[Tweeters] Edison eagle extravaganza

[Kevin Lucas via Tweeters]

I am sure there is a chance of most hunters giving pause, fortunately.
If anything, I don't think hunters would "think it cool."

All of the hunters I've encountered while I've been a bird watcher have
been courteous, freely shared with me their sightings of interest, been
perfectly respectful of property rights, have been law abiding, and have
been honest. Unlike school bus drivers and many non-hunters, and one local
competitive bird lister, hunters have NEVER driven very close past me
at high speed throwing up rocks and clouds of dust while I scoped from the
roadside on a gravel road. Three days ago a hunter drove past me very
slowly, giving me great distance, then watched me for a while before
approaching and courteously asking what I was doing and whether it would
bother me if he went into the property to suss out his location for the
next day's hunt. He explained he had the appropriate permissions and permit
for that precise location the following day, but really didn't want to
disturb me. That's par for the course for my interactions with hunters as a
bird watcher.

As a hunter, I was trained well and tested rigorously in order to get my
licenses. My trainers took their jobs seriously. I took my responsibility
seriously as a student, then as a hunter.

I've had competitive bird listers describe to me how and where they
trespass & how they falsify eBird location reports to hide their
trespassing, had them walk past me and flush birds I was actively and
obviously observing, and had one try (& fail) to talk me into trespassing
onto closed Yakama Nation Land on the Yakima Christmas Bird Count for which
he was the official coordinator for years.
Yet I don't presume all competitive bird listers wouldn't give pause or
would "think it cool" to variously act illegally or unethically or in a
manner harmful to birds.

I've repeatedly watched and heard two local prominent competitive birders
use loud playback and loud predator call imitations to harass rare birds
into view. Their bad behavior set the bar for me until I read and thought
about how distressing it must be for birds, and until I had a couple of
separate descriptions by bird enthusiast researchers on how and why they
limit their use of playback to the minimum required for their study for
one, and use absolutely no playback for the other. Their discussions and
good examples changed my behavior for the better.

Some who act badly won't change. Some will. There are a lot of good eggs
out there, both hunters and competitive bird listers.

Respectfully,
Kevin Lucas
Yakima, Washington

*Qui tacet consentire videtur*


On Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 1:43 PM Deli Kiz via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


>

> If they were responsible hunters they wouldn't have the excess, not sure

> dying bald eagles are going to stop them. If anything they'd likely think

> it's cool - two birds one stone for them. They don't like that the bald

> eagles are actually out there getting "their" ducks, salmon, etc. in the

> first place. Not sure there is a chance of anyone giving pause

> unfortunately.

>

> Cheers,

> Deli Kiz

>

>

> On Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 1:30 PM Diann MacRae via Tweeters <

> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>

>> Hi, Tweets

>>

>> I cannot imagine anything so egregious considering HPAI (bird flu) being

>> rampant in so many areas. Certainly duck hunters know enough to dispose of

>> what they don't want properly. It may be nice for photographs but just

>> watch something like a bald eagle or other raptor die from bird flu and

>> maybe it will give one pause.

>>

>> Cheers, Diann

>>

>> Diann MacRae

>> Olympic Vulture Study

>> 22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E.

>> Bothell, WA 98021

>> tvulture at gmx.com

>>

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> Tweeters mailing list

>> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

>> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>>

> _______________________________________________

> Tweeters mailing list

> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20250121/84b6cdf4/attachment.html>