripled) in the time that I have lived here but the size of the hunting and fishing population has remained the same or gotten a little smaller, which is not a good demographic trend.
  When I was in the military it was a breath of fresh air to find public shooting ranges on USFS lands in other states where they actually encouraged people to shoot. This state ( specifically the Legislature) wants lots of money for providing nothing in return (HELL even in CA there were county operated shooting ranges!). There is no thinking of investing the money back to encourage long term interest in hunting and shooting, or even in encouraging new shooters or hunters, which would result in greater long term revenues fior the state. Making matters worse a few of the Club ranges that were around here have had to close due to development and the resulting OBSCENE property values, noise complaints,etc. Now most of the times I go to the closest range to "just shoot" it is so crowded it is almost always a negative experience that does nothing to draw new shooters to our ranks.

[Marshal Halloway]

Just a comparison from my old country, Norway.

These are stats I collected in 2005 for the Norwegian Justice Department:

Population: 4.5 million

Norway has a land area of 324220 square kilometers (125182 square miles), making it slightly larger than New Mexico.

As of April 2001 the population owned 1.5 million firearms, 23% of the firearms are handguns.
990,000 of the firearms are registered by 446,000 gun owners.

As of April 2003, 337,000 Norwegians are registered hunters.
Over 225,000 Norwegians are shooters and members of 10 national shooting organizations.

Harvested in 2003
Moose 38,000
Elk 25,000
Reindeer 4,500
Small Game: 830,000

Norway has over 850 outdoor shooting ranges used by military forces and the members of hunting and shooting organizations.

80 % Norwegian shooters are also hunters !

Over the last 20 years, gun ownership and number of shooters have increased year by year. The same goes for the group of gun owners who both shoot and hunt.

Why?

Shooting and hunting organizations are cooperating on many levels (hunter education, shooting programs especially for hunters and sharing of shooting ranges). Have in mind that hunters in Norway have to pass an annual shooting test before the big game season, forcing them to go to the shooting range at least five times a year. This regulation was a door opener for shooting organizations to recruit new shooters. For the hunters, becoming familiar with the shooting sports, they found a great way to prolong the hunting season by adding paper and steel targets to their "trophy hunt". Sports shooting also became an alternative because of the increased cost of hunting.

I strongly believe US will follow in the same trend, not because of the same type of regulations as mentioned above, but due to the fact that hunting will become less accessible for the average wallet.

Norwegian shooting ranges have room for all firearms owners. Big question regarding the US is this: Is there enough shooting ranges to accommodate a larger number of shooters?

Is there enough willpower among the shooting and hunting organizations to fight for common goals?

[Sponsor]

[Neon Knight Anubis]

One for all, all for one!

I know its a cliche but really its the only thing thats going to get us anywhere, we do not have the luxury of acting on our own. Be it the left wingers in both parties or the UN, we have to stand our ground.

[twyacht]

Thanks Marshall, I didn't know the stats on Norway, glad to see they didn't go the UK or mainland European "Disarm the populus" way.

Plus, really,really really, cold winters, need good elk and reindeer steaks!

[ericire12]

14 % huh? Fudds to the left of me, "tacticians" to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle again!!!

Lets not start bashing us hunters....... when the shit hits the fan (AKA Obama becomes president) and our whole way of life collapses, you will be looking to us to provide your venison!

[gunman1911]

I like to pull the trigger a lot when I go to the range and practice my drills and then get down to some serious 200+ yard target hitting with my .44 Super Redhawk and then I usually go to my AR for farther distance so I can stay sharp  for the coyotes. then I go to the Ruger MkII for a fun session so I can keep blasting those pesky red squirrels. Come fall  ( the way prices are ) I go out and get a deer or two to tide my family over . I would also  like to take the time to thank MB for all he is doing for us shoots and our sports no matter what they be.. Tom this was a damm good post.

[tombogan03884]

I like to pull the trigger a lot when I go to the range and practice my drills and then get down to some serious 200+ yard target hitting with my .44 Super Redhawk and then I usually go to my AR for farther distance so I can stay sharp  for the coyotes. then I go to the Ruger MkII for a fun session so I can keep blasting those pesky red squirrels. Come fall  ( the way prices are ) I go out and get a deer or two to tide my family over . I would also  like to take the time to thank MB for all he is doing for us shoots and our sports no matter what they be.. Tom this was a damm good post.

Thanks, Let's all remember that not only do shooters and hunters need to work together to protect our gun rights but if we lose, we need the hunters to help us shooters with our stalking techniques.