7 Reasons the Left Should Be Pro-Hunting

The last 30 days have been chock full of key events that have a tremendous impact on the future of hunting, fishing and recreational shooting in America – events that are leading many sportsmen and women to draw conclusions about (or further cement their conclusions about) Democratic decision makers.

• In the nation’s capitol, Congress debated sportsmen’s access to public land, whether EPA could regulate ammunition and fishing tackle, whether recreational shooting should be permissible on national monument land where compatible, and last whether the United States should allow the importation of legally hunted trophies.
• In California, the Senate debated whether to ban hunting black bears and bobcats using hounds. 
• In Ohio, lawmakers protested colleagues holding clay bird shooting events as political fundraisers in the wake of a school shooting that occurred in February 250 miles away from the proposed event.

Four Reasons Hunting Really Matters in the 2012 Elections

Unfortunately the vast majority of elected officials are not hunters.  So it is up to sportsmen to convince them why they should care about our issues.  Of course there are roughly 20 million hunters in America, so that is a huge start.  But what about the many candidates for office who represent areas where we just don’t have a lot of sportsmen and women?

If you live in one of these places you need to be armed with some good reasons why your elected official should care about hunting.  For many of them, hunting just doesn’t seem like a big deal.  Many dismiss it as a second-class issue.

Here’s why hunting is in the same class as the economy, jobs, healthcare, and the budget:

What should hunters look for in a politician at election time?

It’s election time again.  And all over America various interest groups are discovering that our local politicians do in fact still know we exist.  And more important, that they think just like us.  Now is the time of year when the congressman who normally wears the $1,000 Brooks Brothers suits gets the Starter jacket featuring the logo from the area’s prominent NFL team out of moth balls, and shows up at the local sports bar to make sure we all know that he is just like us.

As hunters we ought to be familiar with this song and dance.  Over the next six months we will see plenty of freshly creased flannel shirts and shotguns, that have not been used enough to open easily,  broken awkwardly over shoulders.  And while all of this conversation takes place with us “regular folk,” young Washington DC staffers who look 15, but are actually probably 25, will be snapping photos to be used in campaign brochures, emails and websites.