Re: Sunday hunting - a different perspective

Marcia Watson-Whitmyre (mww@UDel.Edu)
Mon, 01 Mar 1999 15:56:56 -0500


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I'll just respond to a couple of Bob's points below.

Gyrfal@aol.com wrote:

> I have a different perspective on birders opposing the Sunday hunting
> proposal.  I recognize full well that many, if not most, birders have a
> visceral distaste for hunters and hunting.  I have not hunted in fifteen
> years, although there was a time when I was as fanatic in that hobby as I am
> now into birding.  So I think I can see the other side perhaps better than
> many birders.

My love of the outdoors began when I was a little girl tagging along with my dad
when he hunted.  And many of my friends in the Cecil Bird Club are dedicated
hunters.  I certainly have no dislike of hunting or hunters.  I just feel hunting
should remain at its present limit of 6 days per week.

> It seems to me that birders and hunters have far more in common than either
> group likes to acknowledge, and far more than they have differences.  Both
> groups enjoy the outdoors, most people in both groups participate mainly on
> weekends and most now pursue their interests on public land.  Certainly on
> issues of land use and conservation our interests are mainly mutual.  Would we
> rather have a wildlife management area open to hunting or a housing
> development or a golf course?
>
> Before we birders pick an ill-conceived fight with hunters, perhaps we might
> want to consider the following:

I do not advocate picking a fight with hunters, and my own letter to my
legislators does not knock hunting or hunters.  I agree that all outdoor people
should stand together on conservation issues.  But, the number of hunting licenses
is down, and the number of birders/nature watchers is up, so I feel that the
legislators should realize that it would not be a total economic loss to keep the
hunting week at 6 days.

> 1. Far sighted hunters led the fight for conservation in the thirties, not
> birders.  Were it not for the incredible efforts of Ding Darling, among
> others, there would not be hundreds of thousands of acres of public land
> available for birder's use.  Most of the National Wildlife Refuges are open to
> birders 365 days of the year and protect the entire ecosystem, not just
> waterfowl.  We birders ought to be thanking our maker daily for the likes of
> Ding Darling and his hunting compatriots.
>
> 2. Where is the conflict?  Most, of the places where we Marylanders bird are
> in other jurisdictions or will never be open to hunting.  State, local and
> national parks have never been hunting areas.

In Cecil County, most of our best birding areas are, in fact, managed hunting
areas or state forest areas open to hunting.  During hunting season, we only enter
on Sundays (and we do, of course, feel thankful that the areas are available to
us).  In addition, we have managed hunts in Elk Neck State Park and Fair Hill NRMA
(also state-owned).  Waterfowl hunting is legal in the waters just off Perryville
Town Park and the Havre De Grace promenade and is clearly visible from the town
lands where we usually bird.

These include, of course, the

> towpath of the C&O canal, Point Lookout and Sandy Point.  The CBBT islands are
> not huntable and are in Virginia anyway.  There are many essentially private
> spots, like where our famous Kelp Gull resides, that will never permit
> hunting.  While Bombay Hook is open now for hunting, it is in Delaware.  I
> don't think there has ever been hunting at Blackwater.  Nobody is proposing to
> hunt on the breakwaters at Ocean City or the 4th Street flats.  Has anyone
> ever seen a hunter at Conowingo Dam?

Yes.  Despite opposition from the eagle watchers at Conowingo, PECO has given
permission to duck hunters to shoot in the flats on the Cecil side of the river.
The eagle people fear that an eagle will be accidentally shot.  There are duck
blinds up and down the river, including on the larger islands.

I cut the rest of Bob's message because I have no argument with his other points.

My main point for the legislators is that we need to share our outdoor lands.  In
my county, letting hunters in 7 days a week essentially means no birding 7 days a
week.  If birders need to start sharing the cost of acquiring and maintaining open
land, so be it.  That's why MOS supports Teaming with Wildlife and its legislative
offspring.

Marcia Watson-Whitmyre
Cecil County

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