I’m Growing A Bit Embarrassed By My Home State…

And with damn good reason.   This continuing news-making issue of lead contamination in harvested venison is starting to make my home state look down-right silly.   Seriously.   My home state of Minnesota has intentionally juxtaposed itself to be at the forefront of this controversy and the nagging question that comes to my mind is…WHY?

Let me condense this down.   As you may recall, last year Minnesota, as well as a few other states, pulled thousands of pounds of hunter-donated venison off the food shelves because of trace particles of lead being found in certain packages.   So, last summer the DNR agencies from several states convened in Minnesota to discuss how they best deal with the situation this fall and into the future.   I was there and blogged about that conference.

Among other things, a plan went forward in Minnesota to train all the meat processors on the new strict guidelines which basically boiled down to only accepting whole cuts of protein from deer that was not all shot up.   In essence, the meat processors were given more discretionary control to reject hunter-donated meat intended for the food shelves if it was deemed to be unwholesome by the new lead standards.

Well, to certain news-hungry state agencies dealing with the problem, such as the Minnesota DNR and the Minnesota Departments’ of Health and Agriculture, that apparently was not the end to the story.   Nope, this fall they began “fueling the fire” once again by choosing to x-ray all of the donated meat.   That’s right…with the holiday season fast approaching and the desperate need for protein to reach certain low-income families, my home state has opted instead to undertake the tedious task of x-raying all firearm harvested meat before distribution.

Brings me back to my original question.   WHY?   Are they (Government officials) being overly cautious or is there a hidden agenda being promulgated here to eventually end the use of lead bullets for hunting?   I’m starting to wonder about their intent much like many of my hunting cohorts.   Lead used to harvest wild game has never been documented to cause death or debilitation, so what is all the sudden fuss about?

I’ve got a simple solution to the problem.   If these agencies are going to get their underwear all bound up about this topic, then why not simply require that venison donated to these programs only be done with so-called non-toxic ammunition.   Furthermore, because the ammunition costs three or four times as much money as traditional lead rounds, why not use some of that “available” money now spent on x-raying the meat and instead use it to subsidize the cost of the ammo used by the venison donors.

In other words, when a Minnesota hunter donates a deer shot by a copper solid (or equivalent) bullet, as a small thanks for the donation, the hunter could get a voucher or coupon worth $10 off their next purchase of another box of the outrageously expensive ammo these state agencies want us to use.   Sounds rather simple, doesn’t it?   That’s the reason why the government would never adopt a common sense approach such as this.   It seems they would rather twist what should be a good deed (hunters donating food) into a relentless public lynching of a tradition still not proven to be a public health hazard.

2008 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

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Watch As They “Hit The Glass”

Indulge me while I get one last political rant off my chest…well, at least for now.    This rant has been percolating in my mind now for nearly a month.

During the past month I have received numerous e-mails and comments from readers calling me, among other things, a fearmonger (that’s one of the new talking points that seems to be in vogue among Democrats these days), a moron, politically stupid…er, well suffice it to say you probably get the picture.   In other words, because I happen to think Barack Hussein Obama is like moldy bread (it only gets worse with time) I have been vilified by certain Obamamaniacs who happen to wander onto this blog site.

Let me put things into perspective here with an outdoorsy twist.   Each winter my family places several bird feeders out around our house to attract birds a bit closer to our abode for our own selfish enjoyment of viewing nature from the comforts of a warm home.   It keeps us “connected” with nature even when the temps dip far below zero and we don’t have a hankering to be outdoors.

Inevitably and occasionally there are accidents that occur.   A Dark-eyed Junko or a Black-capped Chickadee will fly into our glass picture window and suffer one of three fates.   They either change direction by glancing and fly off.   They knock themselves dizzy requiring a period of recovery on the ground underneath.   Or, they hit the glass so damn hard the outcomes turns out to be grave.

One can only imagine that when the bird flies toward the glass at a high rate of speed they must have concluded they’ve seen a better way to get to the next feeder.   Oh sure, they’ve likely witnessed scores of other birds simply fly around the house safely, but something in the minds of certain birds urges them to find a better way.   Perhaps one that is quicker.   No doubt one that seems more logical to fly straight from point A to point B.   Yet, when this happens the birds are in for a sudden, and very rude, awakening.

Give these birds credit…when they fly into the glass they are committed to taking the new route.   They are determined they must know a better way.   To hell with the other birds who safely steer more clear of obstacles…some birds choose to carry on their life with such reckless abandon it simply makes you wonder what they were thinking when they made those poor choices in life.

And so it brings me to my friends who happen to be Democrats, sportsmen and by default staunch supporters of Barack Hussein Obama.   When I see them I simply ask if they’ve “hit the glass” yet with their moronic way of political thinking.   Just like the misguided songbirds in my backyard, their judgment has been clouded by promises of “a better way.”   They fully bought into the belief that they do not need to fly the same way as others in their flock choose to fly.   Nope.   Flying high fueled by “hope” and “change” is such a wonderful, orgasmic feeling until…SMACK!!!!!!   They hit the glass, also known as reality.

Call me an Obama fearmonger if you want, if that makes you feel better.   Heck, call into question my intelligence if that makes you more secure about yourself.   I really don’t care.   Just remember, when you “hit the glass” I’ll be standing inside looking (and probably laughing) as your world is suddenly shaken by the betrayal that surely will be forthcoming from your man soon to enter The White House.   And this time, unlike the pity I take on the poor helpless birds that lay in the snow, I’ll be saying to myself I hope this dude finally hit the glass hard enough so they don’t get the chance to ever make the same mistake once again.

2008 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.