BigGameHoundsmen.com

house bill 2337 has a chance to advance to the senate...we just need the proper representation to advance this legislation. we now have recruited some influential key players. we have the lobby covered in salem, this gentleman has been working since 1997 to restore our hunting. he has been a key lobbyist for the n.r.a. and safari club international and the legal aspect will be covered by another oregon resident with strong ties to the hound hunting and guiding industry. we will begin to assemble a strategy based on what will work in salem. we....not me...

i'm finding out real quick the average joe will get cut down fast....the opposition groups are heavily funded and have unlimited resources, while all we have is the truth and a few bucks...very tough battle...

we are aligned with all the sporting groups and concerned citizens....i don't have all the answers...i just know in the beginning i wasn't going to take no for an answer and so grew the original house bill crafted and introduced by dist. 17 sprenger....

if you would have asked me 25 years ago if i would be in the middle of politics...i would have told you were nuts....i really don't totally understand how or why we evolved in the direction we have in oregon. odfw has resisted us for the reasons they have....our state group has to abide by rules and conduct is a key factor supporting decisions made....bottom line, odfw needs us. we need them, we also need usda...we need to separate our feelings for common ground....

we don't figure this out, it will be figured out for us. the object of the game is getting usda out of the hound hunting business and back to the vital role they play across the country. i understand perfectly well odfw has had its hands tied. this legislation will untie those restrictions. i have applied a teremendous amount of pressure on both odfw and usda and the oregon state legislature....

keep this in mind as well....we have had pressure being applied by other interest as well, behind the scene,ousda, oha has played a vital role, one other oregon hound hunter has also been instrumenatal with his bird dog buddy who has lobbied in salem....thank you "perk"...the squeaky wheel is getting some oil....no one single person is responsible......collective efforts!

the ball is rolling...that said...i will be stepping back and allowing those articulate folks, way smarter than me to advance this legislation. looking back, you always see things more clearly....i will however continue to battle to the end....

i would like to ask mr. don gilbert, president of ousda to join me in this fight...and any and all ousda members and any and all out side support from any state in the nation....i'm humbled by the support from the cattlemens association. oregon farm bureau, oregon hunters association. oregon bow hunters association. national rifle association. northwest big game inc. and those concerned citizens all across oregon.

together WE can win this battle...

once again...thank you buddy w. for allowing me to voice an opinion on your open forum where we can agree or disagree.... greatly appreciated.....mike

Another good post Mike.....

You have my email.

Don

folks, please contact salem and ask all 30 of our state senators to support h.b. 2337....the opposition is wanting this to go to the natural resource committee....i say fine, let it go there....we are prepared for the next round......thanks for letting salem know how you feel....thank you don....
mike

All you guys are right on with contacting these people in Salem, it needs to go through and has needed to go through. Also everyone needs to keep in mind to vote in 2012 and get the freedom takers out of our state, I know we can't help the Eugene, Portland area on voting these people out but if we can get them out of every other district we may be able to get a lot further a lot easier. On this bill I will be contacting senetors and I hope everyone else is as well. If your not voting or paying attention and telling these people enough is enough it is only going to get worse.

Please call the following as well as your senator.



Peter Courtney, Senate president 503-986-1600 sen.petercourtney@state.or.us

Jackie Dingfelder, Chair 503-986-1723 sen.jackiedingfelder@state.or.us

Alan Olsen, Vice-Chair 503-986-1720 sen.alanolsen@state.or.us

Mark Hass 503-986-1714 sen.markhass@state.or.us

Floyd Prozanski 503-986-1704 se...n.floydprozanski@state.or.us

Chuck Thomsen 503-986-1726 sen.chuckthomsen@state.or.us



House Bill 2337 has been assigned to the Natural Resources Committe. We have our work cut out for us now. When you call the Senators to ask for their support on HB 2337:



Tell them that the professionals at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife should be allowed to responsibly manage cougar populations.





Tell them that the ODFW will be able to have complete control over cougar management and there will be oversight by the ODFW Commission which is appointed by the Governor.



Tell them that this isn't a debate over cougar hunting or the use of dogs as both are being done now. This bill will only allow the ODFW to effectively manage cougar populations and collect money to do it instead of spending money.



Tell them that if they don't support this bill that our elk and deer populations will continue to be decimated and that cougar populations will continue to be out of control and pose a serious threat to human safety.



Please also tell them that the ODFW is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay government hunters to kill cougars instead of being able to collect more money for wildlife conservation from the sale of more cougar tags.



This is the word i got today. We need to CALL these senators because it ensures that our message gets to the recipient. I was told that we need to flood the phone lines! I was also told that they will hopefully will close this bill by the 23rd of this month. Please call the names listed above. We need to hit them with a ton of support for this bill.

Please watch this and call the senators listed.

http://youtu.be/-aT8SGnEuiQ