The anti trappers , anti hunters and the pro wolf lovers are very vocal yet they are a small group of very active radicals run by people who get filthy rich off of donations sent in by the brainwashed who succumb to their propaganda. Why dosnt are side do the same only armed with the truth. I’m planning on writing a letter to the Rocky Mountain elk foundation and the national trappers association suggesting raising funds for a national billboard campaign. Imagine a huge billboard with 3/4ths of it a mange killed coyote or wolf with slogan natural death is cruel and 1/4th of it a woman in a beautiful fur coat with slogan wildlife management is humane. Other slogans may be better. How about a huge billboard with the colt nursing on mare and colt has big chunk out of hind quarter from wolf ,with slogan wolves are cruel and picture of mass calf slaughter on one side and huge snarling wolf head on other with slogan , and they ate none of them. And many other like ideas. Arizona banned trapping on public land by a lie. First year the antis referendum failed to pass so the next year they took a house cat broke its leg shoved the bone out put it in large double long spring and put it in ever paper on display in every major population area in Arizona and the referendum passed and leg hold traps were banned. They win with a lie and we do nothing aggressive. I’ve run this buy some on our side who just scoffed at the idea. That’s pure apathy. Apathy kills. We need to wake up and get active and aggressive. If the hunting and trapping communities combined efforts and raised the money for a simple add campaign we could turn the tide. The national trappers State organizations and Rocky Mountain elk foundation could be the front runners. Either we wake up or we will eventually loose. A proper fur is beautiful campaign could bring fur back. Fact is A very small vocal group of liers have had much success at ending what we love. And so far we have basically done nothing to change public perception. Some might wonder why the Elk foundation would join. Because the wolf lovers won’t quit. If they win and get what they want elk hunting will eventually disappear. Wolves are sanitizers if left unmanaged. We’re I live we’ve already lost the white tail life style and it’s rapidly spreading and getting worse. Will we ever get aggressive and smart to counter the unrelenting anti wakos?

I think the money would be better spent to hire a lawyer and sue the USFWS to get wolves removed from the ESL.

I agree with you Oakey. South Dakota has a few pro trapping bill boards up that are simple and to the point. I was always told the if you say something long enough and loud enough, eventually people will believe it. Most trappers tend to chose to stay in the background and not say much but your right about speaking up. There have been some internal issues within the NTA recently that have caused a few good people to back away from them, something that we as a group can not afford. (My only hope is that those fellow trappers have joined up with another group of like minded people.) It's common knowledge that 3% of the membership does 90% of the work. Now I don't care what organization you are a member of but I have to ask what percentage of that do I fall into? Most sportsmen can't agree amongst themselves causing a rift that can destroy a good organization. A simple solution to that would be to set aside out differences and work together on a common cause. The anti's know this and over the years have learned to use it to their advantage with great success! Until we as a group can all set aside our petty differences and focus on the big problems, we will continue to be our own worst enemies. Don't like how something is being handled then get involved. You are right Oakey and like your enthusiasm!

250 million urban americans versus 50 thousand trappers.

The best defense is a strong offense! Truer words were never spoken. You can't win a war if you are always retreating, trying to cover your behinds as you go, to hold onto what you already had. Trappers need a new rally cry and a national media message and strategy to the masses. Something that's put out there that the general public can't help but see.

Because by nature we are not aggressive people. Generally outdoorsfolk are conservative by nature and a key part of that is just going about your business and not bothering others, in short we just want to be left alone and stay out of other's business.

While the other side is at it's very core progressively seeking to change the world.

That has to change in more ways than just the outdoors. I wonder, and have been for decades, what it's going to take to finally pee off enough of us to start the war.

Truth^^^^^

as to the why

we enjoy hunting , fishing , trapping and putting our time , money and energy into doing these things.

the Antis hobby is protest, anger and destruction. they really don't seem to have other things to do with their time and energy.

it just isn't in our nature to want to defend ourselves or spend time, money and energy defending what we do all the time.

we could definitely do more to promote the positives of trapping and put the truth out.

Already done!!! FAILED!!! EVERY TIME!!!

Most people's values are instilled by mid teens. You want to change the culture you better reach them before that. Biill boards aren't going to reach pre-teens. I don't like the emotional approach of seeing harmed animal, I like the logical approach of why it's responsible and ethical to harvest and manage wildlife populations much better. What we are up against is the liberals are so entrenched in every institution especially where kids are involved that it's extremely hard to reach them in any meaningful numbers.

This is true. Basically we want left the heck alone!

Don’t be so sure about not reaching the next generation with the truth. As far as harmed animals if you live in the wolf mess we do it’s common. A cattle man recently had 27 calves savaged in a wolf joy killing spree. Many were still alive and the media that was called to witness the carnage refused to film the rancher finishing off the maimed. The wolves ate nothing. There is nothing gained by keeping this a secret. It needs to be seen and the only chance it ever will be is grass roots you and me getting off our duffs and doing something. All it would take is a small group that can manage the campaign and hire the work to carry it out and the rest of us donating to the cause. And why not show the world a coyote that just succumbed to 6 months of torture from mange because of over population?

And...that is exactly what has happened to us. We have been left alone to basically fend for ourselves in some instances. So, we have gotten what we asked for.

There is a large anti-hunting and trapping wolf billboard along interstate 15 here in Idaho Falls. Why not place a pro-hunting and trapping wolf billboard right next to it?

I'm with you Oakley.

People know other animals kill other animals even the antis. The root problem is people thinking it's wrong for people to kill animals. You can treat the symptoms or you can treat the sickness.
First step to solving a problem is identifying the root problem
Look at past actions, the antis and liberals would rather spent millions of our tax money trying to treat mange in wild coyotes than let traps manage them because of the root problem

Yes Sir, I think you're on to something. How do you turn the tables to make people realize that their existence in life kills animals? Their house used to be a field, their car, their food, their everything, it all comes at the expense of something else. I don't like the extreme anti's tactics because it's not in my nature to be extreme. But put a picture of a nature scene on one side and a suburban house on the other with a mangled road kill out front and a tag line like, "taking an animals home without being willing to manage wildlife is murder". Anthropomorphism, just like disneyfication, but flipped around. I think you could appeal to the same people with a picture of an asian sweat shop and a tagline like, "your clothes were made in a sweat shop by children and shipped with fossil fuels around the globe" "fur is sustainable, biodegradable, and made in the USA". I know, cheeky, but people with no connection to their existence need a wake up call.

You don’t need to change the wakos model minds, you never will. Our being proactive can change the tide by opening enough eyes to make a difference. Do nothing and we get what we deserve

Now that’s a good billboard makes me want to go buy a new parka. A national unrelenting billboard campaign would change the tide. Continued apathy will bring no good for our cause

I think you are correct. It may also take money and support from others who believe in your point of view or way of life. Sometimes, getting trappers (at least some of them) to stick together can be like herding cats. But, doing nothing means giving up. And giving up is giving in.

Changing minds starts at a very young age. Kids are bombarded by advertisements all day long. Eventually they believe what they are told. We need to spend more time with kids and show them the truth about managing animals.

How many people are dead from heart attacks and lung cancer caused by smoking they started after seeing the cool Marlboro man sucking smoke on a billboard? Advertising works. As stated earlier we don’t need to change everyone’s mind , just get the truth out there or loose the war. Why is it that takes loosing everything before people finally say we should have done something, wish I could go back and get off my duff. I guess that’s the reason the a an average life span of a country is 250 years. Apathy the great killer, just saying.

Advertising works.

It also costs money The opposition is awash in it where we struggle to raise it. They know they can generate MILLIONS pulling on the heart strings even though most what they proclaim is lies. Hunters and trappers by nature are loners by and tight with their money. Once stung they give new meaning to once bitten twice shy.

Without going into detail the bottom line is, trappers refuse to change! After a decade of fighting inside board rooms trying to change things i finally like many before me just walked away. Rather than debate idea's and look for new ways to do thing the old guard always takes it as a threat/insult/ who know's what to them personally so the fight begins to ensure NOTHING changes but we keep doing things this way cause 'its how we've always done things'. Thus if you keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result ................................

At one time NTA could of been turned into the power house for trappers it was envisioned to be at it's beginning but sadly scandal after scandal after scandal for the past 40 years has kept it crippled and ineffective, this latest fiasco isn't anything new, it's just what happens every 20 years. It could of been restructured and turned into what it needs to be BUT once again you go talking about totally restructuring the place to where it is effective and fiscally responsible and instantly your trying to destroy the whole place and everyone ignore's anything you say from that point forward, your an enemy of the state from that point on.

With trapper retention and recruitment not even on anyone's radar I doubt you get a new younger generation to step in with new idea's and drive to take us where we should of already been 25 years ago.

You got the right part right. Raising money from the average trapper is near impossible.

Indeed. Most every kid has seen Bambi at some time in his/her life. Walt Disney knew what he was doing . . .

As an extremely small segment of our society and with considerably less financial means than most organizations, we as fur harvesters need to develop a stragegy and or plan to put our limited resources where we get the most bang for the limited resources we have at our disposal. We as a group need to focus on who and how to impact the influencers and quit thinking about broad spectrum ways to get our message out. We don't have the time or the resources to do that. We need to quit dissing all the organizations we don't have control over. Maybe we should find ways to compensate educators better so that we can draw people with wider views then many say is where we are at today. We are not going to fix it by saying how bad things are, or a few remove their kids from these institutions where 80% or more of our youth attend.

Bryce

The marketing problem is the why modern people harvest wildlife.

BINGO across the board!

Trapping organizations should have long ago transitioned away from fur trapping as a tradition, transition not abandon, and embraced the biological management model. By holding to tradition in the absence of a viable economic model, fur market, trapping is now a sport not an economic activity. What is an economic activity now is nuisance trapping and I despise the word nuisance as it devalues the resource.

IMO, trapping organizations missed the boat. NWCOA is now bigger than any of the old guard groups and has a seat at the table with the regulators that matter. In my own experience in my own state when I sit down as a NWCO I get exactly what I ask for while the GTA doesn't even bother to show up and lose.

Quick story. A few years back I was helping a friend butcher pigs. My friend's brother was attending our local liberal arts college and was also helping that day. He brought two college girls from the Environmental Science Department that had never butchered or been around that kind of thing before. But they were interested and helped and wanted to learn. Even the messy parts. Sustainable agriculture and environmental science interest is huge with young people. These are the types of young people that go on to take positions with non-profit, state, and Federal environmental organizations. They would hear, recognize, and understand the trapper's message if it could get to them. Anti groups are professionals at reaching these demographics with constant propoganda via the use of technology, and so that is all they know. We need to catch up, but I believe their are willing ears in younger generations when you start talking about environmenmtal sustainability, pesticides, monocultures, Amazon deforestation for the sake of soybeans, asian sweat shops, shipping clothes across the world with fossil fuels, biodegradability and life span of clothing, etc.

Because every time to mention doing something that's not the norm it gets shut down and people well continue to go "well idk why noting will work !"
I know there a had full of states that don't want to have anything to do with the NTA or similar because of it.

Change bad ,if it ain't broke don't fix it yadda yadda. Just wait till it's blatantly obvious and way too late to try and change and by then your way behind. People don't want to face the fact that what worked for them is not invalid or ineffective so you just get a lot of excuses about how we've tried XYZ and how it's all bambis fault , something something liberal snow flakes.

As a community we just have not kept up with the times where as the antis have people in the age group they need to understand how to do stuff to get people on there side. For every one we get I wouldn't be surprised at all if they get 10. And honestly it really just takes the right person to say the same thing and everyone will follow.

That and all the DAG BLASTED in fighting and victim mentality that people like to act like doesn't happen .

Being proactive takes actual effort past sending in a check to your stat association or staying in your comfort zone and most people have no desire to do that.

These animal right people know very well how to use "facts" how to use emotions, social media ECT to get a certain result and their constantly changing and adapting. We don't . The idea of change or trying something different is almost always met with " well if it would work somone would have done it " . Seems most newer ideas just get pushed aside till someone goes and does it themselves makes it work then everyone jumps on board mean hole the antis are picking up new tools for the box and trying them constantly.

We really need to get out of a lot of mind sets like trying to get everyone to just drop $1200-$6000 on a luxury fur coat that ,lets be honest most people honestly don't even like . Mabye later down the line big body fur garments might come back by just not right now. And before someone says it..yes my phone is $500-1200 but at this point their kinda actually a necessity. Not some special garment that takes all this special care and storage. Need to brain storm how we could make stuff low cost and marketable casual or work wear or something.

But anyhow

Beat me to it

How about a marketing campaign like this?

Love Animals? Thank a Trapper.

A line like that hits so many emotional buttons for people. You could do lots of ads around that. Healthy animal picture on one side, and then on the other side.... Rabies, Mange, Starvation, Road Killed critters.

Billboards in a rural area are in the $1000/month range. Cities probably $2,000-3,000. There are lots of interstates in rural areas. I don't think it's too big of a reach money wise. Non-profits that hold gun raffle fundraisers in my area can clear $20,000-25,000 on an event.

Very good points.