The Sacramento Bee reports that both anglers and hunters have shown a small positive gain in California. Everyone interviewed is aghast for an explanation, and some truly odd theories are being bandied about…
- Baby Boomers are retiring so they have more time to hunt and fish.
- Women are participating.
- The Organic Food movement, an offshoot of “eat local” – wherein consumers are asked to reject foods from foreign locales – and seek food raised locally.
When you see a culinary trend like that, those who have been associated with hunting or fishing say, ‘ I can go get me some of that’, ” said Sonke Mastrup, Fish and Game deputy director. “It adds to the allure or prestige. Not only are you serving wild game to your friends, but it’s game you got yourself.”
I damn near exhaled coffee through my nose after reading the above gem. Leave it to a deputy director to demonstrate how little the department knows about who their constituency is and what motivates them.
I would find it much more believable were they simply to say, “we counted all the kids bringing handguns to school as hunters, and if we found a knife or garrotte on them, we figured they were fishermen too.”
With the preponderance of Earth types, Vegans, animal activists, and folks that believe “radishes have feelings” dominating the political skyline – to say these folks want to shed blood as it’s “organic” is pretty damn out-of-touch.
Most Californians start backpedaling when they realize you own a weapon, and if offered anything without a Safeway price tag, they’ll politely decline – as somehow it’s not sanitary.
Just my two cents, let the pennies fall where they may…
Technorati Tags: Sonke Mastrup, Fish and Game, California fishing and hunting, license increase
Don’t be so skeptical.
Next time you are shoulder-to-shoulder in the American River with that slew of shad slayers, you might inquire whether they are there to harvest menu ingredients for the evening’s social gathering of the nouveau riche crowd celebrating their candidate’s recent performance.
This is the arugula flock, more likely to frequent Whole Foods than Safeway.
Um, laugh if you will but there truly is a ‘food revolution’ occurring. Even in California! And if it gets one more person to look at hunting and fishing differently, I’m all for it.
You do know that in Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan went Boar hunting. It gave the uber-trendy foodies a whole new view on what we do.
A lot of us (I’m not from Cali, I just mean ‘us’ as in people who eat!) are not very thrilled with our so-called ‘industrial food complex’. It can’t be counted on to keep us safe (thank you, e-coli) and as far as healthy? Forget it.
You’ll see the renewed Victory Garden becoming much bigger than you expect. Heck, even outdoor writer Bill Heavey is spending a year feeding himself.
Locavores Unite!
Yes, but is an animal rights activist suddenly going to run out and butcher pigeons based on the latest food trend?
I think they’ll be lined up protesting Locavores … they’ve yelled at us anglers already.
I have no issue with “hunter gatherers” as long as they eat what they kill, I don’t want some freezer burned duck from last season – so they can go kill more…
These theories definitely need to be encouraged. Perhaps the DFG should look into putting out a pamphlet: “Bob takes Madam Panisse deer hunting.”
“Nice shot Madam Panisse. Now you need to field dress him. Slit open the belly and put your hand in there, and rip out those guts. Smells just like violets, don’t it? Hurry it up now. We’ve still got a five mile hike back to your Mercedes. You can either drag him, or pick him up and carry him around your neck. Pay no mind to all of those fleas and ticks. They won’t start looking for a new home till the carcass goes cold. You remembered to bring a tarp for the back seat, right?”
Hours later, back at the house…
“OK, let’s string him up. Pay no mind to those thousand or so yellow jackets hovering about. They just want a taste. Now go ahead and finish cleaning him out. Be careful around the urine sack. Oops: too late. You might want to marinate that section a bit more than the others before you cook him up. Let me get you a bag for those innards – heart, liver, kidneys… all good eating stuff right there. You should probably eat those tonight. OK, time to start skinning. Cut around the back legs and pull. Come on now, pull! There you go. Definitely worth a few broken nails, don’t you think? Once you finish skinning him, we’ll let him hang in your garage for a few days, and then I’ll show you how to cut him up with a hacksaw. Imagine the expressions on your friends’ faces when after cooking him up, you bring him to the table and then tell them this tale. You’ll be the envy of every woman in the bridge club.”
What’s with the “field dressing?”
On my way out to go deer hunting in Nevada, I’ve seen many a pick-up or jeep heading west on Highway 80 with their “trophy” two-point buck, strung out over the hood for all to see, with nary a knife dressing.
I think I’ll take that freezer burned duck over this “seasoned” venison, though.
I thought the article was about the lack of intelligence shown by civil service employees at the DFG. I don’t think anyone shot and dressed out the foodies. KB back away from the fallen pennies. A fly fisherman could get killed in a foodie rush for intellectual free cash. There are way more of them than there are of us. Even Wannabe has an opinion on carburetor cooking that deserves a book.
The sad truth is that most directors and commissioners of state fish and game agencies are politically appointed puppets that tow the party line and fuel the governor’s agenda. Many of them disregard the science behind the management decision and go with the politically accepted position. Let’s not make haste to lump the hard working individuals that are in the field getting the work done with those clowns in upper management. Not all public employees are morons.
KB, you hit the nail on the head with your observation of how out of touch these managers are with their constituents.
SMJ – Gets my vote for best definition of “prestige” – and the graphics were exceptional.
Jean Paul – I are one – I’m not sure whether that puts me in the moron or non-moron camp.
Igneous – I like how the question was neatly ignored, when asked “why so many new anglers (and where are they coming from) – the response didn’t even fit the question.
As Mr Mastrup is the author of a guide to quail hunting, I assume “prestige” fits a little handful of quail guts … hell, you can cook them tasty suckers without cleaning them. SMJ sets us straight quick enough, large game is a job of work.
KB, “I are one” too. I waffle on the moron/non-moron camp depending on the day 😉