My letter to WDFW regarding the shooting and its implications

[KillBilly]

I heard this this afternoon: I will not quote because I cannot repeat it word for word. We are not blaming the boy, hunters in general, seasons, etc. They stated that they did not want to see any changes made because of this accident.

[Ray]

Killbilly, no matter what the family said in their interview the frenzy has already been set into motion.

[KillBilly]

Killbilly, no matter what the family said in their interview the frenzy has already been set into motion.

Actually Ray, the only Frenzy I have witnessed is right here. I work with a large amount of people, Hunters, hikers, snowmobilers, quad & motorcycle riders, etc. Only 2 people have even mentioned it this week. Both people only ask if I had heard about it. No doubt there are groups  that are going to take advantage of the opportunity but that doesn't change the families opinion. If you read it again, all you can take from it is that they weren't asking for or advocating any changes. Pretty plain and clear. So, I see more frenzy here than anywhere else. That is not a bad thing necessarily. Our desire to do something and make something positive out of this is admirable. But the doom and gloom may be just a trifle premature. Keep thinking good and positive while doing good and positive.

[Abolt338]

I just got an email from the Letters Editor at the Seattle Times letting me know that this will be the lead-letter in their letter's section on Sunday.

RW

[BlackTail]

Rylan, great letter.  Could not have said it better myself and could not agree more!!

KillBilly, you want to see a frenzy go over to nwhiker.net.  I just read 58 pages of frenzy!

[Ray]

Killbilly, If you have not seen the mob in action check out the Seattle PI Soundoff or NWHikers.

The point is that people are upset and want change. You can talk about your letters but I think the WDFW has already said what they are going to do in a terse manner. See the other topic "Bones thoughts on the shooting" or whatever it is for my interpretations. Therefore the letters must be concisely on what you want to see changed and what you don't want. For example - The Start of Bear season dates, wht is the correct age to get a license, who should be allowed to hunt alone unsupervised, what is supervised. Are other seasons under the radar like High Buck because they coincided with hiker use? What else is next?

Who is representing hunter rights in Wa state collectively? Probably just the NRA-ILA which I emailed yesterday. We'll need to be organized a lot more than with letters in order to mitigate the losses. Maybe hunters should be the ones who propose the changes before the anti hunters do...... Why should we remain reactive instead of being pro-active?

[gramps]

Very well done  A-Bolt.

[KillBilly]

Killbilly, If you have not seen the mob in action check out the Seattle PI Soundoff or NWHikers.

The point is that people are upset and want change. You can talk about your letters but I think the WDFW has already said what they are going to do in a terse manner. See the other topic "Bones thoughts on the shooting" or whatever it is for my interpretations. Therefore the letters must be concisely on what you want to see changed and what you don't want. For example - The Start of Bear season dates, wht is the correct age to get a license, who should be allowed to hunt alone unsupervised, what is supervised. Are other seasons under the radar like High Buck because they coincided with hiker use? What else is next?

Who is representing hunter rights in Wa state collectively? Probably just the NRA-ILA which I emailed yesterday. We'll need to be organized a lot more than with letters in order to mitigate the losses. Maybe hunters should be the ones who propose the changes before the anti hunters do...... Why should we remain reactive instead of being pro-active?

Wanting and getting are two different things. We want changes in Iraq, we want changes in taxes, we want changes in gas prices. The "mobs" as you refer to them are much larger on those issues. I don't expect to see any large or wholesale changes because of this unfortunate instance. I do expect WDFW to act intelligently and make decisions that will enhance safety without degrading opportunities for any user groups. My experience with Mobs is that are very seldom right and usually are wrong. Thus the name mobs....

[Ray]

Believe what you must. If you have not internalized the WDFW bulletin then expect a bear season opening day change in western washington. I don't think that is a stretch for them to get since they have already said there could be changes in hunting season times. Last I read you have hunted for bears in Western WA during August. You might be surprised if they get that.

[Ray]

I forgot to also mention that the mob mentality was able to get bear baiting and cougar hunting with hounds banned.