The U.B.C. ... working to protect YOUR bowhunting rights!
Message from
the
United Bowhunters
of
Connecticut, Inc.
(to Non-Hunters)
Message to Non-Hunters
Welcome non-hunters to the U.B.C. home page.  We hope that by viewing this page you will
learn more about the U.B.C. as an organization and its interests with regard to bow hunting.  
We are your friends,neighbors, relatives and co-workers.  We could be your doctor, lawyer,
accountant or your employer.  Bow hunting is not about the indiscriminate killing of animals.  
Bow hunting is about sharing memories and experiences with your friends and family while
enjoying the outdoors.  It is the glow on a youngster's face as he or she sees their first
whitetail slinking through the forest.  It is about teaching our youth to respect and appreciate
all wildlife, and manage it as a renewable resource so it can be enjoyed by future generations.  
Most importantly, bow hunting is about honesty.  It's honesty about what we do and why we
do it.
But these days much of our time, energy and resources are spent defending the
sport of bow hunting. The anti hunting movement would like to see an end to all
hunting and bow hunters are their prime target. We have had our cars vandalized
and our equipment destroyed or booby-trapped. We have been harassed, prodded,
and threatened - yet we have never retaliated or resonded to such behaviors. We are
not trying to force people to participate in the sport that we love. We respect a
person's decision not to hunt. Our concern is when people try to infringe their
beliefs on us, and attempt to force their lifestyle on us. In general, demanding that
your lifestyle be imposed on others should be offensive to anyone regardless of the
issue. We simply want to continue bow hunting with our families and friends and
enjoy nature in peace.
However, this is not the way the anti-hunting/animal rights extremists are portraying hunters. These groups misrepresent the
natural order of life and nature. The great majority put animals on a higher plane of existence than people. Take for instance this
quote from Ingrid Newkirk, founder of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): "We'd be against animal
research even if it resulted in a cure for AIDS." Or Fund for Animals Director of Campaigns Mike Markarian, commenting on
the documented fact that hunters donate over 2 million pounds of venison annually to soup kitchens, women's shelters and
family food pantries: " We believe it is more of a public relations gimmick on the part of the hunting industry". The fact remains
that the animal extremist groups give little, if anything, of their own resources to help their fellow man. They do not use their
funds to directly help animals, but use their vast financial resources to pay for the high salaries of their upper management,
fundraising, or use it for dishonest, inaccurate and distorted reporting against hunting or other animal use issues.

It is time we got the message to the non-hunting public of what they are about. But more importantly, what we are all about. We
will no longer sit idly by while they misrepresent bow hunters and hunters alike. In fact, if you weigh the benefits that hunters
provide to all people - non-hunters and anti-hunters included, it is pretty hard to argue with the facts:

Fact:  Hunters pay for wildlife:  Since 1923 hunters have paid over $3 billion dollars in hunting license fees alone.
 On top of that, we pay an excise tax which has distributed nearly $2 billion dollars to purchase wildlife
management areas which benefit both game and non-game species.  Dollars derived from hunting and fishing
license sales pays 75% of the cost of game and fish agencies. For those non-hunters who use our state parks
and enjoy hiking, camping, bird watching or photography, boating or going to the beach, please remember that
hunting and fishing licenses fees pay for maintenance of these services.  In most cases the general public has
free access to these resources, except for an occasional entrance fee.  Hunters are happy to fund these for the
public, but most people are not aware of this. This is merely another example of the many benefits that hunting
provides to EVERYONE.

Fact:  Hunting is safe:  the odds of being killed while hunting (by another hunter) is less than .00425%.  You are
20 times more likely to die from an insect sting than even be wounded by a hunter.

Fact:  There are no feasible alternatives to hunting. While many anti-groups like to talk about token transplants
and deer contraception, the reality is these programs are extremely expensive and are marginally successful in
even small, controlled settings. The harsh reality that many anti-hunting groups don't like to admit is that if not
properly managed, many animal populations will grow out of control to a point where nature will reduce their
numbers. This is done through disease and starvation. Starvation is a long, slow, painful, undignified way for any
animal to die but unfortunately, this happens all too frequently. However, this is the preferred choice of the
animal extremists.  When our game populations are not hunted, they outgrow our forests' carrying capacity
doing years of damage to seedling growth and woodlot habitat. We have seen this happen in many places in
Connecticut and across the nation.

Fact:  Poachers are NOT Hunters: It seems fashionable these days for the media to publicize a story about a
cow or some other animal that was shot illegally, and say it was shot by a hunter. The reality is that these
violations are not the work of hunters, but rather are the misdeeds of poachers i.e. criminals. The animal rights
fanatics love these stories because they label the poachers as "hunters" and start manipulating your perception of
us. The reality is that hunters oppose these individuals by supporting license revocations, stiff fines and
confiscation of personal property. Bowhunter Magazine, for example, publishes the names and deeds of violators
to prove that we will not stand for that behavior. If you don't believe this, look at the statistics of who turns in
these violators: Hunters are responsible for 95% of the calls turned into TIP (Turn in Poacher) lines across the
country.

Fact:  Hunters love and protect animals and the environment. The anti-hunters are trying to manipulate you by
stereotyping hunters as "bloodthirsty and sadistic". In reality, the opposite is true. Hunters have shouldered the
cost of conservation for the good of all animals. Hunting clubs protect deer and other game with feeding
programs, habitat improvement, and stocking programs. Hunters willingly accept and support decisions made by
wildlife management agencies for the good of all animals. Hunters fervently protect our wild lands to keep them
free from development, pollution and misuse.

Fact:  Significant numbers of people hunt and the numbers of hunters remain steady. In Connecticut over
66,000 hunting licenses were bought in 1996 and nationally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that 15.23
million hunters bought licenses in 1995. Interestingly, the number of women hunters has been increasing recently
and continues to rise.  The greater percentage of those polled approve of hunting on some level. Responsive
Management reports that this was the largest most comprehensive study ever conducted on factors relating to
hunting & fishing.

Fact:   Wildlife management a scientific, biological and environmental science based on fact and evidence.
Wildlife policy can not be managed by emotion, distortion, lies or hysteria. We hope that when it all comes down
to it, facts and logic will overcome the emotional manipulation that the animal rights fanatics use as a tool to
mislead the general public.
We hope you at least understand and will at least support our right and duty to hunt as a necessary, ethical, and humane
wildlife management tool and for those who have no opinion on hunting, you weigh ALL of the relevant FACTS before
coming to a conclusion.

Thank you.
Anti-Hunters Read This

If you wish to communicate with us you should know that while  we respect everyone's
right to state their opinion, we will not tolerate any threatening or abusive email.   We
reserve the right to forward any harassing or threatening email that was sent via  a
corporate/educational/government/municiple domain back to the personnel department
of said domain.  If we choose to, we are able to trace the originators of all email and we
will also forward any threatening emails to authorities, where appropriate.
The U.B.C. ...working to protect YOUR bowhunting rights!