Fences, Borders, and Walls

In light of my recent post regarding ethics and the future of the sportsmen and women lifestyle, I'm going to be taking on some controversial topics that are likely to get me some hate mail. If that's the response you need to take, then have at it, but I feel these topics need some light shed on them. My opinions on these things are just that... opinions. Personally, I could care less if other sportsmen and women participate in these activities in some cases. That being said, these activities shine a very poor light on our lifestyle. Many of my views on these, and coming topics, may be different than they were in previous posts as well. Times change, and we continue to educate ourselves, and sometime in the future my views may change again.

So lets start with the topic of fences. Prior to this past spring, I could have cared less if people hunted a high fenced property, though, being a fair chase hunter myself, I would not have participated in it. The more I've learned about conservation, biology, Constitutional history, and hunting in general, the more I have become opposed to hunting these areas. Many folks have asked me about whether I think the size of the property affected my views, and while tempting at first, it really makes no difference to me if the fence is around an acre, or 30,000 acres.

As we all should know, wildlife is owned by the citizens of this country, and held in trust and managed by the government. As a whole, each animal is owned by each of us together. We do not get to claim it individually until we've caught it with a trap, bullet, arrow, hook, or whatever implement we choose to harvest with. We do not have ownership over the animal while it is alive and free in it's habitat doing it's thing. Putting a fence around your property prohibiting wildlife to exit that area is, in a sense, claiming all of those animals as your own. I double down on this belief as soon as you charge someone else in order to allow them access to those animals. At it's very core, the simple action of putting up the fence, is unconstitutional. You should not have the right to prevent those deer on your property from wandering onto my property where I would then have access to hunt them without having to pay you for the opportunity.

Now, from a conservation and biological standpoint, I dislike these fences even more. We have spent over a century bringing back game animals from the brink, or in many cases, after extirpation. Now you put a fence around them limiting their genetic viability. How long before these deer are walking around with genetic mutations? Or are they already? Perhaps a lot of these crazy non-typical antlers that we see in the magazines and on social media are the result of the genetic funnel caused by fences. What would the future bring? Perhaps in another few generations we will be seeing deer with extra legs, tails, or even a bonus head. I've heard the arguments of adding some sort of one-way gate to allow deer in for genetic introduction, but aren't you then technically "trapping" deer? Isn't that illegal?

High fence operations are completely unethical as well. In order for hunting an animal to be ethical, that animal has to have the ability to escape us. If I go hunt my friends farm, my back 40, or the state WMA, my prey has the opportunity to escape. If I go hunt the high fenced game preserve, my prey does not have that opportunity. You may argue, well it's 10,000 acres, so it can run off. Here's the actual ethical issue: that animal does NOT have the ability to go anywhere that I CAN'T hunt it. If there's no fence, that deer has the ability to run onto some private parcel that is owned by the CEO for the USHS. It's safe now.

Now, whether you agree with any of these views or not, really doesn't make a bit of difference. There are 490 people following me on Facebook, maybe 3-4 here on the website, 20+ on Twitter, and around 45 on Instagram. I'm sure a good portion are duplicates, but even if they weren't, that's maybe 550 people. Maybe... just maybe... another 100 folks will actually bother to click the link and actually read this article. Probably 99% of those folks are trappers, hunters, and / or anglers. All of us can argue these points until they bury our great great great grandchildren and it won't matter a bit. Why? Because we do not control our destiny, the non-sportsman voters control it.

So what does the average joe think of high fences? They are not fans. Probably half of the non-hunting folks I talk to (before I talk to them) think that ALL hunters are trophy hunters. The other half, though they understand most hunters hunt for meat, believe that high fenced hunters are only in it for the trophy. Most all of them find it unethical in many ways. Yet, 90% or our mainstream media (cable network shows, magazines, and DVDs) are focused on these hunts. Why? Because sportsmen and women (supposedly) want to see big giant racks on bucks. Hell, I have a calendar on my wall right now that has 12 months of great big bucks. Not a single picture is under 8 points, or 4x4, or 4 points depending on what part of the country you're from. However, if I could have found a calendar with 6 does, 3 forkies, and 3 spikes, I would have bought that. They didn't have one.

We should be focused on the non-sportsmen and women's point of view. They are the ones who hold our future ability to pursue this lifestyle in the palms of their hands. That ALONE should be reason enough to stop hunting high fence, or if nothing else, pull it off all the mainstream media platforms.

Now for my second choice of topics, I'll probably get a lot more negative feedback as I know a majority of my readers are Trump supporters. To provide some perspective, however, I voted for him too. As with every president we've had since I was able to form my own political opinions, there are things he does that I agree with, and things a do not. My view on this particular topic does not mean that I am anti-Trump.

I have a lot of concerns about the border wall project. None of them have to do with immigration. Yes, my family immigrated here from Nova Scotia, both sides actually. Yes, both sides came over here legally, went through the red tape and craziness of getting their citizenship, bought land, raised families, and eventually, for some odd reason, ended up with me in their lineage. And yes, I believe that becoming a citizen of the United States is probably more of a pain in the butt than it actually needs to be. But no, I do not support the idea of illegal immigrants being able to stay in the country. If they follow the procedures as they are laid out at the time of their attempt then great, but I follow the laws, and so should everyone else.

Now, as for why I am concerned with a wall. It all revolves around wildlife. Currently, there are many species of animals that migrate over the border in either direction. If a wall comes up, those animals will not be able to perform their natural travel behaviors. For those animals that have a smaller population on the US side of the border, there's a good chance we could lose them. Even building some sort of "crossing" in the wall for these animals is highly unlikely to work. Either it will be too small and heavily monitored by guards and the animals will shy away from it, or it will be so large that even though the animals can pass, you've now made the wall ineffective for it's intended target.

The future of our lifestyle rest in the hands of those who view us, so why not give them the best parts to view?

In closing, I'm obviously not a fan of fences and walls. If you disagree with me, that's fine. Keep it civil. I enjoy a debate as much as the next guy. If you feel the need to yell and scream and call me an idiot, that's fine too. Just know that you are not the first, nor the best who has done that, and I will delete the comment. If you agree with me and want to leave a comment, that's fine too, also keep it civil. If you like the articles here, you can join this website (free) and access the forums where you can communicate with other readers. You can follow me on Instagram where lately I've been posting photographs of habitats, conservation areas, and other visual treats.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed it whether you agreed or not. Remember that our ethics control our future, so perform every action as if everyone was watching you, and if you post those actions on social media, remember that everyone is.