The Few Bad Apples

The bad news: The actions of a few affect how we are all seen. And yes, there are some bad apples among those who take rifles and shotguns into the field after wild game.

Here are some of the things we've seen with our own eyes:

	Campsites doubling as garbage dumps - where jerks who would presumably call themselves "outdoorsmen" had left behind car batteries, empty oil cans by the case, beer and whisky bottles, every kind of food wrapper, lengths of rope and wire, torn-open bags of kitchen garbage, and discarded newspapers and magazines. A truly horrific sight...
	"Hunters" driving around in a pickup with a couch in back, from which - surrounded by cases of beer and ammunition - they shot from the road at any deer they could see, irrespective of range or whether the animals were bucks or does. I later saw one of their victims, a doe with one hind leg shot off at the knee...
	Huge range fires caused by idiots throwing lighted cigarettes out of windows rather than smelly up their "rig" by putting them in the ashtray...
	Areas closed to motorized vehicles during big-game breeding seasons "reopened" by the simple expedient of driving down the gate...

Do such excremental examples of humanity show all of us hunters in a bad light? You bet they do. They are just what anti-hunters need to try to substantiate the claim that such people are the rule and not the exception. Equally harmful: they turn landowners who are victimized by this kind of behavior from permitting hunting on their property to forbidding it.

The good news: The actions of a few affect how we are all seen. We may not be able to stop all such damaging and inexcusable behavior by the lunatic fringe. Confronting armed jerks is inherently dangerous; they can, however be turned in if you witness their transgressions.

But there's a lot we can and should do. We can work to offset the harm they do by showing that there is also a population of hunters who occupy the opposite end of the spectrum: those of us who go the extra mile. How? By doing right ourselves, by modeling right behavior for the younger hunters in our care, and by cleaning up the damage done by others when we encounter it, as much as possible.

	For every turkey who leaves a gate open, you close it.
	For every bum who throws trash on the ground, you pack out more than your own.
	For every idiot who trespasses on private land, you be extra courteous in your contacts with landowners, even the ones who turn you down. Ask permission. Inquire what you can do to help out. Bring along a gift. Send thank-you notes or holiday greetings.
	For every camp that is left looking like a solid waste dump, you clean up your own to leave no trace - and clean up the messy ones you find too!

It's a sad fact that the exceptionally poor representatives of our fraternity stand out. But don't forget that they by no means have a monopoly on standing out... for every bum who stands out by his or her irresponsibility, let there be many of us who stand out by our courteousness and responsibility!