Free: Contests & Raffles.
Jack,I am currently and have been a member of RMEF for 20+ years.Although I am not an active participant in the organization, it is my belief that they (we?) provide focus on elk and the other associated wildlife that benefits from a healthy elk population. They do purchase large and small tracts of land that directly benefits elk and also undertake enhancement programs such as controlled burns, old fence removal and dig/construct guzzler wells/tanks which help minimize elk having to cross certain roads for water, etc.As for the political aspect, I had an interesting discussion while in Omak about 10 years ago with a RMEF bigwig, he explained that although the RMEF is generally against the wolf reintroduction, they choose not to actively engage in the fight due to the legal costs involved with being countersued, etc. They have a limited budget and the pro-wolf activists know it, by suing, they can tie up the money that RMEF uses for enhancement, which is really the purpose of the organization.As a side note, if we as a hunting advocacy group could all get on the same page and be as organized as the bark eaters and PETA, we could raise more money and lobby to advance our agenda. Sadly, like most of you, I am to busy trying to make a living while the bark eaters are living off unemployment and welfare. Anyways, RMEF is in my opinion a very worthy organization.Thanks for your concern.Rob.
I believe RMEF does far more good than any possible harm.
I'm a sceptic by nature. Not to sure what to think of them. I would like to see a break down of their income revenue and their outgoing revenue. I'm sure they do some good things but I sort of shied away from them after watching their outdoor channel show and seeing all the big-wigs, celebrities, and sponsors hunt wonderful ranches for monster elk that no average day guy that donates $20-$200 a year to be a member will ever have a chance to lay feet on. But I will say, I have no idea what they actually do or don't do and what they actually spend on elk and what they keep to run the organization. In some ways it seems like a "Good Old Boy's Club" but I could def be wrong. Like I said, I am a sceptic by nature. It just seems so many organizations for almost all things now seems to have less pennies on the dollars spent on actual boots on the ground and more and more on expensive overhead and borderline abuse. I hope this is not the case with RMEF but have no idea.
If I could make one change it would be changing the way sportsmen understood who is actually fighting for them.
I take your good points, Special T, and so I am not offering this link as any sort of rebuttal but rather as an FYI:https://www.rmef.org/elk-network/enhancedmissionstatement/John
I think organizations Like RMEF do a good job at their mission. Conservation work revolving around Elk. It's good work and needs to be done.The problem I have with RMEF and most other critter orgs is that they portray they are more than they are. They are not a hunter advocacy organization, ad yet I have asked many sportsmen if they belong to one. When they reply that they belong to say DU I asked what made them think they advocate for sportsmen? Mostly they don't know why they think this. The fact is it's part of the marketing and fundraising strategy... Additionally sportsmensupply companies mainly support conservation critter groups BECAUSE they don't political and are "safe" for say Cabellas to attach thier name to.If I could make one change it would be changing the way sportsmen understood who is actually fighting for them.
Quote from: NW SURVEYOR on July 05, 2021, 08:24:06 AMJack,I am currently and have been a member of RMEF for 20+ years.Although I am not an active participant in the organization, it is my belief that they (we?) provide focus on elk and the other associated wildlife that benefits from a healthy elk population. They do purchase large and small tracts of land that directly benefits elk and also undertake enhancement programs such as controlled burns, old fence removal and dig/construct guzzler wells/tanks which help minimize elk having to cross certain roads for water, etc.As for the political aspect, I had an interesting discussion while in Omak about 10 years ago with a RMEF bigwig, he explained that although the RMEF is generally against the wolf reintroduction, they choose not to actively engage in the fight due to the legal costs involved with being countersued, etc. They have a limited budget and the pro-wolf activists know it, by suing, they can tie up the money that RMEF uses for enhancement, which is really the purpose of the organization.As a side note, if we as a hunting advocacy group could all get on the same page and be as organized as the bark eaters and PETA, we could raise more money and lobby to advance our agenda. Sadly, like most of you, I am to busy trying to make a living while the bark eaters are living off unemployment and welfare. Anyways, RMEF is in my opinion a very worthy organization.Thanks for your concern.Rob.I think the bold red is the main reason they don't get into the wolf or any political issue for that matter. Pick your fights and pick the areas you can get the most bang for your buck.
Quote from: Special T on July 06, 2021, 12:56:50 PMI think organizations Like RMEF do a good job at their mission. Conservation work revolving around Elk. It's good work and needs to be done.The problem I have with RMEF and most other critter orgs is that they portray they are more than they are. They are not a hunter advocacy organization, ad yet I have asked many sportsmen if they belong to one. When they reply that they belong to say DU I asked what made them think they advocate for sportsmen? Mostly they don't know why they think this. The fact is it's part of the marketing and fundraising strategy... Additionally sportsmensupply companies mainly support conservation critter groups BECAUSE they don't political and are "safe" for say Cabellas to attach thier name to.If I could make one change it would be changing the way sportsmen understood who is actually fighting for them.It's both, not either or, you need the privilege to hunt as well as animals to hunt. I think RMEF has been doing a good job at helping the health of elk herds as well as access to them.From my perspective, access and available animals are clearly the big battle right now. Public land gets increasingly crowded, private interests lock up access and I believe access to hunting areas is the number one reason people quit hunting according to surveys (or top 3 for sure). In WA, it's even more important as WDFW destroys their huntable land and timber companies make it harder and more expensive to gain access. Where do the new hunters go? Where do the old hunters go for that matter? Once land gets locked up, it's nearly impossible to undo that. I would rather they do that than flush money down the drain fighting losing battles in this state. You aren't going to win in Olympia or with WDFW, so put the effort where it will result in impact and wins. Why waste money losing in the legislature, losing in the courts, losing with the department? The other state agencies are working the wolf issue through the court system and it will take time and money and I don't see RMEF as playing a big part there.I will say I'm not impressed with their past support and silence on the MT outfitter tags, but that puts them in a tight spot splitting their membership.Either way, they have done a huge number of things for hunters and it's impossible to make everyone happy.
