Published: November 02, 2008 12:45 am      

HILTS: HSUS is no friend of sportsmen

COMMENTARY

“Who in the audience today knows the name of the most dangerous anti-hunting organization in America today?”

Those were the first words out of the mouth of Rick Story, executive vice president of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (www.ussportsmen.org) based out of Columbus, Ohio — appropriately in one of the so called “battleground states.” He was asking this question of media people attending the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers conference in Minnesota this past September.

Before anyone could shout out the name of the first group that came to mind, he blurted out: “I’ll give you a hint it’s not the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In terms of affecting your right to hunt, PETA isn’t even in the same league with the true heavy weight champ of the anti-hunting movement. PETA puts on publicity stunts. In my career that spans close to 30 years in defending sportsmen’s rights, I’ve never stood in line outside any elected official’s office with a PETA lobbyist.

“No, the most dangerous anti-hunting group in the Nation is not PETA, It’s the Humane Society of the United States, HSUS. It does more, spends more and generally attacks hunters, anglers and trappers in the public policy forums that are capable of taking away our rights. And it is not in the business to run dog and cat shelters as most people believe. It is in the business to revolutionize mankind’s historic relationship with animals and it doesn’t care who it hurts to achieve its goal.”

Earlier this year, I was flattered to see that HSUS was reading my columns, sending a Letter to the Editor in opposition to a recent hunt at Creekside Trophy Ranch in Forrestville – all the way from their headquarters at Washington, DC. So I decided to do a little digging into HSUS. The timing couldn’t be more appropriate for the election that’s about to take place on Tuesday.

HSUS is the nation’s largest animal rights groups with more than 10 million members and constituents. Remember Cleveland Amory’s Fund for Animals? HSUS absorbed that anti-conservation group into its fold a few years ago. It is also aligned closely with the Doris Day Animal League out of Washington, DC. and a dozen other like-minded groups. Their president and CEO is Wayne Pacelle, taking over in 2004. Prior to that, he was the group’s chief lobbyist and spokesperson, helping to push through numerous statewide ballot measure campaigns opposed to hunting and trapping.

Which takes us to the upcoming election. HSUS has never endorsed a presidential candidate. It says so on their Web site, at least until now. Last month, the Humane Society Legislative Fund Board of Directors voted unanimously to endorse Barack Obama for the next president. The reason? Obama has pledged support for nearly every animal protection bill pending in Congress, some of which could impact the future of hunting in some areas, such as hunting in National Wildlife Refuges. Of course, like the Second Amendment issue, this is not something that has been brought out by the mainstream media. They’d rather talk about what Gov. Sarah Palin is wearing or what the skit was about on Saturday Night Live. Know who you’re voting for when you pull that lever on Tuesday? That person will be shaping the future of everything we’ve come to know and love in the Great Outdoors.



Calling all novice lady shooters

If you’re a woman interested in finding out more about the shooting sports and would like to actually learn how to shoot, you might want to set aside Saturday and give Colleen Gaskill a call as soon as possible. There were still a couple openings for this special Ladies-1st Shoot & Hoot Day at the North Forest Rod & Gun Club in Lockport. The idea is to get women — both ladies and teens — out on a range and expose them to trap, skeet and sporting clays. Sign in starts at 2 p.m., followed by a lesson in safe gun handling. The three shooting disciplines will be covered and then off to the trap field for some trap shooting lessons. The activities will be followed by a dinner and basket raffle at 6 p.m. Cost is just $25 for the day ($20 for kids 17 and under). If you have a shotgun, bring it along. If you don’t, one will be provided for you. Also, bring along two boxes of shells (12 or 20 gauge) for whatever you want to shoot. Eye and ear protection are also mandatory. It should be a fun day. There are only 35 registrations up for grabs and as of this writing they still had eight slots open. Give Gaskill a call at 439-1464. They will be holding another to focus on skeet shooting Dec. 6. If they have enough interest, they hope to start up a regular women’s shooting league like they have in Rochester.



Deer moving as pre-rut sets

Reports are starting to come in that the bucks are starting to get ready to do their fall thing as they begin to move into a pre-rut phase. Does are getting close and the bucks know it as they are starting to follow them around. If you believe in whitetail expert Charlie Alsheimerâ’s moon theories, the rutting moon is set for Nov. 12 and the prime chase period is from the 9th to the 18th. Everything seems to be setting up nicely.

Some hunters have already done well with some nice deer. Brandan Hanson of Wheatfield, a 15-year-old Niagara-Wheatfield student, arrowed his first deer ever while hunting out of Red Hendricks’ camp in Naples. As the big nine point buck came into range, the young nimrod tried to get ready. Buck fever set in and he was having trouble getting the arrow to sit properly on the rest. After two failures, the third time was the charm. One pressure shot later with his bow, he had a dandy buck that tipped the scales around 150 pounds field dressed. Nice job!

Bill Joseph at Nature’s Way Taxidermy in Sanborn sends word that a couple nice Niagara County bucks have already come into the shop from opening weekend. Travis Diez of Lewiston scored on a beautiful 150-inch class buck while hunting in the Town of Porter. The deer weighed in at better than 200 pounds, field dressed. He had his 12-year-old-son with him when he took the deer, hopefully reeling in the next generation of big game hunter.

Bryan Meigs of Youngstown connected on a nice trophy while hunting in the Town of Porter, as well. He was hunting on opening day for just an hour from his tree stand when he saw a nice 10-point buck walking down the path he came in on. He got ready with his PSE Infinity 1000 bow and when the deer was just 10 yards away, he let his arrow fly. The rack will score in the 140 class, weighing in somewhere between 180 and 200 pounds. Some things are just meant to be. Or, to quote the late John Long, Sr., even a blind squirrel will find an acorn from time to time!

Speaking of Nature’s Way Taxidermy, they are one of the top deer processors in the area, offering up all the popular cuts like steaks, chops and burger. They will also offer hot dogs, summer sausage, breakfast sausage and jerky, with everything deboned. Call your shot on what you want. Call 731-4215 if you have any questions.

A couple nice black bears were taken by local archers, both from the Portville area of Allegany County. Rich Boccanera of Niagara Falls, who runs Mr. B’s Tavern, took his first New York bear by connecting with a 200-plus pound boar on opening weekend of Southern Zone archery. Ditto for Craig Austin of Ransomville who took a 250 pound boar from the same area. Nice shooting!

Bill Hilts Jr. is a past president of the New York State Outdoor Writers Association. Contact him at bhiltsjr69@cs.com.