Pointe Mouillee

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Yep that's the problem with events like this. No make-up days.

Yeah, it's a shame. You can bet your boots that the "bird gawkers" won't chip in anything to make up the loss either. Never heard a "thank you" from any of the for the work that is done out in the marsh to ensure that it remains, or for that really nice "viewing platform" that was built for them to gawk from. IF I remember correctly that platform cost about 11K to build. ALL of the funds came out of monies from the festival and funds that are supported by those who hunt/fish or trap. NONE of the cost of that platform was covered by the "bird gawkers".

You can bet you eye teeth that there is a number of those who use it that are anti-hunting. Not very bright.
 

Slo-Ride

Veteran Expediter
Properly never will find a happy median. Let's just hope the PETA ppl keep spending money on preserving the things I like to eat :)
 
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layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
I just spent a couple of hours out at the rifle range. Starting to get things dialed in.

PETA? They are PROOF that you can spread bull all over the place and STILL get dunder heads to join in the folly.
 

Ragman

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Properly never will find a happy median. Let's just hope the PETA ppl keep spending money on preserving the things I like to eat :)

I just spent a couple of hours out at the rifle range. Starting to get things dialed in.

PETA? They are PROOF that you can spread bull all over the place and STILL get dunder heads to join in the folly.

Hey now, I'm a member of PETA!!!

People Eating Tasty Animals
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Another Beatle wantta be, I suppose?

:p

We could use a new beetle out at Pointe Mouillee to be sure. They are working on it, hard, but have yet to have success. Maybe if the "bird gawkers" chipped in a little we could get the research over the top.

The beetle used to control purple loostrife is very effective. Now they are working on "inventing" one that only eats phragmites.
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Your correct bird watchers like their cameras. I really enjoy watching birds every morning also with my first pot of coffee. Every morning of the year I try to do this. If I am at home on my porch or at the Walmart parking lot I like to be there when the birds wake up. Its nothing to do with killing birds. But yes we do enjoy eating them :)
While working this event I visited the DNR field office and ran across something I knew nothing about it and never ran across at any other refuge I have been to. Here to visit the refuge for certain times of the year you must obtain a Access pass from the DNR. The more I talked to this guy the more it sounded like these types of visitors ( non Hunter's bike riders etc etc) have little respect for the grounds and contributed next to nothing to Michigan's natural resources and are actually becoming costly. (Not all but a larger crowd every year.) Now the visitor's pass is free to obtain but you first need to obtain the necessary waterfowl licenses. I agree with this, if you want to enjoy what sportsmen/women have build/restored you should kick in your fair share. Yes you should help.

Now I'm confused: I did not know the sportsmen built the land, water, and wildlife - I thought it was public property, overseen by the Michigan DNR. Which is supported by taxes, no? I applaud efforts to maintain and improve it, but if those doing the work feel it should be limited to those who help, they should be doing it on private land, IMO.
Of course there are 'trashy' people who show up, they're everywhere. But they aren't representative of the "non hunters", any more than the people who work to restore the land are representative of all hunters.
The Appalachian Trail is an example of what some 'non hunters' have accomplished: 2000 miles of continuous trail, built and maintained entirely by volunteers, with a common goal of protecting the land and the wildlife. It's free to all, and those who use it take good care of it. As they have for more than 50 years now.

PS I'm saving 'birdwatching' as an activity for retirement, when I'll want something 'new' to do, lol. ;)
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
" thought it was public property, overseen by the Michigan DNR. Which is supported by taxes, no?"

NOPE!

Paid for by the hunters/fisherman/and trappers of Michigan. It is NOT supported by general fund tax dollars. IN FACT, monies paid to PRESERVE and REHABILITATE wildlife habitat, in Michigan, by Michigan sportsmen, were STOLEN by the State of Michigan, for DECADES, to pay for welfare BS.

This is what happens when people who have NOT CLUE about reality are allowed to vote.

Good thing this is Michigan and NOT Ohio. Ohio has one of the WORST records in the United States when it comes to wetlands protection. Ohio has lost in excess of 90% of it's wetlands, while, at the same time, Michigan has lost about 55% but has INCREASED it's wetland coverage in the past several years. ALL DUE TO MAINLY HUNTERS doing the work.

Non-hunters, and even slimy anti-hunters who are doing MAJOR harm due to their STUPIDITY, could help by simply buying a "Duck Stamp".

Other than that, most non-hunters and anti-hunters are too freakin LAZY to do anything to help.
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Per the DNR website, "very little" is received from taxes [whatever that means], since 2000, when the checkoff option was eliminated on state tax forms. Currently, funding is from: gifts, bequests, grants, and royalties from the sale of mineral, gas, oil, etc rights. And from 'specialty' license plates.
Reality: it's awesome.
The hunters who work to restore and preserve the habitat deserve credit. No doubt, the wildlife appreciates it too, right up until the guns appear.
Ok, that was cruel - but let's not forget that the hunters aren't doing it strictly for altruistic reasons, they have an ulterior motive. It doesn't negate the good, but it ought to take some of the self congratulatory crowing down a notch, I think.
The presumption of knowledge regarding the motives of non hunters [like the birdwatchers] - that's just ignorance talking. Some of those bird watchers may have written some nice checks to support the preservation of wildlife, eh?
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Per the DNR website, "very little" is received from taxes [whatever that means], since 2000, when the checkoff option was eliminated on state tax forms. Currently, funding is from: gifts, bequests, grants, and royalties from the sale of mineral, gas, oil, etc rights. And from 'specialty' license plates.
Reality: it's awesome.
The hunters who work to restore and preserve the habitat deserve credit. No doubt, the wildlife appreciates it too, right up until the guns appear.
Ok, that was cruel - but let's not forget that the hunters aren't doing it strictly for altruistic reasons, they have an ulterior motive. It doesn't negate the good, but it ought to take some of the self congratulatory crowing down a notch, I think.
The presumption of knowledge regarding the motives of non hunters [like the birdwatchers] - that's just ignorance talking. Some of those bird watchers may have written some nice checks to support the preservation of wildlife, eh?

Less than 2% is paid by NON hunters and ANTI hunters do nothing but HARM

You have NO idea what you are talking about. YOU COULD have LEARNED had you come out and sat in on some of the seminars given by the biologist that REALLY WORK out there, but reality is not important to be sure.

MY MOTIVES? Give back more than I need.

ANTI hunter groups? Make money for the lawyers that run them
Most non hunters? Take what they can from those who DO something

I got a GREAT idea! Let's put an amusement park where a MARSH had once been, Cedar Point. OR a GOLF COURSE, so we can dump fertilizer into Lake Erie! OR BETTER YET! Burn food to save the planet as we over fertilize farm fields to produce it! GOOD IDEA!

ANNIE Oakley was RIGHT!

OH by the way, who KILLS YOUR food for you since you don't have the ambition to do it yourself? EVERYTHING YOU eat was once, or is ALIVE! HOW I kill my food, guns, rocks, knives, etc, makes no difference. At least I KNOW that it needed killed and don't pretend it was not.

EVERYONE kills their food, either themselves or THEY PAY OTHER to do it FOR them so they can PRETEND they are superior to those who are HONEST about where ALL food comes from,

I will tell you what, I will NEVER kill my food again when YOU go ONE YEAR eating food that was not killed or was never alive or could never be alive. DEAL?
 
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cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
The cognitive dissonance is just staggering: railing against private enterprise [Cedar Point, golf courses] that hire people and pay taxes?
And you call Obama a communist?!
No deal, no way. I really couldn't care less what you eat, or where it comes from. [The Dollar Menu, if I remember correctly. No thanks.]
Nor do I have a problem with hunters - except when they pat themselves on the back for their self interested "good deeds". And when they presume those who don't hunt are "lazy" or ignorant, or "run by lawyers" [huh?] I have a problem with people who insist they know things they simply cannot: what's inside the heads of perfect strangers.
Especially when they RANT & RAVE in ALL CAPS.
If you can't talk smarter, talk louder, eh?
 

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
The cognitive dissonance is just staggering: railing against private enterprise [Cedar Point, golf courses] that hire people and pay taxes?
And you call Obama a communist?!
Oh ... it's far worse than just railing against private enterprise ... he's actually railing against private property ownership ... and the right to use it as one sees fit ...

Ahh ... you might want to point out to him that it appears he has his "Cedar Point marshes" confused ...

About the Refuge - Cedar Point - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

There's even a link to a little map thingie on that page ... so perhaps he can figure out where the two Cedar Points are ... and how far apart they actually are ...

Yeah ... reality ... it definitely appears some folks are disconnected from it ... :rolleyes:
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Thanks for the link, I didn't know about the "other" Cedar Point, either. :eek:
So much misinformation, incorrect assumptions, biased beliefs - the following assertion especially made me look further: "[wildlife facts are] taught incorrectly and with a bias that does not reflect any kind of real science."
Being a huge fan of education, that would worry me - but luckily, it's not true. Or, if it is, the DNR is to blame, for they provide a great deal of material [and workshops for educators] that teaches the teachers. I particularly like the "Salmon in the Classroom" project that I would have enjoyed as a student.
Badmouthing people for wrongdoing [even alleged or apparent] is one thing, but trash talking because they aren't doing what one would like them to do is over the line, IMO. Those vilified birdwatchers may well support [and work with] many other projects - no one has the resources to support every worthy cause.
 
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