More Teachers who hunt (and some that don't)
Question:
I have been reading the thread lately about teachers that hunt. What some people might be not quite getting is that so non-hunting teachers can be more open to using the FACT and RESOURCES provided by hunting "side" people than you realize. I know, I’m married to one! This teacher/wife has taken mounted whitetail heads (both a fairly normal buck and a button buck [1st ML kill with quite a story attached]) to school for "teachers show and tell". The heads are used when the section about types of animals comes up to mammals. She has also had the local Wildlife Conservation Officer (most places he is called the game warden) into to her school complete with numerous hides and some mounts. She has also taken a most excellent video production about the black bear, produced by the Pennsylvania Game Commission along with productions by the PA Wildlife Resources fund on Rattlesnakes and another on Bats. This same teacher/wife has brought an outside classroom resource person (me) into thje class for the wrap up day of a several day unit on gun safety. The Eddie Eagle program was introduced to all second grades in her school, because of her efforts, each of the past eight or nine years. Incidentally, she does not hunt, has never fired a centerfire rifle, only fired a .22 rimfire rifle one time in her life and never used a bow or fishing rod. She has however, taken an NRA self-protection course and has fired several handguns, up to and including my full powered loads in a .44 Mag. (Go figure). P.S. I would not want to be the person she is protecting herself from when she gets the handgun in her hands. She is GOOD! So remember, just becasue a teacher does not hunt does not mean he/she does not have a fair and reasonable attitude to those that do. Joe Pyrdek 814-732-2484 142 Miller Bldg. Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Edinboro, PA 16444 Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
Response:
Joe Pyrdek hit it right on. As a hunting teacher I try to balance emotionalism with fact. We compare the difference between the care our "pets" receive and the situation for wild animals. The odds of a wild animal curling up peacefully in a sunny glade and dying of "old age" are just about nil (Disney animals excepted), and when the students realize this, hunting no longer seems as "cruel" as some of them had been led to believe. A visit from a game warden or conservation officer to discuss wildlife, game management and their jobs in general is a great opportunity for them and the students. Just remember to give the officers lots of advance notice, and pick a time like the present rather than during the hunting season or peak fishing times. Ask your child’s teacher, or better yet, have your child ask to have an officer make a presentation. These people are generally very prohunting, but also present a realistic, scientific point of view. We, as hunters, can no longer sit back and expect common sense to overcome the problem for us. We are not being subjected to a rational attack, and, unfortunately, taking no action has now become a decision that supports the antihunters. Ask next about it at your next parent-teacher interview, or next time you pick your child up after school. For the hunting teacher that was verbally torn up by the ARF mom, try this as a return shot. There is no valid argument against an unbiased presentation by another trained professional. "To me a mountain with grizzlies on it is ten times as interesting as one without." - Jack O’Connor Kyle Berry Dawson Creek, BC Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
