Posts Tagged → outdoor
Deer season is mostly over…now what happened?
Everywhere I checked, deer season (rifle) was just…off… this year.
The deer were off their usual trails, off their usual habits, patterns, just not cooperating. People hunting up in the Big Woods and down in the farm country all said that opening day was the quietest they had ever heard.
“When I was a kid, opening day sounded like a war zone,” says Ed, a product of west-central PA and lifelong hunter.
“This year, I heard nine shots all day. What the hell is that about?” he says emphatically.
And how could I not agree? Heck, I recall 2005’s opener, because I warned a flatlander non-hunting new neighbor that it was going to sound like “Bosnia” around their newly acquired country retreat. And it did. And it was a rewarding feeling looking up into the snow-covered mountains and seeing blaze orange dots sprinkled all over the landscape.
This year, we heard four or five shots on opening Saturday and maybe two or three shots on Monday, up in the Big Woods. And yet plenty of deer were moving. Talk about strange! Totally uncharacteristic.
Might be that our hunters are aging out in larger numbers than we anticipated, or that too many are part of the “professional whiners club,” never satisfied with the deer we have, but rather longing for the bad old days of over-abundant deer that we used to have. And therefore not participating in deer hunting, as a form of protest.
I don’t mean to pick on people, but it is disheartening and frustrating to hear the unfair abuse some Pennsylvania hunters heap on the Pennsylvania Game Commission and on anyone else who supports the PGC’s science-based wildlife management. No question, there are fewer deer…and so what is wrong with that?
And in fact, due to the hunters opting out because they say there are not sufficient deer to hunt, the deer numbers everywhere sure appear robust to me. They aren’t getting hunted very hard, so they are naturally reproducing quite fine. But the harvest numbers are down everywhere I hunt, in both the Big Woods and the farm country. Maybe we will be seeing longer deer seasons as a result.
–Some Reflections–
Deer drives: Like bear drives that are so popular the week before deer rifle season, deer drives are a necessity if hunters are going to see deer. Deer are adapatable, intelligent animals, and after 20 years of concurrent doe-buck hunting, they have changed their behavior. Gone are the days when a hunter could sit at Pap’s stand and expect to fill a buck tag. Now, the deer are moving around old stand sites, or staying hunkered down altogether. It takes a boot in their behind to get them moving, and once they are moving, deer begin to make mistakes. If hunters are ready enough, they can exploit those mistakes and start filling tags.
But just sitting is a very tough way to kill a deer any longer, under most conditions. So try deer drives. Even a two-man “leap-frog” drive is very effective. One hunter posts up in a good ambush spot, while the other slowly and quietly stalks into the wind or on some other trajectory, say for 300-500 yards. Then the driver becomes the poster/stander, and the former stander becomes the driver, moving around and ahead of the other hunter. Pennsylvania whitetails usually loop around and backtrack, so it is common to bump deer that will try to get around behind you. If you have a buddy standing back there, the deer will often present a great shot while making their “escape.”
Deer scents & lures: If every other hunter is spraying a gallon of doe pee all over the landscape every time he or she goes hunting, what kind of effect do we think this will have on the deer we are targeting? If you think it is very confusing to the deer to be bombarded from every side by olfactory lures, then you are correct. Americans like everything BIG – guns, cars, trucks, competitive sports, homes, etc., and deer scents are no different.
A lot of hunters approach deer estrous scents like “Heck, if a few drops on a tampon hung in a tree branch is good enough, then a whole 2-ounce bottle should really do the trick!”
This is wrong thinking, because it is a total overdose. More is not better. Deer cannot handle the overdose. Now I am encountering hunters using “Buck Bomb” cans that are the size of a bathroom fresh scent can; that is, enough snoot material to wipe out a city. Problem is, deer are just single animals, and like humans, when they are carpet-bombed by too much estrous scent everywhere all of the time, they become confused, even spooked, and the scents lose their effectiveness.
So use your estrous scents sparingly, only at specific times, when the rut is at its highest. Like October 25th through the end of archery season. And maybe a few drops during the late season, because some does do come back into heat. The less you use, the more effective it will be.
Quality hunts: For better or for worse, right or wrong, killing a buck is the goal of most deer hunters. A buck is the ultimate symbol of hunting prowess, or good fortune, and the bigger the rack, the bigger the bragging rights. So far I have not killed a buck this season, and I doubt I will. But I am cheerfully accepting my fate, because I did take a big old matriarch doe on state forest land that sees little hunting pressure.
Long hike in and up up up, then a J-hook turn into the wind and sidehilling very slowly, carefully, trying not to fall loudly or too often in the wet leaves and rotten rock, brought me to a big old doe in her bed. She jumped up at the sound of a twig snapping under my boot, and ran around trying to figure out what it was. Within moments she was loping downhill at an angle, and at a rather longer distance than I had anticipated, I put a .308 150-grain slug through her lungs. No sign of the buck I was sure was hiding way up in that remote and vast wash, but the old doe was a pretty tough quarry, too. And so I consider this a real quality hunt, fairly won with hard work, good woodcraft and good shooting in a beautiful environment (Nothing like solo hunting the big woods. My favorite thing). This for me makes my season a good one, buck or no buck.
See you all at the Great American Outdoor Show in early February, where I will be volunteering with the PFSC (Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, formerly Clubs) a lot. Please come by and say hello.
Cabela’s-Bass Pro merger = Lower Quality for Sportsmen
[UPDATED SEE BOTTOM for IMPORTANT DETAILS] Cabela’s hit its stride about ten years ago. A national, trend-setting family-owned outdoor business, the company took from the best and discarded the rest. Innovation there never stopped, as they improved on Zeiss-quality optics made for price-pinched Americans, and innovated rain-proof soft fleece parkas suitable for stalking deer with a recurve bow in wind, rain or snow, and all combinations thereof.
No one else made these products, and certainly not at their prices.
Some might say that Cabela’s took the best names and put their own name on it, and there may be some truth in terms of boots and optics. But when it came to outdoor clothing, the company did its own thing, making outdoor sports so much more fun. Every now and then they would do a run of virgin wool hunting shirts. Outside of Filson and Pendleton, it is tough to think of virgin wool shirts being offered anywhere else. While the Cabela’s shirts were not near the quality of the Filson or Pendelton, they were not anywhere near the price, either. These were true working wool shirts for a fair price that you would not regret tearing or getting soaked in bear blood.
Perhaps there are some industry insiders with a tale to tell here, and I would stand corrected if proven wrong.
Along came competitor Bass Pro a few years ago, and bought out the Cabela family. The merged Cabela’s-Bass Pro union made little sense for innovation, and those outdoorsmen who greatly benefited from Cabela’s unique service held their collective breath. Bass Pro has been known for marketing all the usual stuff, plus a lot of Chinese junk, and also their own RedHead label clothing and some equipment.
RedHead has been around for a long time. An LC Smith 20-gauge double barrel in my care came in its apparently original Red Head canvas case. Nicely made, quality product. From the 1940s, when just about everything was made with pride.
Fast forward to now and RedHead is not known for high quality, or for innovation. It is mostly slapped-together variants of better-made products by Cabela’s and others. I guess the wool socks are pretty good. But most of it is not high quality. At all.
So fast forward to me getting on-site freezing-rained out of a distant hunting trip I had planned all year. All of the usual high quality equipment that has worked for me all these many years would not have worked under the unusual wet and very cold conditions I found myself in; in fact, had I stayed out there in that freezing rain, I would have undoubtedly gotten hypothermic and probably died. My kit was not designed for that unforeseen situation, and so I hightailed it out of the back country and glumly slunk home. No deer is worth dying for.
But I feel determined to never have this happen again. We get so few of these opportunities as it is; once we are out there in the middle of nowhere, we must take advantage of all the hunting time there we can make.
Subsequently looking for new clothing and kit capable of both light weight and all the other properties has left me slack-jawed. The Cabelas-Bass Pro merger has resulted in a really narrowed field of high quality outdoor clothing and kit. Instead of maintaining Cabela’s high standing products and focus on continuous unique product development, Bass Pro has cut off the innovation pipeline, used inferior materials in successful old product lines, and substituted other more expensive makers like Sitka and ScentLok for the old standby Cabela’s brands.
Very few of the high quality products that Cabela’s made, like lightweight, waterproof, silent parkas in different camouflage patterns, are available any longer.
So it seems that the merger has not benefited sportsmen, and that Bass Pro is just slowly squeezing whatever value it can get out of Cabela’s before it eventually shuts it down and forces sportsmen to consider the solely mediocre stuff that Bass Pro specializes in.
So for those of you who enjoy shopping for high quality outdoor gear, get ye to a local Cabela’s store soon. Look on the closeout racks for the stuff you used to take for granted; it won’t be coming back. Buy the old Cabela’s stuff before the company is openly yet one more victim of short-sighted corporate greed and sloth.
UPDATE 12/15/19: Turns out there was a much bigger reason for the downfall of Cabela’s. Here is the kind of in-depth reporting that Americans deserve: https://youtu.be/UatnTSwEUoc
A fish tale
What I enjoy most about the summer time is spending that time with my family, my wife and kids. Especially outdoors. Hiking, fishing, boating, target shooting, camping, and cutting firewood with the promise of grilled meat and cold beer at the end is all part of the family experience here.
So here is a fish tale, or the tales of two fish, a punny phrase if ever one swam.
First one up is high school and college friend Jeff called out of the blue.
“Come down on Tuesday. Paul will be here with his son. It will be a fun reunion and we will all have our boys together, out on the boat, fishing.”
Jeff was a varsity wrestler from our arch-rival school, one weight class below me. In college we were separated by three weight classes. Now we are both fat and happy dads, coaching our boys through life the best way we know how – in the outdoors.
An invitation to salt water fish hardly ever goes neglected, especially with two other friends from high school and college, and within 24 hours my boy and I had rolled into town, found our hotel, gone to sleep at 4AM, and risen at 7:30AM ready to spend the day in the salt and sunshine with old friends. Paul and his son showed up from across the country, and we piled food, cold drinks, ice, and gear into the boat and headed out. Jeff is an old salt hand, and was a masterful captain. His friend Brian served as first mate and heartily complimented the wolfed-down sandwiches we brought, while Paul threw his overboard, complaining that they were soft. Some things just never change.
“You are a spoiled princess, you know that?” I scolded Paul. “We were up all night making these delicious sandwiches.” He asked for another sandwich; dry this time, he said.
Aside from catching up among the three of us, and introducing our boys to each other, we caught a pile of mackerel, some bluefish, and we lost one or two large cobia. Here is how the mackerel were prepared.
Fast forward a week later and the boy and I are fishing in Pine Creek, which is still running high, for two years now. This means that trout are not only holding over in great numbers, but are thriving in a big freestone stream that nonetheless usually hits 80 degrees and gets skinny by July, an environment where trout are normally picked off by eagles, mink, otters and herons this time of year.
I cast the Rebel Crawfish across a familiar riffle and hooked a large fish, which turned out to be a fat 16 inch rainbow trout. On a tiny ultralight spin rod with four pound test, it felt like the proverbial whale. He came to hand after a noble dispute.
“Do you want to keep him,” I asked my boy. “We haven’t kept a trout out of here in I forget how many years.”
“Yes,” he said, firmly and without hesitation.
This is a kid who really enjoys eating fresh fish, so setting aside my usual aversion to killing trout, I slid it into a small pool of cold spring water cascading down the bank, where the fish could breathe and stay fresh, and also remain within eyesight. That heron kept circling, and I wasn’t about to lose my prize to him.
The boy was admiring the beautiful trout, which had the healthy fins and magically vibrant colors of a native fish, or at least a hatchery fish that had spent an unusually long time in wild water. A fierce, or jealous, look came over the boy’s face and he asked which lure it had been caught on. Instead of tying one on to his rod, I just handed him my rod. One trout among the dozens splashing for emerging mayflies was enough for me, enough for the year. Watching my son catch fish is better than me catching them, and so I stood in the cool shallows with the current tugging at my Crocs, and supervised his casting. The late hot sun beat down harsh and merciless.
“Where did you catch him?” came the unexpected question.
Normally I advise where to cast, and since he was about nine, the boy will cast in the opposite direction of where I suggested. Even if it means getting tangled in a tree or snagged on the bottom. He has been improving on his independence for years now, if not improving his fishing skills. This time, however, he was on a mission. He cast a few times to where he was directed, gaining his bearings, and on the third or fourth splash the plug went exactly where it needed to go, over the fast current and just upstream enough to get a drag-free drift with some natural wobble. He immediately connected, and gently fought another perfect 13-inch rainbow into the shallows.
“Do you want to keep this one, too?” I asked.
“Yes. One fish for each of us. Or both for me – One for dinner and one for breakfast tomorrow,” he replied. Without a hint of irony.
Sound logic it was, and so we placed this trout next to its confined but quite alive mate in the little spring pool in a hollow of rock up on the bank.
With a fine trout under his belt, now it was his turn to sit in the cool shallows and watch me, as I went back out to catch a few bass lurking in the deeper current below the ledgerock. A couple came to hand and were released, and a couple got away. The sun then set over the valley, illuminating the Camel’s Hump and Trout Run in a magical Summer glow. The kind of day’s end that is so beautiful and perfect that you are sure you will remember it clearly forever just as it is experienced in that moment. And we probably will remember it clearly, mostly because the next morning he ate that fish down to the bare bones and then went outside to shoot his flintlock with true professional calm, hitting the distant bulls eye over and over and over. He made his dad proud.
My electrician buddy Irv reflects on cold weather gear and life lessons
“We have been so fortunate (full sarcasm) to get some very cold weather recently well below freezing. Some days well below zero degrees Farenheight. Since i work out in the field, i was able to test the reliability of things i typically carry and use in my daily life. For testing purposes i left all my gear in the trunk of my car overnight.
I find that little details matter so much more when the elements of weather are involved.
The conclusions:
Cell phones freeze. Keep yours warm next to your body preferably inside layers. Sometimes pants pockets are not warm enough. Ask me how i know.
Flashlights:
i recommend covering metal handled flashlights with electrical tape or your hands will freeze quicker. Even with gloves.
LED bulbs are much more efficient, reliable and today have amazing light output.
I junk binned every incandescent flashlight i had. LED’s are that good.
Batteries:
AAA batteries. They all freeze too easily and drain too quickly in flashlights. They only have one third the capacity of AA batteries. So i now only use them in tiny devices and above freezing temps.
AA batteries have proven reliable in all my flashlights/headlamps. They usually freeze below 15degrees but if kept close to my body in a jacket pocket they will still work decently.
ALL batteries eventually freeze below zero degrees. But lithiums have been the most reliable. They are the only ones that still work below zero.
My cordless drill batteries are all lithium. I depend on it for my living. NiCad batteries just dont work below freezing.
Lighters:
My bic lighters did not freeze but i could barely get them to light around zero degrees. Because it relies on the liquid/gas changeover, it takes longer to become gas and light up.
If kept close to the body in a pocket it will light up more readily.
Forget torch lighters. I haven’t found one yet that will reliably light below freezing.
Zippo lighters are OK. They work but the metal is hard to hold when so cold.
Tools:
Tool handles become so important that i can’t stress it enough.
An old stanley utility knife becomes impossible to hold for any length of time. Simple Rubber overmolds make it an afterthought. And Electrical tape really helps insulate handles.
For cars/trucks:
Always have jumper cables in every vehicle. I suggest at least 10feet of #8 gauge wires or thicker. Preferably #6awg.
Keep basics like a small first aid kit in the glove compartment. I keep tylenol, advil, Anti-biotic ointment, Bandaids, a couple pieces of sterile non adhesive gauze dressing, and surgical tape. That will treat almost all basic emergencies.
Always have a bottle of water in the car. Always.
Did you ever have to change a tire in zero degrees in the dark? Make sure you are prepared. Keep a headlamp in the glove box. You will need both hands.
Clothing:
Wear breathable layers, but the outside layer should be water resistant. I dont like plastic/vinyl jackets unless its raining or snowing. Good boots are priceless. Dont skimp. I wear wool socks. Worth every penny.
If you need any advice on a particular product just ask. I have and continue to test all kinds of gear and will readily share the knowledge.”
Kudos to Filson clothing
Filson is a clothing manufacturer in Seattle, making pretty much the most basic American clothing styles for the past 130 years.
Little has changed in their styles or fabrics. Boring? Maybe.
Flannel and wool shirts, wool and canvas coats and pants, wool long underwear, leather boots with wool insulation, tote and carry bags and purses, every item is made in America of virgin wool or different weights of canvas.
One short phrase describes Filson products: Brutally tough.
Or, “Last a lifetime.”
In an era of cheap Chinese crap and Asian sweatshop “designer” clothes, Filson stands alone, or probably alone. I am a consumer of top-quality outdoor clothing, and I cannot think of another manufacturer who makes anything like Filson’s clothing line.
Oh, sure, there are plastic and Gore Tex outdoor clothes galore. Eddie Bauer, LL Bean, Mountain Hard Wear, and others make some pretty good ones, which our family wears. Fleece coats, mountaineering parkas, super-sophisticated PhD plastic fiber clothes for the outdoor lifestyle. Some are married to goose down, which is genuinely warm.
But all of these synthetics catch on fire and turn the wearer into a large, running, screaming torch when exposed to flame. Or at the least they wilt, melt, smell very bad, and cease being useful when exposed to a camp fire hot enough to dry your damp undies and wet socks. In other words, the newfangled modern synthetics may weigh next to nothing and stop wind faster than a speeding bullet and locomotive, but they lack certain basic physical properties necessary to truly enjoy or survive the outdoors.
Wool and waxed heavy cotton canvas are nearly fireproof and can withstand tremendous force before tearing. Wool keeps the wearer warm even when wet. Yes, it is heavy compared to synthetics, but it is a lot quieter, actually it is silent, whereas even the best of synthetic fleece hunting clothes will leave a telltale “zip” sound when dragged across a sharp branch.
Filson forms a big part of my winter clothing selection. Mackinaw vests and coats of different colors and patterns form the core of the selection, and the double mackinaw coat in “Pennsylvania Tuxedo” red-and-black buffalo check plaid has kept me toasty warm in sub-zero temperatures day after day. This past week I wore the double mackinaw coat while flintlock hunting, and I never got cold. It was sub-zero every day.
Other wool clothes I wear are heavy camouflage Columbia hunting pants, Bass Pro Redhead heavy wool socks, Danner wool socks, knee-high SmartWool ski and hunting socks, and SmartWool long underwear. Yes, once in a while I break out the Eddie Bauer and Woolrich Adirondock plaid pants, jackets, and so on. They are real testaments to a world long gone, which dinosaurs like me cling to in misty eyed memories.
David Petzal is the gun writer for Field and Stream Magazine, and among many other witticisms and pithy one-liners, years ago he noted that all synthetic long underwear makes you smell like someone slaughtered a cow after a day, but wool long underwear can be worn for days without you or them being cleaned, and yet you don’t smell…too badly.
That’s the thing. Wool is natural. Like leather and fur, it is natural and fits the human body perfectly. We can sweat into wool for days on a hunt, and it just doesn’t smell bad. Oh, it may not smell fresh, but compared to the polypropylene synthetics, it does.
My Filson Mackinaw coat accompanies me on all my Adirondack wilderness hunts, serving as a blanket at night when the temperature inside the tent dips to 18 degrees. And yet after many years of being worn through thorn patches and rugged mountain brush, it shows zero signs of wear. That says it all.
Other favorites include the now discontinued styles of Tin Cloth logging jacket and Double Tin field coat, both of which I wear when hunting for small game in January and February, when thorns are a big part of the day. Some of these discontinued tin cloth coats have become collector’s items. Each one will last you your entire lifetime, and if you wax it at the end of the season, it will serve your kids, too.
So, kudos to Filson for making Best-quality, “old fashioned” clothing for a tech-happy generation. www.filson.com
A plea for a small slice of reality
Marketing hype for any and all kinds of products has resulted in any and all kinds of hilarity, humor, bloopers, and ironies.
Hype, by its nature, kind of skirts facts and embellishes upon irrelevancies. Thus does hype almost inevitably lead to unintentional silliness.
For whatever reason, the outdoor sports are loaded with marketing hype.
Trail cameras are notoriously both marked by near-claims of X-Ray vision and simultaneous failures to perform their most basic functions.
Clothing that keeps your funky, unwashed armpits from making deer say “Uncle!” is another proven fraud.
The list goes on. I won’t belabor the list.
What really irks me are the male and female models used to promote outdoor gear, and specifically I mean hunting gear.
Cabelas, Bass Pro, Eddie Bauer, LL Bean, and many advertisers in Field & Stream magazine all use models for hunting gear who look nothing like hunters.
Probably universally, the guys are either effeminate, urban, slender professional model hipsters from NYC with a day-old facial hair growth, or they are occasionally hunting “stars” whose annoying braggadocio, bravado, machismo, and one-dimensional arrogance inspires mostly dismissiveness.
Neither of these model types fit the mold or image of real world hunters. Like me, probably you.
For example, I’m well overweight and struggle to make time to exercise, because being a husband, father, and small business owner all preclude time for developing hour-long fitness routines and pumped biceps.
And neither I nor any of my friends aspire to look effete, lanky, or effeminate. Our problem is probably that we don’t spend enough time cultivating our looks, complexions, or clothing fit, because these are unimportant sideshows in a life of meaning and real substance.
Hunting is, after all, about woodcraft, a conservation ethic, stealth, mastering one’s emotions, mastering firearms and bows, teaching our kids these skill sets with patience and love, and so on. Studly macho guys would be quickly drummed out of every group I hunt with. Hunting has zero to do with being macho.
So a simple plea here for reality: Use models who look like us Average Joes. We are much more likely to be interested in your products when you use people who actually look like us. Sinewy urban guys struggling to look male don’t interest us, and selfish guys who wear tinted contact lenses and who spend time on their biceps instead of their community don’t interest us, either.
Patriot News Article on Eastern Outdoors Show Cancellation
“The British didn’t understand Americans in 1776, and they don’t understand us in 2013″…my favorite quote ever.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/02/assault_weapons_tactical_ban_b.html
Josh’s Comments to Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show Promoter
Over the past ten days a brouhaha in the most unlikely place has been gathering force.
Ten days ago, Reed Expos, the promoter of the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show, abruptly announced that “tactical firearms” would not be permitted at the 2013 ESOS.
The ESOS is held annually at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. It is the largest outdoor show in the country, and draws a million participants from around the nation. Hunting and fishing guides, ATV – trailer – and firearms manufacturers, clothing dealers, ammunition experts, trappers, land conservationists all gather for a week to promote, sell, entertain, teach, and transact on every aspect of the outdoors. If you hunt, fish or enjoy the outdoors, this is your show.
Reed Expos is reportedly not the easiest company to deal with in the best of times. “A one-way street” is how several vendors described them to me, emphasizing that the promoter’s short-term profits seem to trump all other considerations year after year.
When Reed Expos suddenly announced that AR-15s and similar firearms could not be displayed, most vendors felt not only betrayed in a time of political weakness, but that their own vendor contract had been unilaterally breached. When one of the bigger vendors approached me for help getting through to Reed Expos and trying to get them to change their new policy, I in turn reached out to Pennsylvania’s sporting leadership (below are the comments I sent to Reed Expo, eight days ago). The Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, WIld Turkey Federation, Hunters for Sunday Hunting, and the Wildlife for Everyone Foundation all leapt into action. For those political watchers wondering if the hunting community still has clout, feast your eyes on this: In just eight days, over 80 vendors have pulled out of the ESOS, including powerhouse Cabela’s.
Not many visitors are going to hand over ten dollars for entrance to a hall that is largely empty. The whole ESOS is now looking like a bust, sad to say. Every year my kids come with me to shop, talk, and talk shop with many vendors who have become personal friends. For example, John R. Johnson of Perry County is my custom knife maker, and every year I go to see him and his lovely wife, and pick up a beautiful, rugged new knife. One hall over is Cody Calls, makers of state-of-the-art turkey calls, a family-owned business. I get to talk with the Cody founders and the next generation, listening to their take on the changing world of outdoor sports. Cody Calls has given me expensive calls to give to new turkey hunters, who in turn take them home and become consummate woodsmen. These are all good, good people. The thought of missing all of them this year feels like losing an aunt or uncle; it’s just a little painful.
But boycotting the ESOS is the right thing to do. Reed Expos, if you won’t stand with us, then why should we stand with you?
January 13, 2013
Mr. Chris O’Hara, Public Outreach Coordinator
Reed Expos
Dear Mr. O’Hara,
Thank you for your time on the phone today. I am opposed to Reed Expo’s new policy of excluding semiautomatic rifles from the 2013 Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show here in Harrisburg, PA, scheduled for next month. As you requested, here is a recapitulation of our conversation:
1) Semi-automatic rifles are sporting arms by any standard or definition. AR-15s dominate the organized high-power target competitions across the nation. In many states AR-style rifles are legal for hunting small and large game. The same goes for other semi-automatic long arms and in some cases, semi-automatic pistols, like the .50 Caliber Desert Eagle. Semi-automatic shotguns are legal in all states for waterfowl. Gun prohibitionists make no distinction between semi-automatic rifles and semi-automatic shotguns; today they are trying to eliminate the rifles. If they are successful with those, they will next go for the shotguns. Reed Expos is buying into a false definition.
2) The Second Amendment to the Constitution has zero to do with hunting or target arms. Like all of the other rights in the Bill of Rights, it confers an individual right. Its intention in 1787 was, and remains today, to guarantee that citizens can belong to state-based militias to off-set the military power of the Federal government and that they can personally own the military-grade firearms necessary to make those militias effective. Today’s AR-15 and other similar semi-automatic rifles are basically the civilian version of the full automatic arms used by the military. Hunting and target shooting arms are naturally included in the Second Amendment, but they are not at its core, or its purpose. Civilians have owned military grade long arms and pistols since the beginning of our nation. We will continue to do so.
3) The Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show is and has been all about outdoor sports, including hunting and shooting. Your audience does not make the artificial distinction that you are making between one long arm and another long arm.
4) By excluding semi-automatic long arms at this desperate hour, when the enemies of liberty are doing everything possible to eradicate the Second Amendment, Reed Expos is abandoning its core consumers. Reed Expos is caving in on a symbolically powerful issue. Let me ask you: Who pays to enter the ESOS? Gun prohibitionists, or gun rights enthusiasts? Reed Expos is shooting itself in the foot, and damaging its relationship with its audience (not to mention the SHOT Show). If you do not stand with us, then why should we stand with you?
5) Every year our family goes to the ESOS. Living in Harrisburg makes it easy for us, and we also volunteer for some of the non-profit groups who have booths there. My three children have grown up with the ESOS. It is a big part of their year, marking the end of most hunting seasons and the beginning of fishing season. They buy new clothes and hats, see old friends, view equipment, etc. So, it is both upsetting and kind of edifying to hear that vendors are now discussing a boycott of the event, in order to communicate their displeasure with Reed Expos. To miss the ESOS would be my family’s personal loss; but to see your poor decision rewarded with the justified financial punishment of a boycott would be mighty rewarding.
Thank you for considering my comments,
Josh First
Harrisburg, PA